Epic Pot Recipes of History

Majoon (or Majoun) – from “On the Preparation of the Indian Hemp, or Gunjah (Cannabis Indica): The Effects on the Animal System in Health, and Their Utility in the Treatment of Tetanus and Other Convulsive Diseases” by William B. O’Shaughnessy (1839):

Sacred Cannabis Ghee

The green oily solution soon concretes into a buttery mass, and is then well washed by the hand with soft water, so long as the water becomes coloured. The colouring matter and an extractive substance are thus removed, and a very pale green mass, of the consistence of simple ointment, remains. The washings are thrown away…

The operator then takes 2 lbs. of sugar, and adding a little water, places it in a pipkin over the fire. When the sugar dissolves and froths, two ounces of milk are added; a thick scum rises and is removed; more milk and a little water are added from time to time, and the boiling continued about an hour, the solution being carefully stirred until it becomes an adhesive clear syrup, ready to solidify on a cold surface; four ounces of tyre [new milk dried in the sun] in fine powder, are now stirred in, and lastly the prepared butter of Hemp is introduced, brisk stirring being continued for a few minutes. A few drops of attur of roses are then quickly sprinkled in, and the mixture poured from the pipkin on a flat cold dish or slab. The mass concretes immediately into a thin cake, which is divided into small lozenge-shaped pieces. A seer thus prepared sells for four rupees: one drachm by weight will intoxicate a beginner; three drachms one experienced in its use: the taste is sweet, and the odour very agreeable.

Circa 1845, an exclusive Paris salon called Le Club des Hachichins passed around a confection called dawamesk, a green sweet jam which was spread on toast and served after dinner. According to historian Martin Booth, dawamesk was “made of hashish, almond paste, pistachio nuts, sugar, orange or tamarind peel, cloves and other spices: on occasion, cantharidin (Spanish fly) was added as a sexual stimulant.”  A curious fact, given that all of the members of Le Club des Hachichins were male.

Enjoy in whatever manner you like best.