There was a question in tonight’s pub quiz about a three-letter word which Americans use means caustic soda… and for a while we were bamboozled even though I felt sure it was ringing bells… and then the American among us suggested, very tentatively, lye. That set more bells ringing and I added that I was sure it was the right word. Then I remembered, looking back at the old newspapers I had seen it mentioned in recipes and remedies for making household products in the 1860’s, 70’s and 80’s. We wrote it down on the answer sheet with some conviction and it was right!
So what is lye? Basically it is ‘a strongly alkaline solution, especially of potassium hydroxide, used for washing or cleansing’; we are so lucky with all the easy, safe and convenient products we now have, imagine a time when we had to make our own!
Lye crops up in recipes as well as advice on how to wash and clean things… and here is an example:
Preserving olives
The following method of preserving olives is much in use:
- put the green olives into a lye made of one part lime and six parts of ashes of new wood silted
- after having left them half a day in this lye they are taken out and placed in fresh water
- … where they are soaked for eight days
- … the water being renewed each day
- a pickle of salt and water is then made with aromatic herbs added
- … and in this they are preserved.
Lois Elsden 