Ingredients
- 1 gill of water
- three principal species of cherries--the _apronian
Directions
1561. INGREDIENTS.--To every lb. of cherries allow 1-1/4 lb. of sugar, 1 gill of water.
_Mode_.--Select ripe cherries; pick off the stalks, and reject all that have any blemishes. Boil the sugar and water together for 5 minutes; put in the cherries, and boil them for 10 minutes, removing the scum as it rises. Then turn the fruit, &c. into a pan, and let it remain until the next day, when boil it all again for another 10 minutes, and, if necessary, skim well. Put the cherries into small pots; pour over them the syrup, and, when cold, cover down with oiled papers, and the tops of the jars with tissue-paper brushed over on both sides with the white of an egg, and keep in a dry place.
_Time_.--Altogether, 25 minutes to boil.
_Average cost_, from 8d. to 10d. per lb. pot.
_Seasonable_.--Make this in July or August.
THE CHERRY-TREE IN ROME.--The Cherry-tree was introduced into Rome by Lucullus about seventy years before the Christian era; but the capital of the world knew not at first how to appreciate this present as it deserved; for the cherry-tree was propagated so slowly in Italy, that more than a century after its introduction it was far from being generally cultivated. The Romans distinguished three principal species of cherries--the _Apronian_, of a bright red, with a firm and delicate pulp; the _Lutatian_, very black and sweet; the _Caecilian_, round and stubby, and much esteemed. The cherry embellished the third course in Rome and the second at Athens.