We have by no means exhausted the uses of the varieties
of the orange family, which are as valuable medicinally as
in a culinary sense, and seem to bear out the Mentone
legend that they were brought originally from the Garden of
Eden. Undoubtedly they 'are all natives of the far East,
and the probability is that they were indigenous in India
and China, and were introduced into Africa in very early
times by traders, possibly Chinese, although Galessio believes
them to have been brought originally from India by the
Arabs; and it is pointed out that they were apparently
unknown to Pliny and other early naturalists.
All the varieties now grow in perfection at the Cape, in
the West Indies, Australia, and America — in fact, wherever
there is abundance of warmth and sun ; and with care
they will live to the age of three hundred years, even in
England, there being some at Hampton Court said to be of
that age, but the fruit will not compare with that of foreign
climates, for these golden apples of the Hesperides require
the sun-dragon to guard them from frost and blight, and to
bring them to perfection.
CHAPTER XV
STONE FRUITS AND BERRIES
PRUDENT folks are always impressing the fact upon juveniles
that stone fruits are unwholesome, but what boy or girl can
resist the cry of * Cherry Ripe ! ' or avoid the luscious
plum, and the still more luscious apricot, peach, or nec-
tarine, when it falls in his or her way ? Indeed, we do
not believe that even the most prudent of mothers can
always be proof against the temptation of these much-
maligned delicacies.
As regards apricots, peaches, and nectarines, we in
England are never likely to get a surfeit of either, for they
cost too much to grow in this part of the world, ever to
become a food for the million. In truth, there are millions
who probably never taste a peach, or a nectarine j and
although apricots are more plentiful, being imported, half
ripe, in boxes from France, yet these are also too dear for
poor people to buy, and when bought are not satisfactory,
the flavour being poor compared with the ripe Moor Park
apricot grown on a sunny wall in England. The envy of
the British youth is great when he hears that in America,
and in South Africa and Australia, pigs are fed upon
peaches, and he wishes they would just send some of them
over here j but, in truth, these fruits are too delicate for
ies N
194 OUR VIANDS
export, unless bottled or dried, although a consignment of
peaches has recently arrived from South Africa in excellent
condition, packed each in a separate compartment like eggs,
and wrapped in cotton wool. Many of these fruits come
to us in tins and bottles from America, but they seem to
lose flavour in the process, and will never take the place
of the highly-cultivated wall-fruits of England at the tables
of the rich, although convenient as a substitute, when the
superior article is deficient or out of season. The best
mode of importing these fruits is in a dried form — especially
in the case of apricots. The colonists of the Cape prepare
apricots in various ways : one called ' meibos ' — known also
as ' matrimony,' from being sour and sweet — is very good.
The fruit is, as it were, crystallised by being dipped in a
strong ley, dried in the sun, and then laid in sugar ; but
this is never seen in England, except when brought over
by individuals as a present to friends.
Our viands
1893Page 95
Presented as published in 1893. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
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We have by no means exhausted the uses of the varieties
of the orange family, which are as valuable medicinally as
in a culinary sense, and seem to bear out the Mentone
legend that they were brought originally from the Garden of
Eden. Undoubtedly they 'are all natives of the far East,
and the probability is that they were indigenous in India
and China, and were introduced into Africa in very early
times by traders, possibly Chinese, although Galessio believes
them to have been brought originally from India by the
Arabs; and it is pointed out that they were apparently
unknown to Pliny and other early naturalists.
All the varieties now grow in perfection at the Cape, in
the West Indies, Australia, and America — in fact, wherever
there is abundance of warmth and sun ; and with care
they will live to the age of three hundred years, even in
England, there being some at Hampton Court said to be of
that age, but the fruit will not compare with that of foreign
climates, for these golden apples of the Hesperides require
the sun-dragon to guard them from frost and blight, and to
bring them to perfection.
CHAPTER XV
STONE FRUITS AND BERRIES
PRUDENT folks are always impressing the fact upon juveniles
that stone fruits are unwholesome, but what boy or girl can
resist the cry of * Cherry Ripe ! ' or avoid the luscious
plum, and the still more luscious apricot, peach, or nec-
tarine, when it falls in his or her way ? Indeed, we do
not believe that even the most prudent of mothers can
always be proof against the temptation of these much-
maligned delicacies.
As regards apricots, peaches, and nectarines, we in
England are never likely to get a surfeit of either, for they
cost too much to grow in this part of the world, ever to
become a food for the million. In truth, there are millions
who probably never taste a peach, or a nectarine j and
although apricots are more plentiful, being imported, half
ripe, in boxes from France, yet these are also too dear for
poor people to buy, and when bought are not satisfactory,
the flavour being poor compared with the ripe Moor Park
apricot grown on a sunny wall in England. The envy of
the British youth is great when he hears that in America,
and in South Africa and Australia, pigs are fed upon
peaches, and he wishes they would just send some of them
over here j but, in truth, these fruits are too delicate for
ies N
194 OUR VIANDS
export, unless bottled or dried, although a consignment of
peaches has recently arrived from South Africa in excellent
condition, packed each in a separate compartment like eggs,
and wrapped in cotton wool. Many of these fruits come
to us in tins and bottles from America, but they seem to
lose flavour in the process, and will never take the place
of the highly-cultivated wall-fruits of England at the tables
of the rich, although convenient as a substitute, when the
superior article is deficient or out of season. The best
mode of importing these fruits is in a dried form — especially
in the case of apricots. The colonists of the Cape prepare
apricots in various ways : one called ' meibos ' — known also
as ' matrimony,' from being sour and sweet — is very good.
The fruit is, as it were, crystallised by being dipped in a
strong ley, dried in the sun, and then laid in sugar ; but
this is never seen in England, except when brought over
by individuals as a present to friends.