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Invalid's Lemonade
Put about half of a sliced lemon, pared and divested of the inner skin or pith, with the parings, and an ounce or two of lump sugar, into a jug, pour boiling water over these ingredients, and cover closely. In two hours strain for use. To the above quantity of lemon add a pint of water, which will make a refreshing lemonade. Probable cost, 2d.
A hot infusion rather than a squeezed drink: the flavour comes mostly from the zest steeping in covered water. Nothing here needs updating except the units and one point of technique.
- The hinge: keep it coveredThe lid is what holds the lemon oil in the jug rather than letting it drift off with the steam. An uncovered jug gives a thin, flat drink.
- Pith and paringsPeel the lemon, discard the white pith from the flesh, and put the peel back in. The pith is what turns a long infusion bitter; the coloured zest carries the aroma.
- Imperial pintA British pint is 20 fl oz, about 570 ml. With half a lemon that gives a deliberately mild drink.
- Lump sugarLoaf or lump sugar was broken from a cone or pressed block; ordinary granulated sugar works identically. An ounce or two is 30-60 g, so roughly 2 to 4 tablespoons per pint.
- Two hours steepingThe long stand gives the zest time to release its oil. The recipe says to strain at two hours.
- Hot or coldThe recipe does not say which; if chilling, taste again for sugar, as cold blunts sweetness.
- YieldOne pint, which is one or two servings for a sickroom.
- Probable cost, 2dTwo pence in Victorian money; costings of this kind accompany most entries in the book so a household could budget.
Barley water, whey and lemonade of this sort belong to the long tradition of "invalid cookery" — a standard chapter in Victorian household manuals, where the sickroom was managed at home and the cook was expected to produce nourishing or cooling drinks on demand. Lemon drinks were valued as cooling and thirst-quenching in fevers, a use often traced to older humoral ideas about acid drinks tempering heat, and one that survived well past the medicine that justified it. The infusion method, rather than juicing, suited a household with a kettle always on and gave a gentler drink than neat juice — easier on an unsettled stomach, and stretching half a lemon to a full pint.