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Raspberry Syrup (II)
American Extract Raspberry, 1 ounce; Simple Syrup, 1 gallon; American Fruit Acid, 1 ounce; American Fruit Color, 66; American Soda Foam, 12 66. Be lavish in every direction except as to quantity; use a thin and dainty glass, but have it moderately small.
This is a dispenser's formula rather than a cook's recipe: nearly every ingredient is a branded product from a soda-fountain supply house, and the quantities assume a fountain doing volume business. It converts easily enough once you know what the trade names stood for.
- The "66" is not a quantity you can trustThe figures given as 66 and 12 66 cannot be read with any confidence; they may be garbled type or a house shorthand, but the page gives no way to tell, and no honest conversion can be made from it alone. Add color and foam by eye and by taste, a few drops at a time.
- Simple syrup, one gallonFountain simple syrup of the period was heavy — roughly 2 parts granulated sugar to 1 part water by weight, near saturation, which is what kept it from fermenting in an open crock.
- American Extract RaspberryA concentrated flavoring oil or alcoholic essence, not fruit. One ounce to the gallon is a strong dose; modern raspberry extracts vary wildly in strength, so start with a third of that and build up.
- American Fruit AcidA solution of citric or tartaric acid, sold ready-made to save the dispenser weighing crystals. Note that the ounce called for is an ounce of that solution, not of dry crystals, so dry acid is not a measure-for-measure substitute; dissolve a little in hot water and add to taste. The acid is what keeps the sweetness from going flat on the tongue.
- American Fruit ColorFountain colors of this era were coal-tar dyes, and several of the reds then in use have since been withdrawn from food use. Any modern red food coloring does the same job; the syrup should read deep pink through a thin glass, not opaque.
- American Soda FoamA saponin preparation, generally from quillaia (soapbark) or yucca, added so the drawn soda would hold a head. It is still made as a commercial foaming extract but is not a grocery item; the drink works without it, simply with less crown.
- Yield and serviceA gallon of syrup at the usual ounce-and-a-half to the glass makes something on the order of eighty to a hundred drinks. Fill with plain carbonated water, drawn hard at first to raise the foam and then fine to finish.
- The instruction that actually matters"Be lavish in every direction except as to quantity" is the whole point of the entry — full flavor, full color, full foam, in a small thin glass. A tall tumbler of the same syrup tastes thin and looks washed out.
Soda-fountain manuals of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were written for the dispenser behind the marble counter, not the home cook, and they read accordingly: brand names, gallon batches, and advice on showmanship sitting alongside the proportions. Raspberry was one of the fixed stars of the fountain, along with vanilla, lemon and sarsaparilla. Books of this kind were often issued or subsidized by the firms that sold the extracts, which may be why the ingredient list doubles as an order form. The closing note on the thin, dainty, moderately small glass is a piece of trade wisdom rather than cookery: a strongly flavored syrup in a small vessel gave the customer an impression of richness, and cost the proprietor less.