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Tapioca Jelly
Choose the largest sort, pour cold water on to wash it two or three times, then soak it in fresh water five or six hours, and simmer it in the same until it becomes quite clear; then put lemon juice, wine, and sugar. The peel should have been boiled in it. It thickens very much.
A thin, spoonable tapioca set flavoured with lemon and wine, written for a sickroom tray rather than a dinner table. The original assumes large pearl tapioca and gives no quantities, so the proportions below are the working part of the job.
- "The largest sort"This means large pearl tapioca, roughly the size of peppercorns, not the instant or minute tapioca sold in most supermarkets. Instant tapioca is pre-cooked and shattered; it will turn to paste in minutes and never give the clear, whole-pearl texture intended here.
- ProportionsNone are given. A workable ratio for a jelly of this kind is about 1/2 cup large pearl tapioca to 3 cups water, with 1/4 cup sugar and the juice of one lemon; more water gives a drinking consistency, less gives something closer to a set pudding.
- The soak mattersFive or six hours of cold soaking hydrates the pearls all the way through. Skip it and the centres are apt to stay chalky and white unless simmered a good deal longer, since the outside gels first and slows water reaching the core.
- "Until it becomes quite clear"This is the doneness test, not a time. Simmer gently, stirring often so the pearls do not weld to the base, until no opaque white dot remains in the middle of any pearl. On a low burner this is usually 20 to 40 minutes after a full soak.
- Order of additionsThe lemon peel is boiled with the tapioca to draw out its oils; the juice, wine and sugar go in only at the end. Acid and sugar added early slow the swelling of the starch. Fish the peel out before serving.
- The wineThe recipe does not specify which; a sweet sherry, madeira or white port suits it. About 1/4 cup for the quantity above. It is not simmered long enough to drive off much alcohol, which is worth knowing given the intended eater.
- "It thickens very much"The warning is real. Tapioca sets further as it cools and again in the refrigerator, so pull it from the heat looking distinctly loose. If it stiffens past what you want, slacken it with a little hot water or extra lemon juice while warm.
- Yield and servingThe quantities above make roughly four small invalid portions. Serve barely warm or cold in a glass; it is meant to be swallowed with little effort.