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British Sherry, or Malt Wine

A historical recipe from The English Housekeeper, by Anne Cobbett (1851).

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A historical recipe

The English Housekeeper: Or, Manual of Domestic Management Containing advice on the conduct of household affairs and practical instructions concerning the store-room, the pantry, the larder, the kitchen, the cellar, the dairy; the whole being intended for the use of young ladies who undertake the superintendence of their own housekeeping, by Anne Cobbett (1851). Project Gutenberg eBook #55314.

From an old book: a historical recipe, not current advice. Its methods, additives and storage may be unsafe by today's standards. Its words name: preserving or pickling, a substance or vessel no longer considered safe. Check current food-safety guidance before following this.

United Kingdom This recipe is known as British, but other nations also prepare similar recipes.

Source Public domain in the USA
Credit

From The English Housekeeper, by Anne Cobbett (1851). Digitised by Project Gutenberg, eBook #55314 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/55314). Public domain in the USA; its status may differ elsewhere.

What was changed: As printed, from the book's text; Project Gutenberg's header and licence removed. Ingredient lines were read out of the text by a program. A historical recipe, not current advice.

  • Preserving. Old preserving methods may not make food safe to keep. Use current tested guidance.
  • Additives or old utensils. The text names something no longer considered safe in food or for cooking in, such as lead, alum, borax, bitter almonds or copper pans. Don't use it.

Ingredients 12 ingredients

  1. 12 quarts of the best sweet wort
  2. 10 gallon cask
  3. 22 lbs. of the best lump sugar
  4. 3 lbs. raisins
  5. a quart of good brandy
  6. 42 lbs. good moist sugar
  7. 14 gallons of water
  8. 16 lbs. good Malaga raisins
  9. 2 gallons of strong beer ready
  10. 2 quarts of the best brandy
  11. 1 lb. bitter almonds blanched
  12. 2 oz. isinglass

Possible health benefits

General information, not medical advice.

  1. Raisin High in potassium · High in copper · Source of iron

    High in potassium · 825 mg per 100 g, 41% of the reference intake per 100 g

    • Potassium contributes to normal functioning of the nervous system.
    • Potassium contributes to normal muscle function.
    • Potassium contributes to the maintenance of normal blood pressure.

    Potassium is a mineral found in many foods. Your body needs potassium for almost everything it does, including proper kidney and heart function, muscle contraction, and nerve transmission. NIH fact sheet

    High in copper · 0.3 mg per 100 g, 30% of the reference intake per 100 g

    • Copper contributes to maintenance of normal connective tissues.
    • Copper contributes to normal energy-yielding metabolism.
    • Copper contributes to normal functioning of the nervous system.
    5 more authorised claims
    • Copper contributes to normal hair pigmentation.
    • Copper contributes to normal iron transport in the body.
    • Copper contributes to normal skin pigmentation.
    • Copper contributes to the normal function of the immune system.
    • Copper contributes to the protection of cells from oxidative stress.

    Copper is a mineral that you need to stay healthy. Your body uses copper to carry out many important functions, including making energy, connective tissues, and blood vessels. NIH fact sheet

    Source of iron · 2.6 mg per 100 g, 19% of the reference intake per 100 g

    • Iron contributes to normal cognitive function.
    • Iron contributes to normal energy-yielding metabolism.
    • Iron contributes to normal formation of red blood cells and haemoglobin.
    4 more authorised claims
    • Iron contributes to normal oxygen transport in the body.
    • Iron contributes to the normal function of the immune system.
    • Iron contributes to the reduction of tiredness and fatigue.
    • Iron has a role in the process of cell division.

    Iron is a mineral that the body needs for growth and development. Your body uses iron to make hemoglobin, a protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen from the lungs to all parts of the body, and myoglobin, a protein that provides oxygen to muscles. NIH fact sheet

    Nutrients per 100 g of “Raisins, seeded”, USDA FoodData Central.

Claims: EU Register of health claims (Regulation (EU) No 432/2012, © European Union, CC BY 4.0), shown only where the ingredient meets the claim's conditions (Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006). Nutrients: USDA FoodData Central (CC0). Facts: NIH Office of Dietary Supplements (public domain).

Method

  1. Take 12 quarts of the best sweet wort, from pale malt, let it cool and put it into a 10 gallon cask.
  2. Take as much water as will be required to fill up the cask, put it on the fire, with 22 lbs.
  3. of the best lump sugar, stir from time to time, and let it boil gently about a quarter of an hour, taking off the scum as it rises.
  4. Take it off the fire, let it cool, pour it into the cask, and put in a little good yeast.
  5. It may, perhaps, continue to ferment two or three weeks;
  6. when this has ceased, put in 3 lbs.
  7. raisins, chopped fine;
  8. these may cause fresh fermentation, which must be allowed to subside;
  9. then put in the rinds of 4 Seville oranges, and their juice, also a quart of good brandy;
  10. at the end of three or four days, if a fresh fermentation have not taken place, put the bung in tight.
  11. Keep it a year in the cask, then bottle it;
  12. the longer it is kept the better.--Or: stir 42 lbs.
  13. good moist sugar into 14 gallons of water, till it is dissolved, then boil it twenty minutes;
  14. let it cool in a tub, then put in 16 lbs.
  15. good Malaga raisins, picked and chopped;
  16. when it is quite cold pour in 2 gallons of strong beer ready to be tunned, and let it stand eight days;
  17. then taking out the raisins, put it into a 16 gallon cask, with 2 quarts of the best brandy, 1 lb.
  18. bitter almonds blanched, and 2 oz.
  19. isinglass.
  20. Bottle it in a year.

Plating

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