CHAPTER XXIX.

=Syrups, Liqueurs, &c.= [Illustration: Antique Wine Vase. ] STRAWBERRY VINEGAR, OF DELICIOUS FLAVOUR. TAKE the stalks from the fruit which should be of a highly flavoured sort, quite ripe, fresh from the beds, and gathered in dry weather; weigh and put it into large glass jars, or wide-necked bottles, and to each pound pour about a pint and a half of fine pale white wine vinegar, which will answer the purpose better than the entirely colourless kind sold under the name of _distilled vinegar_, but which is often, we believe, merely pyroligneous acid greatly diluted.[180] Tie a thick paper over them, and let the strawberries remain from three to four days; then pour off the vinegar and empty them into a jelly-bag, or suspend them in a cloth, that all the liquid may drop from them without pressure; replace them with an equal weight of fresh fruit, pour the vinegar upon it, and three days afterwards repeat the same process, diminishing a little the proportion of strawberries, of which the flavour ought ultimately to overpower that of the vinegar. In from two to four days drain off the liquid very closely, and after having strained it through a linen or a flannel bag, weigh it, and mix with it an equal quantity of highly-refined sugar roughly powdered; when this is nearly dissolved, stir the syrup over a very clear fire until it has boiled for five minutes, and skim it _thoroughly_; pour it into a delicately clean stone pitcher, or into large china jugs, throw a thick folded cloth over and let it remain until the morrow. Put it into pint or half-pint bottles, and cork them lightly with new velvet corks; for if these be pressed in tightly at first, the bottles will sometimes burst:[181] in four or five days they may be closely corked, and stored in a dry and cool place. Damp destroys the colour and injures the flavour of these fine fruit-vinegars, of which a spoonful or two in a glass of water affords so agreeable a summer beverage, and one which, in many cases of illness, is so acceptable to invalids. They make also most admirable sauces for her Majesty’s pudding, common custard, batter, and various other simple and sweet light puddings. Footnote 180: For these fine acidulated fruit-syrups vinegar of the purest quality, but only of medium strength, is required. Footnote 181: We have known this to occur, but it has been when bought fruit has been used for the preparation. Strawberries (stalked), 4 lbs.; vinegar, 3 quarts: 3 to 4 days. Vinegar drained and poured on fresh strawberries, 4 lbs.: 3 days. Drained again on to fresh fruit, 3 to 4 lbs.: 2 to 4 days. To each pound of the vinegar, 1 lb. of highly-refined sugar: boiled 5 minutes. _Lightly_ corked, 4 to 5 days. _Obs._—Where there is a garden the fruit may be thrown into the vinegar as it ripens, within an interval of forty-eight hours, instead of being all put to infuse at once, and it must then remain in it a proportionate time: one or two days in addition to that specified will make no difference to the preparation. The enamelled stewpans are the best possible vessels to boil it in: but it may be simmered in a stone jar set into a pan of boiling water, when there is nothing more appropriate at hand; though the syrup does not usually keep so well when this last method is adopted. Raspberries and strawberries mixed will make a vinegar of very pleasant flavour; black currants also will afford an exceedingly useful syrup of the same kind. VERY FINE RASPBERRY VINEGAR. Fill glass jars or large wide-necked bottles, with very ripe but perfectly sound freshly gathered raspberries, freed from their stalks, and cover them with pale white wine vinegar: they may be left to infuse from a week to ten days without injury, or the vinegar may be poured from them in four or five, when more convenient. After it is drained off, turn the fruit into a sieve placed over a deep dish or bowl, as the juice will flow slowly from it for many hours; put fresh raspberries into the bottles, and pour the vinegar back upon them; two or three days later change the fruit again, and when it has stood the same space of time, drain the whole of the vinegar closely from it, pass it through a jelly-bag or thick linen cloth, and boil it gently for four or five minutes with its weight of good sugar roughly powdered, or a pound and a quarter to the exact pint, and be very careful to remove the scum entirely as it rises. On the following day bottle the syrup, observing the directions which we have given for the strawberry