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of the chopped olives and a star of red pepper or pickled beet in the center of each.
FRUIT COCKTAIL (Orange and Grapefruit) -Mix equal quantities of diced orange and grapefruit pulp. Sprinkle with sugar and a little lemon juice, or sherry if liked. Place on ice until. thoroughly chilled. Have glasses chilled, that the whole, when served, may be ice cold. At the last moment fill the glasses with the fruit mixture, sticking little wedges of fresh or preserved pineapple here and there and garnishing with either candied or Maraschino cherries.
A fruit cocktail of this vintage is a first course, not a dessert, and everything depends on temperature. The recipe gives no quantities, so work by the glass.
- QuantitiesFigure about half a cup of mixed fruit per serving, in stemmed glasses of 4 to 6 oz. Two large navel oranges and one grapefruit will fill four to six glasses.
- The hinge is coldThe instruction to chill the glasses along with the fruit is the whole point of the dish. Put the glasses in the freezer for fifteen minutes and assemble at the last moment; a lukewarm fruit cup tastes flat and syrupy.
- Pulp means segments"Diced pulp" here means membrane-free citrus flesh. Supreme the fruit — cut away peel and pith, then free each segment from its membrane — and work over a bowl so the juice is saved and added back.
- Grapefruit has changedThe commercial grapefruit of the early twentieth century was tarter and more bitter than modern Ruby Red or Star Ruby, both of which were developed later. You will probably need less sugar than the original cook would have used; a teaspoon or two for four servings is usually enough.
- SherryIf you use sherry rather than lemon juice, a dry or medium amontillado suits the fruit better than a cream sherry. Roughly a teaspoon per glass; more and it dominates.
- Maraschino cherriesThe maraschino cherry properly meant a cherry preserved in maraschino liqueur, though cheaper dyed and sweetened imitations were already on sale by this period. Amarena or brandied cherries are the closer substitute for the original.
- Preserved pineapple"Preserved" means candied or in heavy syrup. Drain it well and pat dry, or the syrup will bleed into the citrus juice and blunt it.
- Do not make it far aheadCut citrus loses its texture within a few hours and the sugar draws out juice until the fruit slumps. Prepare the fruit up to two hours ahead, chilled and covered, and garnish only as it goes to the table.
The fruit cocktail arrived on American tables in the decades either side of 1900, when refrigerated rail transport made Florida and California citrus a year-round staple and iced glassware became something an ordinary household could manage. Borrowing the name and the stemmed glass from the mixed drink, it gave hostesses a first course that required no cooking, no carving and no last-minute heat, often why books like this one grouped it among appetizers rather than desserts. Grapefruit in particular was still something of a novelty in the period, promoted heavily by Florida growers, and it appears in menus of the 1900s and 1910s as a marker of a fashionable table. The candied cherry and the wedge of preserved pineapple are often said to be the era's signature garnish.