Banana Pineapple Cup

A fruit cup of the kind served as an opening course at a formal luncheon or dinner. As printed it depends on raw egg white that never sees heat, which is where it fails for a modern table.

• The raw egg whiteThe beaten white is the whole structure of the banana foam and it is never cooked, warmed, or acidified enough to matter. Shell eggs can carry Salmonella, and a chilled fruit cup held on a buffet is a good environment for it. A current recipe using pasteurized whites should be consulted instead.
• Beaten or unbeatenThe ingredient list calls for the half egg white "beaten" while the method says to add it unbeaten and then whip everything together with the rotary beater. The method is the workable reading; the two lines contradict each other.
• Half an egg whiteOlder cookery books split eggs freely. To measure half a white, whisk one white just enough to break it up, then divide by volume — a whole large white is roughly two tablespoons.
• Powdered sugarIn American books of this period "powdered sugar" may mean either a fine-ground sugar or what is now sold as confectioners' or 10X sugar, cornstarch and all; the usage is not consistent. Superfine (caster) sugar dissolves just as well in an acid fruit pur elevant e if the cornstarch is unwelcome.
• The cupThe "cup" is the vessel, not a measure; a stemmed sherbet or similar glass is the likely intention, though the recipe does not say. Six slices of canned pineapple across six glasses means one slice apiece, cut into wedges and laid around the sides.
• Pineapple juiceCanned pineapple slices of the period were commonly packed in syrup, but the half cup called for here reads as canned pineapple juice, a separate product; it may still have been sweeter than juice from a modern can packed in its own juice.
• TimingMashed banana browns quickly even with the lemon juice. The mixture is meant to be assembled and taken to the table at once, not held.