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Strawberry Jam
One-third glass shaved ice, 1 dash strawberry juice, 2 ounces strawberry syrup, 2 teaspoonfuls crushed strawberries. Fill with plain soda. Stir with spoon and add 4 halves of strawberries. Serve with spoon and straws.
A fountain drink, not a preserve — the name refers to the thick fruit body in the glass. Everything depends on keeping the soda water lively, so build it in the order given and stir as little as possible.
- The glassThe recipe does not say what size glass; fountain drinks of this sort were generally built in a tall 10- to 12-ounce soda glass. With a third filled with shaved ice and 2 ounces of syrup, that leaves room for something on the order of half a glass of soda water — one generous drink.
- Shaved iceNot cubes. Shaved or finely crushed ice chills the syrup fast and holds the crushed fruit in suspension rather than letting it sink. A few seconds in a blender or a canvas bag and a mallet gets you there.
- Plain sodaCarbonated water, in a fountain drawn under pressure from the carbonator. Bottled seltzer works; open it cold and pour down the side of the glass. Club soda contains added mineral salts, which will change the flavour slightly.
- Strawberry syrup vs. juiceThe syrup is the sweet base, strained strawberry cooked down with sugar. The "dash" of juice is unsweetened strained strawberry, added for acid and aroma. If you have only syrup, a squeeze of lemon does similar work.
- Two teaspoons is not a mistakeThe crushed berries are there for texture and to give the spoon something to find at the bottom; the quantity is deliberately small.
- Stir onceStirring is what kills a fountain drink. One or two turns from the bottom to lift the syrup, then stop; every additional pass drives off carbonation.
- The garnishFour halved berries, added after the stirring as the recipe directs. Hull them and halve lengthwise; large modern berries may want quartering.
Soda fountain manuals like this one were trade books, written for the dispenser behind the marble counter rather than the home cook, and they are built almost entirely of two-ounce measures of syrup and a glass filled with carbonated water. The naming convention is a period habit: a plain "strawberry soda" meant syrup and soda alone, while names like "jam" or "crush" are often said to have indicated that real crushed fruit was in the glass. Fresh-fruit sodas were seasonal and priced accordingly.