Post by maceme on Nov 23, 2022 2:33:51 GMT 1
A hex on anyone who doesn’t get it.
Anyway..
If there are 2 or more ingredients in some of the vials, which you may eventually find is the case, and that some are not counted separately towards 11, as alluded to in the Settle recipe and datebook discussion or otherwise not counted. By not using numbers, there is no conflation of a vial number with the “11” herbs and spices.
The test tubes have a marking spot. They were marked. It is a label, not a count. That is exactly the point.
Some labels were more distinct than others. Someone made them the same. Duly noted.
Suppose we were to agree that the last vial “k” contains a number of various peppers, and maybe even garlic, all of which are not counted in the 11, and that the prior vials to the left contain the “11”. At least one of those prior vials therefore contains 2 or more ingredients, and we find that, and more. If the vials had been labeled 1 to 11, and the “11” were actually in vials 1 to 10, wouldn’t that be more disingenuous?
Labeling them with letters might in fact suggest:
The 11 is a marketing term.
There are more than 11 ingredients.
There is more than one ingredient per vial.
Some vials might contain vegetable ingredients.
The original recipe used alphabet nomenclature for ingredients, perhaps to be able to refer to ingredient “D” when discussing purchasing with suppliers like Durkee etc. without tipping off those within earshot as to what was being discussed, or for container labeling secrecy when mixing batches locally.
They wanted the markings to be a single digit for visibility and uniformity.
Nothing much and it was just a coin flip choice.
