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Tamarind

This is the fruit--or rather the pod--of a tree indigenous to the East and West Indies. It thrives also in Egypt, Arabia, and Palestine. In these countries it is sometimes used as an article of food in the form of confectionery, and it is thought highly of on account of its pleasant acid taste and cooling properties. The pod consists of two parts: the outer is fleshy, and the inner as thin as parchment. Between these two there is a space of about a quarter of an inch, which is occupied by a soft pulp of a tart but agreeable taste. The pods are gathered when quite ripe, freed from the shelly fragments, and placed in a cask in layers; boiling syrup is then poured over them till the cask is full. The syrup pervades every part, even to the bottom. When cold the casks are headed down and sent to market. The more refined mode of preparation, however, is to clarify the juice of the fruit with the white of egg, and form it with sugar into a clear, transparent syrup: this and the fruit supplies an agreeable and cooling beverage.