The CWI Cookbook

Posts Tagged ‘brandy’

 Ripe raspberries
1 lb. white sugar
2 qts. sherry OR 1 qt. Cognac brandy

Bruise the finest ripe raspberries with the back of a spoon; strain them through a flannel bag into a stone jar, allowing a pound of fine powdered loaf sugar to each quart of juice; stir it well together, and cover it down; let it stand for three days, stirring it up each day; pour off the clear, and put two quarts of sherry, or one of Cognac brandy, to each quart of juice; bottle it off; it will be fit for the glass in a fortnight [two weeks].

The Cook’s Oracle by William Kitchiner, MD, New York, 1829

Comment: This is not really so much a recipe for “how to make raspberry wine or brandy” (sorry Dr. Kitchiner) as it is for “how to add raspberry flavoring to wine or brandy you already have on hand.” We confess we have never actually tried this recipe, due to a shortage of affordable raspberries in the quantity needed, so we are not exactly sure what Dr. K. means about that “pour off the clear” instruction. It does suggest that a glass or clear plastic bottle might be the preferred vessel to use during the berry-juice-ripening part of the process. With this one will be able to see where the clear part ceases and the juice part commences, so as to avoid wasting any of the latter.

 1 qt. rum, dark if possible
1 qt. cognac or brandy
1 lb. sugar, cubes if available
4 lemons
3 qts. boiling water
1 tsp. nutmeg

Rub the sugar [if cubed] over the lemons until it has absorbed all the yellow part of the skins, then put the sugar into a punch bowl. Pour in the boiling water, stirring well. Add the rum, brandy and nutmeg, mix again, and the punch will be ready to serve.

As we have said before, it is very important, in making good punch, that all the ingredients are thoroughly incorporated. To insure success, the process of mixing must be diligently attended to. Allow a quart of punch for four persons; but this information must be taken cum grano salis for the capacities of persons for this kind of beverage are generally supposed to vary considerably.

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

Comment: Sugar in the 19th century was sold in solid blocks or cubes, from which pieces were chipped off for use in individual recipes or beverages. Thus it made sense to tell readers to “rub the sugar over the lemons,” whereas today it would be more logical to put the sugar in a bowl and rub the lemons in it, rotating the fruit and stirring the sugar, until as much yellow has been transferred as can be.

And yes, it was more common in the 19th century for people of average education to be acquainted with Latin, but it was still an act of some snobbery to use the language where it was not exactly needed. “Cum grano salis” means “with a grain of salt,” which is something of an understatement given the amount of liquor in this recipe divided by the number of suggested drinkers.

 1 qt. sugar water
Whiskey or brandy
Juice of sour oranges

To one quart of boiling syrup taken from the kettles, add whiskey or brandy to suit the patient. Flavor with the juice of sour oranges.

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

Comment: Jerry Thomas notes this is “From a recipe in the possession of Col. T. B. Thorpe”, author and illustrator for New York magazines in the 1860s. The note about “boiling syrup taken from the kettles,” combined with the fact that the name of the recipe includes “Louisiana,” suggests that this was first made by people in the sugar-cane processing business. The “syrup” was presumably the earliest stage of processing of the juice squeezed from the cane, but just how sweet that would be is unclear.

The one use for which alcohol was accepted by even the most hectoring moralists was as medicine, explaining the phrasing advising adding booze “to suit the patient.”

 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.