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Iced Roman Punch
Put 2 pounds of finely powdered sugar into a bowl, and strain over it the juice of 10 lemons and 2 sweet oranges. Add the thin rind of a lemon and an orange, and let the infusion remain for one hour. Strain the syrup through muslin, add gradually the whites of 10 eggs beaten to a firm froth, and freeze the punch in the usual way, being careful to work it vigorously with the spattle while it is being frozen. A few minutes before serving mix together a pint of old white Jamaica rum, half a pint of green tea, half a pint of brandy, and a bottle of champagne. Add the ice, and stir briskly till it dissolves. A pint of pineapple syrup may be added or not. This punch should be thick and creamy in appearance. If it is too thick to be poured into glasses, it should be thinned with a little more champagne. Iced Roman punch should be handed round in high glasses between the first and second courses.
A Victorian dinner-party sorbet, built on a lemon syrup, raw egg whites and a great deal of spirit. Several of its terms have fallen out of use, and one of its central steps puts it outside what a modern kitchen should serve.
- Raw egg whites, never heatedTen egg whites are folded into a cold syrup and frozen; nothing in the method brings them to a safe temperature, and freezing does not kill Salmonella. The spirits are added at the very end, well after the whites are set, so there is no meaningful contact time with alcohol either. If you want a punch of this kind, work from a current recipe built on pasteurised whites or a cooked Italian meringue.
- ScaleTwo pounds of sugar, ten lemons, ten egg whites, a bottle of champagne and a quart of spirits and tea together make a party quantity — enough for a good many small glasses at table, not a household dessert.
- SpattleThe spattle (spatula) is the wooden paddle used to scrape and beat the freezing mixture off the inner wall of a pewter or tin sorbetière packed in ice and salt. The vigorous working is what keeps the crystals fine; the equivalent in a modern churn is simply continuous agitation.
- Green teaHalf a pint of green tea acts as a flavouring rather than a plain dilutant; green tea appears in a number of period punch recipes. Brew it strong and let it go cold.
- Old white Jamaica rumThe phrase is generally taken to mean a matured but pale Jamaican rum; precisely what was sold under the label is uncertain. A pot-still Jamaican rum is the nearest modern relative.
- Thin rind"Thin rind" is zest pared with a knife, coloured layer only. Any white pith left on will turn the hour-long infusion bitter.
- Why it is thinned with champagneAlcohol depresses the freezing point, so the mixture slackens as the spirits go in. The instruction to thin with more champagne rather than water preserves both the sugar balance and the fizz.
- Where it belongs in a mealThe recipe directs that it be handed round in high glasses between the first and second courses, as a palate refresher rather than a dessert.
Punch à la Romaine was one of the fixed points of the long formal dinner in the nineteenth century: a half-frozen, spirituous sorbet handed round midway through the meal to refresh the palate before the roast. The name is usually associated with Italian ices rather than with any Roman original, though the derivation is not settled. Its best-known outing is the first-class dinner served aboard the Titanic on 14 April 1912, where Punch Romaine appeared among the later courses, shortly before the roast squab.