GINGER BEER.
1833. INGREDIENTS.--2-1/2 lbs. of loaf sugar, 1-1/2 oz. of bruised ginger, 1 oz. of cream of tartar, the rind and juice of 2 lemons, 3 gallons of boiling water, 2 large tablespoonfuls of thick and fresh brewer"s yeast.
_Mode_.--Peel the lemons, squeeze the juice, strain it, and put the peel and juice into a large earthen pan, with the bruised ginger, cream of tartar, and loaf sugar. Pour over these ingredients 3 gallons of boiling water; let it stand until just warm, when add the yeast, which should be thick and perfectly fresh. Stir the contents of the pan well, and let them remain near the fire all night, covering the pan over with a cloth.
The next day skim off the yeast, and pour the liquor carefully into another vessel, leaving the sediment; then bottle immediately, and tie the corks down, and in 3 days the ginger beer will be fit for use. For some tastes, the above proportion of sugar may be found rather too large, when it may be diminished; but the beer will not keep so long good.
_Average cost_ for this quant.i.ty, 2s.; or 1/2d. per bottle.
_Sufficient_ to fill 4 dozen ginger-beer bottles.
_Seasonable_.--This should be made during the summer months.
LEMONADE.
1834. INGREDIENTS--The rind of 2 lemons, the juice of 3 large or 4 small ones, 1 lb. of loaf sugar, 1 quart of boiling water.
_Mode_.--Rub some of the sugar, in lumps, on 2 of the lemons until they have imbibed all the oil from them, and put it with the remainder of the sugar into a jug; add the lemon-juice (but no pips), and pour over the whole a quart of boiling water. When the sugar is dissolved, strain the lemonade through a fine sieve or piece of muslin, and, when cool, it will be ready for use. The lemonade will be much improved by having the white of an egg beaten up in it; a little sherry mixed with it, also, makes this beverage much nicer.
_Average cost_, 6d. per quart.
LEMONADE--"There is a current opinion among women" says Brillat Savarin "which every year causes the death of many young women,--that acids, especially vinegar, are preventives of obesity. Beyond all doubt, acids have the effect of destroying obesity; but they also destroy health and freshness. Lemonade is, of all acids, the most harmless; but few stomachs can resist it long. I knew, in 1776, at Dijon, a young lady of great beauty, to whom I was attached by bonds of friendship, great, almost as those of love. One day, when she had for some time gradually grown pale and thin (previously she had a slight embonpoint), she told me in confidence, that as her young friends had ridiculed her for being fat, she had, to counteract the tendency, been in the habit every day of drinking a large gla.s.s of vinaigre. She died at eighteen years of age, from the effects of these potions."
TO MAKE NEGUS.
1835. INGREDIENTS.--To every pint of port wine allow 1 quart of boiling water, 1/4 lb. of sugar, 1 lemon, grated nutmeg to taste.
_Mode_.--As this beverage is more usually drunk at children"s parties than at any other, the wine need not be very old or expensive for the purpose, a new fruity wine answering very well for it. Put the wine into a jug, rub some lumps of sugar (equal to 1/4 lb.) on the lemon-rind until all the yellow part of the skin is absorbed, then squeeze the juice, and strain it. Add the sugar and lemon-juice to the port wine, with the grated nutmeg; pour over it the boiling water, cover the jug, and, when the beverage has cooled a little, it will be fit for use.
Negus may also be made of sherry, or any other sweet white wine, but is more usually made of port than of any other beverage.
_Sufficient_--Allow 1 pint of wine, with the other ingredients in proportion, for a party of 9 or 10 children.
A PLEASANT DRINK FOR WARM WEATHER.
1836. INGREDIENTS.--To every 1-1/2 pint of good ale allow 1 bottle of ginger beer. _Mode_.--For this beverage the ginger beer must be in an effervescing state, and the beer not in the least turned or sour. Mix them together, and drink immediately. The draught is refreshing and wholesome, as the ginger corrects the action of the beer. It does not deteriorate by standing a little, but, of course, is better when taken fresh.
FOR A SUMMER DRAUGHT.
1837. INGREDIENTS.--The juice of 1 lemon, a tumbler-ful of cold water, pounded sugar to taste, 4 small teaspoonful of carbonate of soda.
_Mode_.--Squeeze the juice from the lemon; strain, and add it to the water, with sufficient pounded sugar to sweeten the whole nicely. When well mixed, put in the soda, stir well, and drink while the mixture is in an effervescing state.
TO MULL WINE.
1838. INGREDIENTS.--To every pint of wine allow 1 large cupful of water, sugar and spice to taste.
_Mode_.--In making preparations like the above, it is very difficult to give the exact proportions of ingredients like sugar and spice, as what quant.i.ty might suit one person would be to another quite distasteful.
