I’ve been sharing a few Christmas recipes (I nearly wrote remedies – but they might be for Boxing Day!) I’ve just been looking through a little (tiny in fact) book for making cocktails, punches, toddies and other mixed drinks. In general I’m not very keen on hot punches and would politely decline if offered one, but a couple of years ago at a writing group get together, a husband of one of the writers made a most wonderful concoction. I’m not sure if it was his own recipe, a family recipe or something he found in a book but it was utterly delicious and not too powerful.
My little book is ‘Professional Mixing Guide’ (1951) published by Angostura Bitters, and this is what it says about mulled wines:
Mulled wines are among the traditions of the bon vivant of yesterday, for the original method of making them was to put the ingredients into a large bar glass or goblet, heat a poker red hot and stick it into the liquid until it frothed and boiled over. Then it was strained and served. If you can find a poker and an open fire the trick is worth trying, but you can see why the old-fashioned method of preparing is obsolete.
I’ve often read about people drinking negus or a negus, which it seems is a hot drink of port, sugar, lemon, and spice. The little recipe books suggests this: Hot Negus – in warmed goblet, dissolve 1 tsp superfine granulated sugar in a tablespoon of boiling water; add 3 oz sherry or port, fill with boiling water, dust with nutmeg. It sounds warming if you’d come in from the chilly outdoors, but not very interesting. The next recipe for hot port wine is similar but includes a pinch of allspice, a small piece of lemon or orange peel and of course port.
Now, here is hot rum punch (for 16 persons)
Grate the rind of 3 lemons into a small earthenware bowl and add ¼lb of granulated sugar and lemon gratings, add the juice of 3 lemons and 1 teaspoonful of ground ginger. Mix well and put into another large earthenware bowl (which has been previously heated)
Then add in the following order: 1 pint Siegert’s Bouquet Rum (Gold Label), 1 pint brandy, ½ pint sherry, 1 quart boiling water.
Mix well, sweeten further if desired and allow to stand on side of stove, near heat for 20 minutes. Serve in punch cups,, dust with nutmeg.
The next recipe for Toddy (hot) has sugar, rye whisky, cinnamon, a slice of lemon, cloves, lemon bitters, lemon peel. The final recipe in this small section is for a Tom and Jerry – I don’t know if it is as a tribute to the cartoon cat and mouse, it’s not mentioned!
Lois Elsden 