Castile soap

Castile soap
A bar of Castile soap.

Castile soap is a name used in English-speaking countries for olive oil based soap made in a style similar to that originating in the Castile region of Spain.

Contents

History

The origins of Castile Soap can be traced back to The Levant where Aleppo soap artisans have been making an olive and laurel oil based hard soap for millennia.

It is commonly believed that the Crusaders brought Aleppo Soap back to Europe with them in the 11th century. Following the Crusades, production of this soap was extended to the whole Mediterranean area. The first European soap-making factories were created in the 12th century in Spain (Alicante, Malaga, Carthagene and Castile) and in Italy (Naples, Savone, Genoa, Bologna and Venice) and then, in the middle of the 15th century, in Marseille France, giving birth to Marseille soap. [1]

However, early soap makers in Europe did not have easy access to laurel oil and therefore dropped it from their formulations thereby creating an olive oil soap now known as Castile soap.

Importations of "Castile soap" through Antwerp appear in the London port books of 1567–68 (Dietz 1972), though the Oxford English Dictionary has no references to "Castile soap" earlier than 1616. In his article "A short history of soap", John Hunt maintains that barilla (an impure form of sodium carbonate obtained from plant ashes) was boiled with locally available olive oil, instead of tallow. By adding brine to the boiled liquor, the soap was made to float to the surface, where it could be skimmed off by the soap-boiler, leaving the excess lye and impurities to settle out. This produced what was probably the first white (Aleppo soap tends to be green) hard soap, which hardened further as it aged, without losing its whiteness, forming jabón de Castilla. Apothecaries knew the product by the Latin names of sapo hispaniensis (Spanish soap) or of sapo castilliensis (Castilian soap).[2]

See also

References

  1. ^ [1]. Retrieved September 2011.
  2. ^ Soap (data) from Pharmj.com. Retrieved May 2009.

External links


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Castile soap — Soap Soap, n. [OE. sope, AS. s[=a]pe; akin to D. zeep, G. seife, OHG. seifa, Icel. s[=a]pa, Sw. s?pa, Dan. s?be, and perhaps to AS. s[=i]pan to drip, MHG. s[=i]fen, and L. sebum tallow. Cf. {Saponaceous}.] A substance which dissolves in water,… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Castile soap — Cas tile soap [From Castile, or Castilia, a province in Spain, from which it originally came.] A kind of fine, hard, white or mottled soap, made with olive oil and soda; also, a soap made in imitation of the above described soap. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Castile soap — n. 〚ME Castell sope, after CASTILE, where first made〛 [also c s ] a fine, mild, hard soap prepared from olive oil and sodium hydroxide * * * …   Universalium

  • Castile soap — n. [ME Castell sope, after CASTILE, where first made] [also c s ] a fine, mild, hard soap prepared from olive oil and sodium hydroxide …   English World dictionary

  • Castile soap — /kæstil ˈsoʊp/ (say kasteel sohp) noun a soap made using olive oil. {from the Castile region of Spain where this style of soap originated} …  

  • castile soap — noun Usage: often capitalized C Etymology: Middle English castell sope, from Castell Castile Date: 15th century a fine hard bland soap made from olive oil and sodium hydroxide; also any of various similar soaps …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • castile soap — cas·tile soap (.)kas .tēl n a fine hard bland soap made from olive oil and sodium hydroxide also any of various similar soaps …   Medical dictionary

  • castile soap — type of soap that often contains olive oil …   English contemporary dictionary

  • castile soap — n. a fine hard white or mottled soap made with olive oil and soda. Etymology: as CASTILIAN …   Useful english dictionary

  • Castile — or Castilia or Castilla may refer to:;Places in Spain *Castile (historical region), an overview of the former kingdom, culture, and land that gradually merged with its neighbors to become the Kingdom of Spain *Old Castile, the northern region of… …   Wikipedia

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