vinegar. When the fruit is scarce it may be changed twice only, and left a few days longer in the vinegar. Raspberries, 6 lbs.; vinegar, 9 pints: 7 to 10 days. Vinegar drained on to fresh raspberries (6 lbs. of): 3 to 5 days. Poured again on fresh raspberries, 6 lbs.: 3 to 5 days. Boiled 5 minutes with its weight of sugar. _Obs._—When the process of sugar-boiling is well understood, it will be found an improvement to boil that which is used for raspberry or strawberry vinegar to candy height before the liquid is mixed with it; all the scum may then be removed with a couple of minutes’ simmering, and the flavour of the fruit will be more perfectly preserved. For more particular directions as to the mode of proceeding, the chapter of confectionary may be consulted. FINE CURRANT SYRUP, OR SIROP DE GROSEILLES. Express the juice from some fine ripe red currants, which have been gathered in dry weather, and stripped from the stalks; strain, and put it into a new, or a perfectly clean and dry earthen pitcher, and let it stand in a cellar or in some cool place for twenty-four hours, or longer, should it not then appear perfectly curdled. Pour it gently into a fine hair-sieve, and let the clear juice drain through without pressure; pass it through a jelly-bag, or a closely-woven cloth, weigh it, and add as much _good_ sugar broken small as there is of the juice, and when this is dissolved turn the syrup into a preserving-pan or stewpan, and boil it gently for four or five minutes being careful to clear off all the scum. In twelve hours afterwards the syrup may be put into small dry bottles, and corked and stored in a cool, but dry place. It is a most agreeable preparation, retaining perfectly the flavour of the fresh fruit; and mixed with water, it affords, like strawberry or raspberry vinegar, a delicious summer beverage, and one which is peculiarly adapted to invalids. It makes also a fine isinglass jelly, and an incomparable sweet-pudding sauce. A portion of raspberry or cherry-juice may be mixed with that of the currants at pleasure. CHERRY-BRANDY. (_Tappington Everard Receipt._) Fill to about two-thirds of their depth, some wide-necked bottles with the small cherries called in the markets brandy-blacks; pour in sufficient sifted sugar to fill up more than half of the remaining space, and then as much good French brandy as will cover the fruit, and reach to the necks of the bottles. Cork them securely, and let them stand for two months before they are opened: the liqueur poured from the cherries will be excellent, and the fruit itself very good. The morella cherry-brandy of the preceding chapter would often be preferred to this. OXFORD PUNCH. Extract the essence from the rinds of three lemons by rubbing them with sugar in lumps; put these into a large jug with the peel of two Seville oranges, of two lemons cut extremely thin, the juice of four Seville oranges and of ten lemons, and six glasses of calf’s feet jelly in a liquid state. Stir these well together, pour to them two quarts of boiling water, cover the jug closely, and set it near the fire for a quarter of an hour, then strain the mixture through a sieve into a punch bowl or jug, sweeten it with a bottle of capillaire, add half a pint of white wine, a pint of French brandy, a pint of Jamaica rum, and a bottle of orange shrub; stir the punch as the spirit is poured in. If not sufficiently sweet, add sugar in small quantities, or a spoonful or two of capillaire. Rinds of lemons rubbed with sugar, 3; thin peel of lemons, 2; of Seville oranges, 2; juice of 4 Seville oranges, and 10 lemons; calf’s feet jelly, 6 glasses; water, 2 quarts: 1/4 hour. Capillaire, 1 bottle; white wine, 1/2 pint; French brandy and Jamaica rum, each 1 pint; orange shrub, 1 bottle. OXFORD RECEIPT FOR BISHOP. [Illustration] “Make several incisions in the rind of a lemon, stick cloves in these, and roast the lemon by a slow fire. Put small but equal quantities of cinnamon, cloves, mace, and allspice, with a race of ginger, into a saucepan with half a pint of water: let it boil until it is reduced one-half. Boil one bottle of port wine, burn a portion of the spirit out of it by applying a lighted paper to the saucepan; put the roasted lemon and spice into the wine; stir it up well, and let it stand near the fire ten minutes. Rub a few knobs of sugar on the rind of a lemon, put the sugar into a bowl or jug, with the juice of half a lemon (not roasted), pour the wine into it, grate in some nutmeg, sweeten it to the