The "Queen" cookery books: Pickles and Preserves

fancy, from the days when grape vines grew on every south -facing cottage. Take the fruit before it is thoroughly ripe, and put it (stalks and all) into the tub; crush it till every berry is broken, then for each pound of fruit add a quart of cold water; cover with a blanket, and let it stand for three days, stirring it pretty frequently, and then strain off, adding three full pounds of loaf sugar to every gallon of the wine. As soon as this is dissolved, pour it all into a cask, which should be full (keep back two or three quarts to fill up with), and add a little more as the fermentation subsides. In about ten days it will have stopped hissing, then pour in about a quarter of a pint of brandy to each gallon, and 1/2oz. of best leaf gelatine, dissolved in a little of the wine, for every five gallons. Bung up and store in a cool place. Be very car-eful not to add the brandy and gelatine till the cask has quite done hissing, and then fasten up very securely. Leave it till the next year, and bottle when the vines are in bloom, corking, and wiring down firmly. Grape Wine ( Unfermented ). — Pick free from stalk and stem 101b. of grapes, put them into a preserving pan with a little water, let them cook till the pulp and stones separate, then press and strain them through a jelly bag ; return the juice to the pan, adding 31b. of white sugar ; let the sugar melt slowly, then bring the mixture to boiling point ; bottle whilst hot and seal it. This quantity of grapes ought to make a gallon of wine. Orange Wine. — Take ten Seville oranges and 31b. of sugar for every gallon. Strain into a delicately clean cask the juice of the fruit and the sugar ; and put the squeezed pulp into a basin, and pour on to it two quarts of water, let it stand for twenty-four hours, then strain off to the rest in the tub. Now add the thinly pared rinds of half the oranges used, to the pulp, pour another two quarts on this, again let it stand for twenty-four hours, and strain this also into the cask. Repeat this steeping with the twenty-four hours interval until the cask is full, stirring it all well up daily. Let it all stand for three days, then bung it down closely, and leave it for nine months ; then bottle off, but do not drink it till three months later. Of course these quantities may be increased a discretion, and according to the size of the cask, but always keep to these proportions. Or : Dissolve 81b. of loaf sugar and 41b. of honey in six gallons of water, add the lightly whisked whites of ten or twelve eggs, and bring the whole to the boil gently, whisking it all the time, then strain it off through a jelly bag ; when nearly cold put in two tablespoonfuls of yeast, and the juice of twelve lemons ; let it stand till the next day, then skim it well, add the thinly pared rinds of the lemons, and also of thirty-six to forty-eight Seville oranges, together with the strained juice of the forty-eight oranges. Let it ferment for three days, then cask. The quantity of orange peel is a matter of taste, some people especially liking the somewhat bitter flavour they give, whilst others again dislike it intensely. You can also if preferred, use only sugar (121b. instead of the 81b. given), but the honey gives a