Boil the spice in the water until the flavour is extracted, then add the wine and sugar, and bring the whole to the boiling-point, when serve with strips of crisp dry toast, or with biscuits. The spices usually used for mulled wine are cloves, grated nutmeg, and cinnamon or mace.
Any kind of wine may be mulled, but port and claret are those usually selected for the purpose; and the latter requires a very large proportion of sugar. The vessel that the wine is boiled in must be delicately clean, and should be kept exclusively for the purpose. Small tin warmers may be purchased for a trifle, which are more suitable than saucepans, as, if the latter are not scrupulously clean, they will spoil the wine, by imparting to it a very disagreeable flavour. These warmers should be used for no other purposes.
TO MAKE HOT PUNCH.
1839. INGREDIENTS.--1/2 pint of rum, 1/2 pint of brandy, 1/4 lb. of sugar, 1 large lemon, 1/2 teaspoonful of nutmeg, 1 pint of boiling water.
[Ill.u.s.tration: PUNCH-BOWL AND LADLE.]
_Mode_.--Rub the sugar over the lemon until it has absorbed all the yellow part of the skin, then put the sugar into a punchbowl; add the lemon-juice (free from pips), and mix these two ingredients well together. Pour over them the boiling water, stir well together, add the rum, brandy, and nutmeg; mix thoroughly, and the punch will be ready to serve. It is very important in making good punch that all the ingredients are thoroughly incorporated; and, to insure success, the processes of mixing must be diligently attended to.
_Sufficient_.--Allow a quart for 4 persons; but this information must be taken _c.u.m grano salis_; for the capacities of persons for this kind of beverage are generally supposed to vary considerably.
PUNCH is a beverage made of various spirituous liquors or wine, hot water, the acid juice of fruits, and sugar. It is considered to be very intoxicating; but this is probably because the spirit, being partly sheathed by the mucilaginous juice and the sugar, its strength does not appear to the taste so great as it really is. Punch, which was almost universally drunk among the middle cla.s.ses about fifty or sixty years ago, has almost disappeared from our domestic tables, being superseded by wine.
There are many different varieties of punch. It is sometimes kept cold in bottles, and makes a most agreeable summer drink.
In Scotland, instead of the Madeira or sherry generally used in its manufacture, whiskey is subst.i.tuted, and then its insidious properties are more than usually felt. Where fresh lemons cannot be had for punch or similar beverages, crystallized citric acid and a few drops of the essence of lemon will be very nearly the same thing. In the composition of "Regent"s punch," champagne, brandy, and _veritable Martinique_ are required; "Norfolk punch"
requires Seville oranges; "Milk punch" may be extemporized by adding a little hot milk to lemonade, and then straining it through a jelly-bag. Then there are "Wine punch," "Tea punch,"
and "French punch," made with lemons, spirits, and wine, in fantastic proportions. But of all the compounds of these materials, perhaps, for a _summer_ drink, the North-American "mint julep" is the most inviting. Captain Marryat gives the following recipe for its preparation:--"Put into a tumbler about a dozen sprigs of the tender shoots of mint; upon them put a spoonful of white sugar, and equal proportions of peach and common brandy, so as to fill up one third, or, perhaps, a little less; then take rasped or pounded ice, and fill up the tumbler.
Epicures rub the lips of the tumbler with a piece of fresh pineapple; and the tumbler itself is very often encrusted outside with stalact.i.tes of ice. As the ice melts, you drink."
The Virginians, say Captain Marryat, claim the merit of having invented this superb compound; but, from a pa.s.sage in the "Comus" of Milton, he claims it for his own country.
WHISKEY CORDIAL.
1840. INGREDIENTS.--1 lb. of ripe white currants, the rind of 2 lemons, 1/4 oz. of grated ginger, 1 quart of whiskey, 1 lb. of lump sugar.
_Mode_.--Strip the currants from the stalks; put them into a large jug; add the lemon-rind, ginger, and whiskey; cover the jug closely, and let it remain covered for 24 hours. Strain through a hair sieve, add the lump sugar, and let it stand 12 hours longer; then bottle, and cork well.
_Time_.--To stand 24 hours before being strained; 12 hours after the sugar is added.
_Seasonable_.--Make this in July.
[Ill.u.s.tration]
INVALID COOKERY.
CHAPTER x.x.xVIII.
A FEW RULES TO BE OBSERVED IN COOKING FOR INVALIDS.
1841. LET all the kitchen utensils used in the preparation of invalids"
cookery be delicately and "scrupulously clean;" if this is not the case, a disagreeable flavour may be imparted to the preparation, which flavour may disgust, and prevent the patient from partaking of the refreshment when brought to him or her.
1842. For invalids, never make a large quant.i.ty of one thing, as they seldom require much at a time; and it is desirable that variety be provided for them.