Fruit recipes

The fruit pulp left from the jelly may be put through a sieve and cooked down with equal quantity of sugar till of the right consistency. LOQUAT JAM Loquat jam, when made with the unripe fruit, as for jelly, closely resembles the cherry in colour and is not unlike it in flavour though with an individuality of its own—perhaps richer, as well as being in fragrance and flavour rather aromatic. Both the marmalade and jam THE MEDLAR AND THE LOQUAT 65 are prettier if made from the whole, fresh fruit instead of from the jelly pulp. For the jam wash and seed the fruit, removing the blossom end and any discolouration or imperfection. Place over the fire, barely covering with cold water and cook slowly several hours till very tender and deep red in colour. No water will be needed in addition to that first placed on the fruit as its juiciness requires reducing rather than otherwise. When cooked down add sugar in equal measure and continue to cook down till of proper consistency—two hours or more, when as much as four or five quarts are used. The ripe loquats make a yellower jam, lacking the rich colour though of excellent flavour. CHAPTER V THE PEACH (Amygdalus Persica, or Prunus Persica) AND APRICOT (A. or P. Armeniaca) NOTHER great division of fruits is the Almond or Plum family, Amygdalacee, including the almond, peach, apricot, cherry, and plum. The peach is held by some to bea distinct genus, by others is variously classed with the almond and apricot and with the plum, adding interest to the mooted question of exact origin by the fact that Darwin held the peach to be an evolutionised form of the wild almond. Alphonse de Candolle has led the theorists claiming the distinct peach origin, with China as its probable earliest home: since in that country the peach has not-been found in varying forms (approaching or departing from the almond) but instead, has never been unknown as a distinctive, individual fruit or tree. (The Chinese Peen-To peach, in form flattened like a tomato, is now grown to a considerable extent in parts of the semi-tropical states of North America.) The name Persica was given the peach from the supposition that it originated in Persia. It has claims upon beauty of complexion, unrivalled perhaps in the fruit kingdom, and in rich, luscious fragrance few fruits can equal it, being esteemed in almost every country of the world for its flavour and daintiness of texture. Peaches must be fully ripened and sound to be entirely wholesome uncooked but in this perfect stage have been given to even typhoid patients with success when fruits as a rule are forbidden. Also, peaches have been found beneficial in serious cases of intestinal disorders among children and adults alike. The peculiar acids of this fruit are apparently fatal to germs of the dysentery type and Holbrook quotes a physician who wrote him that in the treatment of dysentery he much preferred ‘“‘ripe, sound fruit, peaches especially, to any medicine that can be suggested.”’ Fresh or stewed the fruit is laxative and refrigerant. ,