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Two Bananas
One gill of Mayonnaise.
Half a gill of Whipped Cream.
One tablespoonful of Elder Vinegar.
What survives here is the dressing, not the method: two bananas and the three components of a cream mayonnaise. The assembly is assumed, as it often is in books written for cooks who had already been taught the technique.
- A gillIn a British book of this period a gill is a quarter of an imperial pint, 5 fl oz or about 140 ml. Half a gill is therefore 2.5 fl oz, roughly 70 ml; the recipe specifies whipped cream, so the measure is of cream already whipped.
- The hinge: fold, do not stirThe whipped cream goes into the mayonnaise in two or three additions with a spatula, at the last possible moment. Beaten in, it deflates and the dressing turns to a slack, greasy sauce; folded, it stays pale and light enough to sit on the fruit.
- Elder vinegarUsually white wine vinegar steeped with elderflowers, though elderberry versions are also recorded; a common enough household flavoured vinegar, and still made at home. Elderflower cordial plus a little white wine vinegar approximates the flavour, though it is sweeter. Use flowers only if making your own — elder leaves, stems and bark are not edible.
- The bananasPeel, halve lengthways or slice on a slant, and dress immediately; a squeeze of lemon holds the colour for the twenty minutes or so before service. This quantity of dressing is generous for two bananas and will comfortably cover four.
- Mayonnaise proportionA gill of mayonnaise to half a gill of cream gives a two-to-one dressing that is quite rich by modern taste. Equal parts is a defensible adjustment, and thins the dressing enough to coat rather than clog the fruit.
- Raw eggHomemade mayonnaise here is uncooked. Use pasteurised eggs, or a good bought mayonnaise, if serving anyone who should avoid raw egg.
- ServingThis suits the salad course or a plate of cold poultry and ham, on a lettuce leaf, chilled. Chopped walnuts or a little celery would give the plate some texture, though the recipe names neither.
Cream folded into mayonnaise is an old professional dodge — in French kitchens it is mayonnaise chantilly, used for cold fish, asparagus and fruit salads — and it appears in British high-class cookery books precisely because it lightens a dressing that would otherwise smother delicate material. Bananas were still a slightly showy ingredient when this was written: regular refrigerated steamer cargoes only made them a reliable, affordable fruit in Britain around the turn of the twentieth century. Elder vinegar belongs to the same household world, a flavoured vinegar made once a year when the elder was in flower and drawn on for salads for months afterwards. The listing is bare, with no method given at all.