HISTORIC FORT YORK
RECEIPT FROM THE MESS ESTABLISHMENT
OFFICERS' BRICK BARRACKS


SHRUB, A FIFTH WAY

ORIGINAL RECEIPT

Davies, John. The Innkeeper and Butler's Guide, or, a Directory in the Making and Managing of British Wines. (Leeds: 6th edition, 1808), pages 175-176.

"Take two quarts of brandy, put it into a large bottle, and put into it the juice of five lemons, and the peels of two, and half a nutmeg; then stop it up and let it stand three days, after which add to it three pints of white wine; a pound and a half sugar; mix it, strain it twice through a filtering bag, and then bottle it up. This is a fine cordial.”

HISTORIC BACKGROUND

Shrub was a beverage popularly prepared with the juice of an acid fruit, like lemon or orange, and a spirit, such as brandy and/or wine. The word "shrub" is a variant of an Arab word, shurb, meaning "sweet drink". It was one of the many culinary ideas brought back into Europe with the returning armies of the 11th and 12th centuries.

Anything that doctors considered invigorating to the heart was a cordial. "Cordial" is a very old medical term derived from the Latin word concordialis, meaning "good for the heart". According to medieval physiology, the cordial spirit (the "vital" spirit) resided in the heart. Many printed cookery books and household recipe manuscripts of the Elizabethan to Edwardian eras had extensive sections of alcoholic cordials. Davies provided with several cordial shrubs, all variations of punch, any mixture of a spirit, fruit (particulary lemon) and sugar, that totalled five ingredients. Punch and shrub were drunk as a digestive either before or after dinner, not with it.

John Davies was particularly proud of his ability to make British wines and compounds, like "peppermint, anniseed, shrub, &c.". In his preface to the 6th edition, he wrote: "I flatter myself that I may, without the imputation of vanity, say, I know as much on this subject as any other man in the kingdom." He also had "spent some years in the south of France", so he also claimed to know how to manage "foreign wines and spirits".


OUR MODERN EQUIVALENT

This is a delicious, but surprisingly potent compound. More juice can be extracted from a hot lemon than a cold lemon: simply let the lemons sit in hot water for about 10 minutes, then cut and squeeze normally. The recipe halves and quarters well. It also keeps well.

Combine: brandy, lemon juice, lemon peel and nutmeg in a large bottle; cork well

Set aside: for 3 days for flavours to blend

Add: wine, sugar

Mix: thoroughly to dissolve sugar

Strain: twice through a filter, such as a paper coffee filter, several layers of fine cheesecloth or a wine filter

Store: in smaller bottles

Yield: 72 servings of 60 mL (1/4 cup) each

January 1994

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Published with the permission of Heritage Toronto. Jessup Food & Heritage acknowledges the excellent research and experimentation performed in the historic kitchens of Heritage Toronto at Fort York, Spadina House, MacKenzie House and Colborne Lodge under the leadership of Curator Fiona Lucas. Our thanks go to Fiona and her expert staff in allowing us to share with you their work.

Jessup Food & Heritage, Limited
P.O. Box 446, 356 East Street
Prescott, Ontario K0E 1T0
telephone: 1-800-882-6704
fax: 613-536-0456

This page was last updated: Sunday, December 01, 2002