taste, and serve it up with the lemon and spice floating in it.” _Obs._—Bishop is frequently made with a Seville orange stuck with cloves and slowly roasted, and its flavour to many tastes is infinitely finer than that of the lemon. CAMBRIDGE MILK PUNCH. Throw into two quarts of new milk the very thinly-pared rind of a fine lemon, and half a pound of good sugar in lumps; bring it slowly to boil, take out the lemon-rind, draw it from the fire, and stir quickly in a couple of well-whisked eggs which have been mixed with less than half a pint of cold milk, and strained though a sieve; the milk must not of course be allowed to boil after these are mixed with it. Add gradually a pint of rum, and half a pint of brandy; mill the punch to a froth, and serve it immediately with quite warm glasses. At the University the lemon-rind is usually omitted, but it is a great improvement to the flavour of the beverage. The sugar and spirit can be otherwise apportioned to the taste; and we would recommend the yolks of three eggs, or of four, in preference to the two whole ones. New milk, 2 quarts; rind, 1 large lemon; fresh eggs, 2; cold milk, 1/2 pint; rum, 1 pint; brandy, 1/2 pint. TO MULL WINE. (_An excellent French Receipt._) Boil in a wineglassful and a half of water, a quarter of an ounce of spice (cinnamon, ginger slightly bruised, and cloves), with three ounces of fine sugar, until they form a thick syrup, which must not on any account be allowed to burn. Pour in a pint of port wine, and stir it gently until it is on the _point_ of boiling only: it should then be served immediately. The addition of a strip or two of orange-rind cut extremely thin, gives to this beverage the flavour of bishop. In France light claret takes the place of port wine in making it, and the better kinds of _vin ordinaire_ are very palatable thus prepared. Water, 1-1/2 wineglassful; spice, 1/4 oz., of which fine cloves, 24, and of remainder, rather more ginger than cinnamon; sugar 3 oz.: 15 to 20 minutes. Port wine or claret, 1 pint; orange-rind, if used, to be boiled with the spice. _Obs._—Sherry, or very fine raisin or ginger wine, prepared as above, and stirred hot to the yolks of four fresh eggs, will make good egg-wine. A BIRTHDAY SYLLABUB. Put into a large bowl half a pound of sugar broken small, and pour on it the strained juice of a couple of fresh lemons; stir these well together, and add to them a pint of port wine, a pint of sherry, and half a pint of brandy; grate in a fine nutmeg, place the bowl under the cow, and milk it full. In serving it put a portion of the curd into each glass, fill it up with whey, and pour a little rich cream on the top. The rind of a lemon may be rasped on part of the sugar when the flavour is liked, but it is not usually added. Juice of lemons, 2; sugar, 1/2 lb. or more; port wine, 1 pint; sherry 1 pint; brandy, 1/2 pint; nutmeg, 1; milk from the cow, 2 quarts. _Obs._—We can testify to the excellence of this receipt. AN ADMIRABLE COOL CUP. Weigh six ounces of sugar in lumps, and extract the essence from the rind of a large fresh lemon by rubbing them upon it; then put them into a deep jug, and add the strained juice of one lemon and a half. When the sugar is dissolved, pour in a bottle of good cider, and three large wineglassesful of sherry; add nearly half a small nutmeg lightly grated, and serve the cup with or without some sprigs of fresh balm or borage in it. Brandy is sometimes added to it, but is, we think, no improvement. If closely covered down, and placed on ice for a short time, it will be more agreeable as a summer beverage. THE REGENT’S, OR GEORGE THE FOURTH’S, PUNCH. Pare as thin as possible the rinds of two China oranges, of two lemons, and of one Seville orange, and infuse them for an hour in half a pint of thin cold syrup; then add to them the juice of the fruit. Make a pint of strong green tea, sweeten it well with fine sugar, and when it is quite cold, add it to the fruit and syrup, with a glass of the best old Jamaica rum, a glass of brandy, one of arrack, one of pine-apple syrup, and two bottles of champagne; pass the whole through a fine lawn sieve until it is perfectly clear, then bottle, and put it into ice until dinner is served. We are indebted for this receipt to a person who made the punch daily for the prince’s table, at Carlton palace, for six months; it has been in our possession some years, and may be relied on. Rinds and juice of 2 China oranges, 2 lemons, and of 1 Seville orange; syrup, 1/2 pint; strong green