The CWI Cookbook

Posts Tagged ‘rum’

 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 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.

 1/2 c. Santa Cruz rum
1/4 c. water
1/4 lemon
1 tbs. sugar

Fill a tumbler two-thirds full of shaved ice and add the above. Stir with a spoon, and dress the top with fruit in season.

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

Comment: Anyone not sufficiently confused by 19th century cooking should take a plunge into drinking as it was done in the period. Here we see a drink called a “fix.” This particular one requires rum, but recipes exist for whiskey, gin, brandy and other versions.

The problem comes when we notice that we also have a recipe for a “Santa Cruz Fiz.” How do you tell the difference between a fix and a fiz? The fiz, or fizzes if you’re having more than one, has seltzer water in it, and a fix does not. Would that all problems were so easily solved.