Part 217 (2/2)

_Seasonable_.--Make this in July or August, when raspberries are most plentiful.

RHUBARB WINE.

1829. INGREDIENTS.--To every 5 lbs. of rhubarb pulp allow 1 gallon of cold spring water; to every gallon of liquor allow 3 lbs. of loaf sugar, 1/2 oz. of isingla.s.s, the rind of 1 lemon.

_Mode_.--Gather the rhubarb about the middle of May; wipe it with a wet cloth, and, with a mallet, bruise it in a large wooden tub or other convenient means. When reduced to a pulp, weigh it, and to every 5 lbs.

add 1 gallon of cold spring water; let these remain for 3 days, stirring 3 or 4 times a day; and, on the fourth day, press the pulp through a hair sieve; put the liquor into a tub, and to every gallon put 3 lbs. of loaf sugar; stir in the sugar until it is quite dissolved, and add the lemon-rind; let the liquor remain, and, in 4, 5, or 6 days, the fermentation will begin to subside, and a crust or head will be formed, which should be skimmed off, or the liquor drawn from it, when the crust begins to crack or separate. Put the wine into a cask, and if, after that, it ferments, rack it off into another cask, and in a fortnight stop it down. If the wine should have lost any of its original sweetness, add a little more loaf sugar, taking care that the cask is full. Bottle it off in February or March, and in the summer it should be fit to drink. It will improve greatly by keeping; and, should a very brilliant colour be desired, add a little currant-juice.

_Seasonable_.--Make this about the middle of May.

WELSH NECTAR.

1830. INGREDIENTS.--1 lb. of raisins, 3 lemons, 2 lbs. of loaf sugar, 2 gallons of boiling water.

_Mode_.--Cut the peel of the lemons very thin, pour upon it the boiling water, and, when cool, add the strained juice of the lemons, the sugar, and the raisins, stoned and chopped very fine. Let it stand 4 or 5 days, stirring it every day; then strain it through a jelly-bag, and bottle it for present use.

_Time_.--4 or 5 days. _Average cost_, 1s. 9d.

_Sufficient_ to make 2 gallons.

CLARET-CUP.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CLARET CUP.]

1831. INGREDIENTS.--1 bottle of claret, 1 bottle of soda-water, about 1/2 lb. of pounded ice, 4 tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar, 1/4 teaspoonful of grated nutmeg, 1 liqueur-gla.s.s of Maraschino, a sprig of green borage.

_Mode_.--Put all the ingredients into a silver cup, regulating the proportion of ice by the state of the weather: if very warm, a larger quant.i.ty would be necessary. Hand the cup round with a clean napkin pa.s.sed through one of the handles, that the edge of the cup may be wiped after each guest has partaken of the contents thereof.

_Seasonable_ in summer.

CLARETS.--All those wines called in England clarets are the produce of the country round Bordeaux, or the Bordelais; but it is remarkable that there is no pure wine in France known by the name of claret, which is a corruption of _clairet_, a term that is applied there to any red or rose-coloured wine. Round Bordeaux are produced a number of wines of the first quality, which pa.s.s under the name simply of _vins de Bordeaux_, or have the designation of the particular district where they are made; as Lafitte, Latour, &c. The clarets brought to the English market are frequently prepared for it by the wine-growers by mixing together several Bordeaux wines, or by adding to them a portion of some other wines; but in France the pure wines are carefully preserved distinct. The genuine wines of Bordeaux are of great variety, that part being one of the most distinguished in France; and the princ.i.p.al vineyards are those of Medoc, Palus, Graves, and Blanche, the product of each having characters considerably different.

CHAMPAGNE-CUP.

1832. INGREDIENTS.--1 quart bottle of champagne, 2 bottles of soda-water, 1 liqueur-gla.s.s of brandy or Curacoa, 2 tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar, 1 lb. of pounded ice, a sprig of green borage.

_Mode_.--Put all the ingredients into a silver cup; stir them together, and serve the same as claret-cup No. 1831. Should the above proportion of sugar not be found sufficient to suit some tastes, increase the quant.i.ty. When borage is not easily obtainable, subst.i.tute for it a few slices of cuc.u.mber-rind.

_Seasonable_.--Suitable for pic-nics, b.a.l.l.s, weddings, and other festive occasions.

CHAMPAGNE.--This, the most celebrated of French wines, is the produce chiefly of the province of that name, and is generally understood in England to be a brisk, effervescing, or sparkling white wine, of a very fine flavour; but this is only one of the varieties of this cla.s.s. There is both red and white champagne, and each of these may be either still or brisk. There are the sparkling wines (mousseux), and the still wines (non-mousseux).

The brisk are in general the most highly esteemed, or, at least, are the most popular in this country, on account of their delicate flavour and the agreeable pungency which they derive from the carbonic acid they contain, and to which they owe their briskness.

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