tea, sweetened, 1 pint; best old Jamaica rum, arrack, French brandy (vieux cognac), and pine-apple syrup, each 1 glassful; champagne, 2 bottles. In ice for a couple of hours. MINT JULEP, AN AMERICAN RECEIPT. “Strip the tender leaves of mint into a tumbler, and add to them as much wine, brandy, or any other spirit, as you wish to take. Put some pounded ice into a second tumbler; pour this on the mint and brandy, and continue to pour the mixture from one tumbler to the other until the whole is sufficiently impregnated with the flavour of the mint, which is extracted by the particles of the ice coming into brisk contact when changed from one vessel to the other. Now place the glass in a larger one, containing pounded ice: on taking it out of which it will be covered with frost-work.” _Obs._—We apprehend that this preparation is, like most other iced American beverages, to be imbibed through a reed: the receipt, which was contributed by an American gentleman, is somewhat vague. DELICIOUS MILK LEMONADE. Dissolve six ounces of loaf sugar in a pint of boiling water, and mix with them a quarter of a pint of lemon-juice, and the same quantity of sherry; then add three-quarters of a pint of cold milk, stir the whole well together, and pass it through a jelly-bag till clear. EXCELLENT PORTABLE LEMONADE. Rasp, with a quarter-pound of sugar, the rind of a very fine juicy lemon, reduce it to powder, and pour on it the strained juice of the fruit. Press the mixture into a jar, and when wanted for use dissolve a tablespoonful of it in a glass of water. It will keep a considerable time. If too sweet for the taste of the drinker, a very small portion of citric acid may be added when it is taken. EXCELLENT BARLEY WATER. (_Poor Xury’s receipt._) Wipe very clean, by rolling it in a soft cloth, two tablespoonsful of pearl barley; put it into a quart jug, with a lump or two of sugar, a grain or two of salt, and a strip of lemon-peel, cut thin; fill up the jug with boiling water and keep the mixture gently stirred for some minutes; then cover it down, and let it stand until perfectly cold. In twelve hours, or less, it will be fit for use; but it is better when made over night. If these directions be followed, the barley-water will be comparatively clear, and very soft and pleasant to drink. A glass of calf’s feet jelly added to the barley is an infinite improvement; but as lemon-rind is often extremely unpalatable to invalids, their taste should be consulted before that ingredient is added, as it should be also for the degree of sweetness that is desired. After the barley-water has been poured off once, the jug may be filled with boiling water a second time, and even a third time with advantage. RAISIN WINE, WHICH, IF LONG KEPT, REALLY RESEMBLES FOREIGN. First boil the water which is to be used for the wine, and let it again become perfectly cold; then put into a sound sweet cask eight pounds of fine Malaga raisins for each gallon that is to be used, taking out only the quite large stalks; the fruit and water may be put in alternately until the cask is _full_, the raisins being well pressed down in it; lay the bung lightly over, stir the wine every day or two, and keep it full by the addition of water that has, like the first, been boiled, but which must always be quite cold when it is used. So soon as the fermentation has entirely ceased, which may be in from six to seven weeks, press in the bung, and leave the wine untouched for twelve months; draw it off then into a clean cask, and fine it, if necessary, with isinglass, tied in a muslin and suspended in it. We have not ourselves had this receipt tried; but we have tasted wine made by it which had been five years kept, and which so much resembled a rich foreign wine that we could with difficulty believe it was English-made. To each gallon of water (boiled and left till cold) 8 lbs. of fine Malaga raisins; to stand 12 months; then to be drawn off and fined. _Obs._—The refuse raisins make admirable vinegar if fresh water be poured to them, and the cask placed in the sun. March is the best time for making the wine. VERY GOOD ELDERBERRY WINE. Strip the berries, which should be ripe and fresh, and gathered on a dry day, clean from the stalks, and measure them into a tub or large earthen pan. Pour boiling water on them, in the proportion of two gallons to three of berries, press them down into the liquor, cover them closely, and let them remain until the following day; then strain the juice from the fruit through