Thursday, February 25, 2016

Historical Food Fortnightly Challenge #4 ~ Sweets for the Sweet

I sort of copped out on this fortnights challenge because I fell back upon a memorized recipe that we often made our boys when they were little. Cheap Crimean Lemonade is in the Hospital Stewards Manual though so it is a real historical recipe. It is sugar in it, so its sweet. Plus, since I've made it before I know it is good and it is quick and easy to make.
We've all been battling colds for the past few weeks and are all in various stages of recovery. I like to keep a lot of fresh citrus in the house when we are sick and I had a bag of little limes to use up. In the 18th century a surgeon named James Lind experimented with treating sailors at sea with citrus to prevent scurvy. (try saying that five times fast!) After seeing how effective citrus was in preventing this, in 1795 the British Royal Navy began issuing lemons or limes to their sailors. Limes were cheaper and easier to obtain, so perhaps that is one reason why this recipe is called Cheap Crimean Lemonade.

It is very easy to prepare, requiring only sugar, lime juice and water. While the recipe suggests the addition of rum, I have rarely used it when making this. Having tried it both ways, though, I can say the rum does make it better! This recipe makes enough to share with a friend. We usually triple or quadruple it for all of us! And yes, it was just as good today in late February as it is in the hot muggy summer.

Love, Sarah

1 comment:

  1. I love these simply recipes for beverages, almost as easy as opening a bottle! When I leaf through cookbooks I often think that back then so many more beverages were known (both hot and cold).
    Thank you for sharing this one!

    Sabine

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for your lovely thoughts!