Fresh Raspberry Water
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You’ll find this recipe in:
The Complete Confectioner
By: Frederick Nutt
London, 1790
Historic Recipe
Freſh Raſpberry Water.
TAKE a pint of freſh raſpberries; and paſs them through a ſieve with a wooden ſpoon; put two large ſpoonfuls of powdered ſugar in, ſqueeze one lemon in and let the reſt be water; make it palatable and put a little cochineal in it to colour it; paſs it through a ſieve and it is fit for use.
My recipe:
2 cups raspberries – 300 g
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tbsp white sugar
Water to taste – I used 6 cups (1420 mL)
Red food colouring (optional)
Push the raspberries through a sieve with a wooden spoon or spatula to remove the seeds. Juice a lemon and add to the raspberry pulp along with the sugar. Stir, and add water to taste. If desired, add red food colouring to amp up the colour.
Raspberry Water will settle over time, so give it a stir or shake before serving.
Freſh Raſpberry Water is a refreshing beverage with a zip. We made it at a historic cooking class that I taught last July at Nelles Manor Museum and I remember that it was very satisfying to drink after cooking over an open hearth on a hot summer day. It’s a simple recipe. Remove the raspberry seeds with a sieve, then add lemon juice, white sugar and water.
At the same class, we also made Strawberry-fritters , which I also highly recommend! Nelles Manor has reopened for tours this month, so check out their website (http://nellesmanor.ca/) for the latest news about their hours & procedures if you’re looking for something to do in Grimsby, Ontario.
You may have wondered 2 things when reading the historic recipe:
1) What is that unusual letter that appears where an ‘S’ should be? It is the Long S or Descending S, a letter of the Latin alphabet that fell out of use around the turn of the 19th-century. If you’d like to read more about the Long S, you’ll find a brief history in my To Boil Green Peas post.
2) What is cochineal? Frederick Nutt instructs us to “put a little cochineal in it to colour it”. Cochineal is a red dye that can be used to colour food and textiles. It’s a red powder made from ground up and dried small round insects that live on prickly pear cacti.
To find out more about cochineal, head over to my Rhubarb and Banana Fool recipe, which also lists cochineal as an ingredient. If you keep reading until the end, you’ll also learn about the history of banana recipes in Canadian & American cook books and the early years of the banana industry.
I’ve heard that cochineal is making a comeback because of health concerns about synthetic red dyes. Quite by coincidence, I happened to buy this bottle of Cranberry Raspberry Juice Blend the day before making Fresh Raspberry Water and the last ingredient is cochineal, probably because it’s mostly made up of apple and grape juice!