a sieve or cloth, and, when this is done, squeeze from the berries the greater part of the remaining juice; mix it with that which was first poured off, measure the whole, add to it three pounds of sugar, three-quarters of an ounce of cloves, and one ounce of ginger, for every gallon, and boil it twenty minutes, keeping it thoroughly skimmed. Put it, when something more than milk-warm, into a perfectly dry and sweet cask (or if but a _very_ small quantity of wine be made, into large stone bottles, which answer for the purpose quite well), fill this entirely, and pour very gently into the bung hole a _large_ spoonful of new yeast mixed with a very small quantity of the wine. VERY GOOD GINGER WINE. Boil together, for half an hour, fourteen quarts of water, twelve pounds of sugar, a quarter of a pound of the best ginger bruised, and the thin rinds of six large lemons. Put the whole, when milk-warm, into a clean dry cask, with the juice of the lemons, and half a pound of sun raisins; add one large spoonful of thick yeast, and stir the wine every day for ten days. When it has ceased to ferment, add an ounce of isinglass, and a pint of brandy; bung the wine close, and in two months it will be fit to bottle, but must remain longer in the cask should it be too sweet. When it can be obtained, substitute for the water in this receipt cider fresh from the press, which will give a very superior wine. Water, 14 quarts; sugar, 12 pounds; lemon-rinds, 6: ginger, 1/4 lb.: 1/2 hour. Juice of lemons, 6; raisins, 1/2 lb.; yeast, 1 spoonful; isinglass, 1 oz.; brandy, 1 pint. EXCELLENT ORANGE WINE. Take half a chest of Seville oranges, pare off the rinds as thin as possible, put two-thirds of them into six gallons of water, and let them remain for twenty-four hours. Squeeze the oranges (which ought to yield seven or eight quarts of juice) through a sieve into a pan, and as they are done throw them into six gallons more of water; let them be washed well in it with the hands, and then put into another six gallons of water and left until the following day. For each gallon of wine, put into the cask three pounds and a quarter of loaf sugar, and the liquor strained clear from the rinds and pulp. Wash these again and again, should more liquor be required to fill the cask; but do not at any time add raw water. Stir the wine daily until the sugar is perfectly dissolved, and let it ferment from four to five weeks; add to it two bottles of brandy, stop it down, and in twelve months it will be fit to bottle. _Obs._—The excellence of all wine depends so much upon the fermentation being properly conducted, that unless the mode of regulating this be understood by the maker, there will always be great danger of failure in the operation. There is, we believe, an excellent work upon the subject by Mr. McCulloch, which the reader who needs information upon it will do well to consult: our own experience is too slight to enable us to multiply our receipts. THE COUNSELLOR’S CUP. Rub a quarter of a pound of sugar upon the rinds of two fine China oranges, put it into an enamelled stewpan, and pour on it a pint of water; let these boil gently for two or three minutes, then pour in half a pint of China orange-juice mixed with that of one lemon, and previously strained through muslin; the moment this begins to boil, pour it into a hot jug, and stir to it half a pint of the best Cognac brandy. Serve it immediately. When preferred cold, prepare the syrup with the juice of the fruit, cover it down in the jug, set it into ice, or into a very cool place, and add the spirit only just before the cup is wanted for table. Should the fruit be very acid, increase the proportion of sugar. A few slight strips of the rind of a Seville orange cut very thin, would to many tastes be an agreeable addition to the beverage; which should be made always with fresh sound fruit. Sugar, 4 oz. (6 if needed); rasped rinds of China oranges, 2; water, 1 pint: 3 minutes. Strained juice of China oranges mixed with that of 1 large lemon, 1/2 pint; best Cognac brandy, 1/2 pint. _Obs._—For a large cup these proportions must be doubled. Sherry or Madeira substituted for the brandy, will make a pleasant cool cup of this kind; and equal parts of well made lemonade, and of any good light white wine, thoroughly cooled down, will give another agreeable beverage for warm weather; but a much smaller proportion of wine would better adapt it to many tastes. ------------------------------------------------------------------------