The American Pastry Cook

Jessup Whitehead's American Pastry Cook — the hotel pastry trade's own manual, in hundreds of numbered recipes.

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Turkish Sherbet

1 quart of port or any sweet wine. 1 quart of water. 2 pounds of sugar. 2 lemons--juice only. 6 oranges--juice only. 8 ounces of blanched almonds. 8 ounces of musca'el grapes. 4 ounces of figs cut small. 4 ounces of seedless raisins. 8 whites of eggs. Cloves and cinnamon, and little coloring. Make a hot syrup of the sugar and water and pour it over the raisins and figs and 6 cloves and a small piece of cinnamon in a bowl. When cool color pink, add the orange and lemon juice and wine, strain, and freeze it in the usual manner. Take out the spices and add the scalded raisins and figs and the grapes and almonds to the sherbet at last.

Collet, a French captain and refugee, made a small fortune in New York about the year 1815 by making ices and sherbets. Says the Chronicler: "The women in particular, never tired of this new pleasure, being especially astonished that they could be kept so cold at a summer heat of ninety degrees." If sherbets have any distinguishing feature in their composition at all it is the admixture of jelly, either calf's foot or geiatine, recommended by some to give smoothness to the drink and substance to the ice Mention has already been made of gelatine in ice cream. Either gelatine dissolved or finished table jelly can be added at option to the sherbets preceding, but in that case leave out the whites of eggs which are the substitute for calf's foot jelly. According the lexicographers the word punch is derived from East Indian pantsh, five, having reference to the five ingredients of punch--water, spirit, sugar, lemons and tea. But that is the old-fashioned punch to be drunk hot.

Roman punch is essentially a strong and good lemonade with rum in it and whipped whites of eggs, and frozen. But almost every one adds to it orange juice, wine or brandy or maraschino and sometimes spices and flavors. These are not essential ingredients but only individual fancies, but it results that there is nothing that cooks in hotels have to make that there are such various ideas about as the composition of Roman punch. Ag in, the caterers who have had the privilege of setting the fashions make other punches "a la Romaine," which are not Roman punch but are made in the same manner with white of eggs, or Italian meringue, (which is boiled icing and acts the same as the whites) and frozen. Rum punch becomes Roman punch by being put through the process just mentioned. The places where Roman punch, or something that passes for it is served with the dessert in place of ice cream are far more numerous than where it is served as a course between the entrees and the game.

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