The distinction between drug and food has been very blurred until recently. Good proof of this is the past taste for drinking Agua del Carmen as a panacea for all ills: from headaches to colds, through menstrual pains and nervous states, both in adults and children, to whom it was supplied. a few drops at school in case they are very restless.
Agua del Carmen (not to be confused with Agua de Lourdes with which the fish are baptized at the Elkano restaurant) was first introduced in Spain in 1911. However, it was invented by the Discalced Carmelites in 17th century France. , although it was the Venetian Carmelites from the monastery of Santa María de Nazareth, in the Cannaregio neighborhood, who in 1710 popularized this preparation that is used as a drink, flavoring and even as an essence for massages.
Composed of 55% alcohol and a mixture of relaxing and digestive plants, such as lemon balm (not in vain, the Venetian formula is known as Acqua di Melissa), cedar, cloves and cinnamon, Agua del Carmen could be considered as a powerful liquor, similar in graduation to mezcal or liquor.
Its preparation started from plants, from which their essential oils were extracted using steam. The Venetian Carmelites already did it this way with the plants they cultivated in their garden with great care, as reported by Acqua di Melissa (Edizioni del Baldo, 2017). They proudly explain that the lemon balm they use is not the common one, but the Moldavian one, although for practical purposes the same active ingredients are obtained from both. For their faithful defense of the product, they obtained permission to inscribe the seal of Venice and the edict that recognized the virtues of their water, in order to prevent others from producing a spurious product.
In fact, the founders of the Carmelite order, Saint Teresa of Ávila and Saint John of the Cross, attributed the utmost importance to the care of the orchard or garden. “The garden is a place outside the Earth, a place that gives access to Paradise and that can be a paradise,” the second would say. In fact, the order’s name, a biblical reference to Mount Carmel, the mountain considered the Garden of Eden on earth, comes from the Hebrew word ‘karmel’, meaning ‘vineyard’, ‘garden’ or ‘orchard’. .
Lemon balm, the protagonist in Agua del Carmen, has been recognized since ancient times as a remedy for everything: Dioscorides, Avicenna, Galen, Paracelsus and other authors of medical texts attribute all kinds of properties to it, from antidepressant to topical pain reliever, curative of ulcers and colic. and even myopia. The mystic Hildegard of Bingen stated that it was very useful for lightening the spirit and the heart, and if she took it mixed with a powerful alcohol, perhaps she would not be wrong.
“Another component of digestives is lemon balm. Native to southern Europe, it was grown in monastery gardens in temperate zones,” explains Gary Allen in Herbs. A Global Story’ (Reaktion Books, 2012). The monks used it in their liquor formulas, such as Benedictine and Chartreuse. Its use declined when cheap lemons from warmer climates became available in the 20th century. Today it is back in fashion because its lemon aroma is softer and it does not have the intense acidic flavor of lemon – it is like a Meyer lemon in grass form.”
Agua del Carmen was a substitute for alcohol for many women. At a time when gender determined even more than today what you could do or consume, a woman drinking alcohol was not well regarded, and a product that had neither name nor reference to any liquor, but rather religious, was good acceptance. Furthermore, it was never kept next to the brandy or pomace cream, but rather in the bathroom, next to the gauze, povidone-iodine and other first-aid kit items.
For the same reason that it was said that cognac or brandy ‘gave strength’ or cured general malaise, these and carmen water were taken when the nerves were tight, if one fainted or if one suffered from nasal congestion (at least strong smell of alcohol and citrus, similar to the old colognes for children, it is supposed to have the virtue of restoring consciousness and as an expectorant), to help digestion or to improve digestion or to relieve menstrual pain.
For example, the aforementioned monograph suggests different recipes that contain Agua del Carmen, such as this ‘Summer drink’ that contains three apricots, an apple, a peach, 100 ml of apple juice and five drops of Agua del Carmen, or a ‘Night infusion’, with a tablespoon of passionflower, a tablespoon of verbena, a spoon of melia, 10 drops of lemon balm water and a tablespoon of linden honey. Applied topically, Agua del Carmen is recommended as a ‘Massage against headaches’, for which you will have to mix 15 drops of Agua del Carmen with 7 drops of peppermint essential oil, 200 ml of cold water, which will be applied with a cloth to rub the forehead and temples. And in case of menstrual pain, it is recommended to massage the abdomen at least 4 days before the start of the period with a combination of 5 drops of the remedy and a tablespoon of sweet almond oil.
