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Currant Jelly Water
Stir a teaspoonful of currant jelly in a glass of water and add sugar to taste. When the sugar and jelly are dissolved, serve. Any fruit jelly may be used in the same way.
A two-ingredient sickroom drink from the era before commercial fruit squashes. The only variables worth attention are the jelly's strength and the water's temperature.
- Glass size"A glass" is unspecified; period usage ranges from a small wineglass to a half-pint tumbler. In anything tumbler-sized, one teaspoon of jelly is very faint; 1-2 tablespoons gives something closer to a modern cordial.
- Dissolving itCold water will leave the jelly sitting in shreds at the bottom. Slacken the jelly with a splash of hot water first, stir until smooth, then top up with cold and chill.
- Which jellyRed currant jelly is a firm pectin gel with sharp acidity, which is what makes this work. Modern jams with fruit pieces or seeds will cloud the glass; a clear strained jelly is the point.
- Sugar to tasteCommercial jellies are already sweet, so taste before adding any sugar at all.
- StrainingIf the jelly refuses to go fully clear, pour the finished drink through a fine sieve or a square of muslin.
- YieldOne glass, as written. It does not keep well once diluted -- make it a glass at a time.
"Invalid drinks" were a fixed category in nineteenth-century household manuals, sitting alongside beef tea, barley water and gruel as the standard repertoire for feeding the sick. Currant jelly in particular was a staple of the American and British storeroom because red currants are naturally high in pectin and acid and set reliably without added pectin. Diluted in water it delivered sugar and a sharp, palatable flavour to someone who could keep down little else, and cookery writers of the period frequently recommended acidulated drinks for fever patients. The closing line -- any fruit jelly may be used -- is characteristic of these books, which assumed a reader with a full preserve cupboard and no particular need for a shopping list.