The CWI Cookbook

Archive for the ‘Alchoholic Drink’ Category

Hard cider
1 egg
1 and 1/2 tsp. sugar
2 or 3 small lumps ice

Add all the above ingredients except the cider to a large tumbler, fill with cider, and shake well. This is a splendid drink and is very popular on the Mississippi River. It was General Harrison’s favorite beverage.

From Bon-Vivant’s Companion by Jerry Thomas, 1862

Comment: For many years this recipe has run with this note: “We have no clue who General Harrison was, but are shocked that a general officer would be drinking hard cider anyway. Shocked, we tell you!” Thanks to alert reader J. Henry Flake Jr. of Battery C, 32nd. Georgia Infantry/Artillery reenactment group, we can add that “Harrison was a Major General, Commander of the 32nd Infantry Regiment of Georgia.” Our thanks to Sgt. Flake for the solution to this puzzle!

Now that that mystery is clear up, the only one that remains is why anyone would want to consume an “egg nog” that is based on apple cider, hard or not. It would definitely be a unique addition to any historical presentation carried out during the holiday season.

 1 c. rum, preferably Santa Cruz
1/2 tsp. Curacao
1/2 tsp. raspberry syrup
Juice of half a lime (about 1 tbs. )
1 and a half tsp. powdered sugar

Place the above in a small bar glass, mix well, ornament with berries in season, and cool with shaved ice.

From Bon-Vivant’s Companion by Jerry Thomas, 1862

Comment: We don’t know if the variety of rum made in Santa Cruz was in fact the premier of is type, the standard against which all others were rated, or if the Santa Cruz Rum Makers Association had a liberal budget for payola, but Mr. Thomas seems to be particularly fond of recommending their products. Jamaican rum gets mentioned from time to time, as do Santo Domingo and a few others, but mostly it’s Santa Cruz all the way. Since rum is made from the leftover drippings from sugar cane processing, any island or tropic clime which supported the latter was just about guaranteed to produce the former.

 2 pints hot tea
3/4 lb. sugar
8 lemons
1 pint arrack [strong rum-like drink made in Indonesia]

Dissolve, in two pints of hot tea, three quarters of a pound of loaf sugar, having previously rubbed off, with a portion of the sugar, the peel of four lemons; then add the juice of eight lemons, and a pint of arrack.

From Bon Vivant’s Companion by Jerry Thomas, 1862

Comment: Arrack is a strong drink resembling rum (as they are both made from residues of sugar-cane processing) devised in Dutch colonial areas in Asia, particularly what is now Indonesia.

As sugar is no longer sold in rock-hard “loaf” form, it would probably be easier to rub the lemons into the sugar in a bowl rather than the other way around as described above. If enough lead time is available (several hours at least, several days even better) the lemon peel (yellow part only, not the white pith underneath) can be cut in thin strips and placed in the sugar to let it absorb the volatile flavoring oils, then strained out before the sugar is added to the punch.

Hot punches with alcohol are rare if not unknown today, but were very popular in the 19th century. Hot drinks may have been more desirable in a time when winters were colder and central heating was unknown.

The origin of the name of this beverage, or what “services” are having their “union” celebrated, is unknown. As Jerry Thomas bartended in both San Francisco before the Civil War and in New York City during and after that conflict, he came into contact with people from many nations and often collected drink recipes from them. Some of these sources are attributed in his book and some are not, and this, alas, is one of the latter.

 1 lb. ratafia cake (cake or cookies flavored with almond liqueur)
2 bottles port wine
1 bottle claret
1 bottle brandy
2 lemons, juice and grated peel
1 tbs. nutmeg
2 oz. almonds, blanched and ground
Rose water
Sugar to taste
Very fresh milk, quantity not specified
Cream

One pound of ratafia cakes pounded and steeped in two bottles of Port wine, one of claret, and one of brandy, the grated peel and juice of two lemons, one large nutmeg grated, and two ounces of sweet almonds, blanched and pounded with a little rose-water, and pounded sugar sufficient to make it sweet. Put all these ingredients, well mixed, into a large China bowl, or bowls of an equal size, and let the milk of a good cow be milked upon them; add a little rich cream and sifted loaf sugar, and cover it to keep it warm. It may be served out into glasses with a silver ladle.

From The Cook’s Own Book by “A Boston Housekeeper” (Mrs. N. K. M. Lee) Boston 1832.

Comment: Apparently a “China bowl” was a very large bowl indeed. Considering it needs to hold some pounds of solids and quite a few bottles of this and that as well as that very fresh milk, it would have to be. We would think this would be a little alarming to the cow, as well as painful for the cook to carry from the kitchen to the barn, but since Mrs. Lee is not available for questioning at the moment we have only her written words to go on.

The remarkable part of this recipe is really the addition of the almond cookies. Syllabubs are normally made entirely of liquid ingredients, so this would almost qualify as a “syllabub pudding” rather than a beverage. Make sure your silver ladle is properly shined up for the dispensing of this item.

 1/2 c. port wine
8 oz. brandy
Juice of 1/4 lemon
1 tbs. sugar
Berries or other fruit, in season

Fill the tumbler with shaved ice, shake well, and ornament with fruits in season, and serve with a straw.

From Bon-Vivant’s Companion, or, How To Mix Drinks by Jerry Thomas, 1862

Comment: This is a somewhat unusual drink–particularly a punch– for this period as it does not call for the addition of a good amount of water, seltzer, milk or other fluid which serves to dilute the alcohol content somewhat. This is straight brandy cut with port wine, and we doubt that the juice of half a lemon is going to have much of a dilutive effect. Load up on the ice as suggested, or prepare to be tipsy in very short order.

 1 pint cider
1 c. brandy
Sugar
Nutmeg
Milk

Put a pint of cider, a glass of brandy, sugar, and nutmeg, into a bowl, and milk into it; or pour warm milk from a large tea-pot some height into it.

From The Cook’s Own Book by “a Boston Housekeeper” (Mrs. N. K. M. Lee), Boston, 1832

Comment: We usually describe syllabubs as a sort of precursor to the milkshake, with booze, in part because they are usually subjected to a mixing process requiring either a “syllabub churn” or as much as an hour of beating with a whisk. This one merely calls for having the milk squirted fresh from the cow’s udder into the bowl, or else pouring previously-acquired milk from a vessel held high in the air over the remainder of the recipe. We leave the choice to the discretion, and cattle ownership status, of our readers.