Fruitade
1/4 cup grated pineapple Juice 1/2 lemon 1 cup boiling water Juice 1/2 orange Sugar Add the boiling water to the pineapple and fruit juices with one tablespoon sugar; let it stand until cool. Add more water and sugar if necessary. Strain, and serve cold.
A single-serving fruit cordial from the era before canned juice was a pantry staple. The method is essentially a hot infusion, which matters more than it looks.
- Why boiling waterPouring boiling water over the grated pineapple draws out more flavor than cold water would, and it dissolves the sugar cleanly. It is probably also hot enough to knock back bromelain, the pineapple enzyme behind the prickly feeling raw pineapple can leave on the tongue.
- Grated pineappleThe original most likely means a fresh pineapple grated over a bowl to catch the juice, though canned fruit was on the market by this period. Crushed pineapple in juice works as a substitute; drain off some of the packing syrup if using the sugared kind, since the drink is already sweetened.
- Sugar as an ingredient with no amountThe listing gives sugar with no quantity because the method specifies one tablespoon and then invites adjustment. One tablespoon per cup is lightly sweet by modern taste; expect to add a second.
- YieldAs written this makes roughly one generous glass, a cup and a half or so after the extra water. Multiply by the number of drinkers rather than trying to scale the pineapple down.
- Standing time"Let it stand until cool" is doing the extraction work, not marking time. A cup of boiling water will take upwards of half an hour to come down to room temperature; longer, or a spell in the refrigerator afterwards, does no harm.
- StrainingStrain through a fine sieve, pressing the pulp to get the liquid out. A coarse colander leaves fibrous shreds that make the drink unpleasant to sip.
Fruitades are often associated with the American sickroom and temperance tradition, where lemonade was the model and any tart fruit could be substituted, though nothing in this recipe itself settles the point. This one appears in a meatless cookery book, and such volumes are generally said to have treated beverages as a proper course rather than an afterthought: with no wine or beer on the table and coffee and tea often discouraged, fruit drinks carried much of the burden of refreshment.