LEMONADE

 

Gerard ter Borch, The Glass of Lemonade, 1663

 

Lemonade is the most popular summer treat but recipes didn't appear in cookbooks until the second half of the nineteenth century when lemon reamers were also invented. A detailed recipe for homemade lemonade was featured by Lizzie Heritage in Cassell's New Universal Cookery (1894):

"L e m o n a d e. _ Required: two lemons, a pint of boiling water, and about an ounce to two ounces of lump sugar. Cost, about 2d. to 3d. The lemons should be juicy, and the skin wiped with a clean cloth; by rolling the lemons on a board they will yield the juice better. Take the rind off thinly, and put in a jug with the sugar, then squeeze the juice in, and pour the boiling water over; stir with a wooden spoon, and cover with a clean crumpled cloth, stuffed in the neck of the jug. Set by to get cold. This is sometimes iced. There are cases when lemonade is more welcome without sugar. The acidity may he increased by adding a little citric acid should the fruit not be juicy, or less water can be used. The quantities should be regarded as approximate. A nice drink is made by using an orange to two lemons, with a pint to a pint and a half of water and sugar to taste. For patients who cannot take sugar, a little saccharine may be used. Lemonade of this sort may be had of dealers in diabetic goods. Very great care is always required to peel the lemon so thinly that there is not a trace of the white pith and that no pips get in; these give the bitter ness so often complained of. A very nourishing lemonade is made by making some as above, but increasing the lemons to three, and adding at the time of serving about an equal measure of milk. A little liquid calf’s feet jelly is a nice addition, as it gives a slight body; and equal parts of good lemonade and barley water may be recommended as a good nutritious drink."

 

Mixing lemonade with calf's food jelly, milk or barley water is unthinkable today but it was not unusual for past generations who considered all these as 'invalid foods' and the resulting mixture a 'nutritious drink'. The novelty for nineteenth century readers was the replacement of sugar by a chemically produced alternative, saccharin, which had been launched in the market a few years before. Finally, it appears that lemon reamers were not still used in most private homes - or Lizzie Heritage would have mentioned them.

 

 

 

 

LEMONADE

In the following version, I doubled both lemon and sugar.

 

I n g r e d i e n t s

6-8 big lemons

2 1/2 cups boiling water

1 cup sugar

 

M e t h o d

1. Wash and peel the lemons, taking care not to remove the white part. 2. Squeeze the fruit, preferably using an electric reamer. 3. Place the lemon rind in a jug with the sugar and lemon juice. Add the boiling water and let steep until cool. (Alternatively, boil the water and lemon rind for 5 minutes. Dissolve the sugar into the mixture and leave to cool.) 3. Strain and pour into tall glasses, with an iced cube if liked.