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Lemon Kali
Take two parts of sifted sugar, one part of powdered and dried citric acid, and a little more than one part of powdered bicarbonate of potash. Mix thoroughly, and keep in a closely-stoppered bottle. Probable cost, 1s. 4d. per pound. Sufficient, a tea-spoonful for half a tumblerful of water.
This is a dry effervescent drink powder rather than a cooked dish: acid, alkali and sugar that fizz when they meet water. Almost everything about its success comes down to keeping it dry until then.
- Dryness is the hingeAny trace of moisture starts the reaction inside the bottle and the powder goes flat and caked. Dry the citric acid thoroughly, work in a dry room, and use a glass jar with a tight stopper or a screw lid rather than a tin.
- Bicarbonate of potashThis is potassium bicarbonate, still sold as a food additive (E501) and to winemakers. Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) fizzes the same way but tastes saltier and adds sodium.
- Citric acidSold as a powder or fine crystals for preserving and brewing. Crystals should be ground and sieved, or they sit at the bottom of the glass instead of dissolving with the rest.
- "Parts" means by weight"Parts" are best read as by weight -- the three powders differ in density, so weigh rather than scoop. Two parts sugar to one part citric acid to a little over one part bicarbonate, so 100 g / 50 g / 55 g gives a usable batch.
- Sifted sugarCaster sugar is the closest modern match; icing sugar dissolves faster. Granulated is coarser and more likely to settle out in storage.
- No lemon in itThere is no fruit in the list; the name presumably points to the lemon-like sharpness of the citric acid. A few drops of lemon oil rubbed into the sugar first, or a little grated dried zest, brings it closer to the name.
- Yield and servingA teaspoonful to half a tumbler, so very roughly 120 ml of water, stirred and drunk while it is still working. At about 4-5 g a spoonful, the quantities above make forty-odd glasses.
"Kali" comes through pharmacy Latin from the Arabic al-qali, the alkaline plant ash that also gave English "alkali" — an apt name for a powder whose fizz depends on a carbonate. The word stuck in Britain as a general term for sherbet powder, and is still used in that sense in parts of Yorkshire and Lancashire. Effervescent powders were everywhere in the Victorian household, sitting on the shelf between confectionery and medicine alongside seidlitz powders and effervescing citrate of magnesia; the same acid-plus-carbonate trick served as a laxative, a stomach settler and a treat for children.