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Wine-cured Parisian rappee (a 19th-century recipe)
From volunge on the Snuffhouse forum, 2020
A 19th-century recipe that went by the name Best Parisian Rappee. The snuff is cured with wine. The amounts are for 100 g of coarse whole-leaf flour, ground with the midribs left in.
0 of 4 steps done
You'll need Tick as you go
Equipment
Digital scalesFor weighing tobacco, alkalis and salt accurately, which matters most when you're working in small batches.Mixing bowlFor stirring liquids into ground tobacco and letting it sit while it takes up moisture.Mortar and pestleFor grinding small amounts by hand, crushing salt and alkalis to a fine dust, and working scent or moisture evenly into snuff.SievesFor separating fine snuff from the coarse bits after grinding.Airtight jarsFor resting snuff while it develops, and for storing it afterwards.GlovesFor handling alkalis such as sodium carbonate (soda ash), potash and slaked lime.
Method
Rest time
At least a week, and it probably gets better with time.
Notes
Mix and sift it before each use. You can leave out the cream of tartar and make the sauce from wine and water alone. Crystalline sodium carbonate is probably the weaker hydrated form, so if yours is the fine anhydrous kind, use less, around 12 g. Dunkirk's Fine St. Omer, a similar old recipe, uses 8 to 9 g of cream of tartar and 8 to 9 g of Burgundy wine with the same carbonate and water. Wear gloves for the carbonate.