Our viands

The elderberry, once so highly esteemed as a wine producer, is now neglected. Fifty years ago a glass of hot spiced elder wine, with sippets of toast, formed a Christmas beverage handed nightly to honoured guests in country houses. Now, even our peasants must have port or sherry, and the flower and berry of the elder are left to ' waste their sweetness on the desert air.' Yet elder-flower wine was once thought equal to Frontignac, and there was a scramble between man and bird for the berries : the latter are now allowed to enjoy them unmolested, and they do not let them hang long upon the tree when ripe. The elder was also formerly much esteemed in medicine, and is still used in ointments and soaps, being an excellent emollient for the skin. The barberry is also a fruit which has gone out of fashion. Once upon a time preserved barberries were used in tarts, and thought delicious ; now, however, you very seldom see them in the market, and, if used at all, it is only by way of garnishing, for which they are eminently suitable. The mulberry, too, although when fully ripe it is the most delicious of berries, is so little esteemed in England that we have seen the ground red with the fruit which the owner has not thought worth gathering. This, however, was not the opinion of our ancestors, who prided themselves upon their mulberry trees, which they cultivated with care, and many of which survive and still bear abundance of fruit, although planted in the sixteenth century. The earliest recorded were planted at Sion House in 1548, and still bear fruit. The mulberry tree is considered the wisest of trees because it never puts forth its leaves until the frosts are over, for which reason it is employed in heraldry to 204 OUR VIANDS signify wisdom. The white mulberry, which is cultivated abroad for the sake of its leaves, upon which the silk-worm thrives better than on the black variety, is not grown in England, probably because it is not so hardy as the other ; but should silk ever become an industry in Ireland, as many philanthropists have proposed to make it, the cultivation of the white mulberry must also be attempted, and planted in hedges, as in the Tyrol, it would probably thrive. The olive, so famous for its oil, which is indispensable in salads, will not thrive in Northern Europe, but is largely grown in Spain, Italy, and the south of France. At Cap St Martin, between Mentone and Monte Carlo, there are some fine trees, said to have been planted by the Romans, for the olive will live and bear fruit for a thousand years, and the great gnarled trunks, twisted and contorted into the most weird and fanciful shapes, give a truly venerable appearance to these valuable trees. There is one tree, not far from Mentone, which is said to have been planted by Julius Caesar. We in England do not make much use of the olive as an article of food, but it forms an excellent addition to stews and hashes, and is served at table as an appetiser. Spanish olives are imported in small barrels, but the French are usually sold in bottles, both being pickled in brine. In Italy a single olive tree often forms a family patrimony, the sole source of income to several sons ; but, as may be supposed, the living derived from it is scanty and precarious.