Castile soap

Castile soap is a name used in English-speaking countries for soap made with olive oil originating from the Castile region of Spain.

Importations of "Castile soap" through Antwerp appear in the London port books of 1567–68 (Dietz 1972), though the OED 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 hard soap, which hardened further as it was aged, without losing its whiteness, forming jabón de Castilla. To an apothecary it was known as sapo hispaniensis or sapo castilliensis.

Another theory is that modern-day castile soaps are conceptually similar to, and most likely derived from the so-called white soap that has traditionally been manufactured in Northern Italy since the early 1600s. From Venice, where the oldest white soap factories were established, olive oil-based soap reached the Greek island of Crete first, and Southern France (Marseille) at a later stage.

Production of soap was widespread during the Medieval period. Soap is made by mixing oil or fat with an alkaline substance (the Arabic word al-kali is the origin), made from ashes of certain plants. Emulsified, the mixture turns into solid soap. Castile soap from Spain became famous, and the Crusaders discovered soap-making centers in the eastern Mediterranean lands. Olive oil became the preferred type of oil for soap in Spain and around the Mediterranean. Castile soap is still sold in stores today.

References

• Garzena, Patrizia & Tadiello, Marina (2004). Soap Naturally : Ingredients, methods and recipes for natural handmade soap (1st ed.). Programmer Publishing. ISBN 0-9756764-0-7
• Dietz, Brian (editor) 1972. The port and trade of early Elizabethan London: documents (London Record Society).

External links

• Castile Soap Recipes - Make your own Castile Soap
• Hunt, John A. (1999). "A short history of soap", The Pharmaceutical Journal Vol. 263, No. 7076, pp. 985-989.

Soap (data) from Pharmj.com. Retrieved May 2009.