Estimated Nutrition (whole recipe, rough)
Counts 3 of 5 ingredients — the other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and contribute nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume — 3 portions →
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Clove | 1 tsp ground (2g) | 7 |
| Garlic | 1 clove (3g) | 4 |
| Vinegar | 1 tbsp (15ml) distilled | 3 |
| Lavender | not in our table | 0 |
| Camphor | not in our table | 0 |
Totals for the whole recipe, adding one typical portion per ingredient — listed above. Quantities in the recipe are not counted, so this is a rough guide only — not suitable for medical or dietary planning.
Ingredients
- three quarts of strong clear vinegar
- a large handful of lavender blossoms
- an ounce of camphor that has been dissolved in a little alcohol
- a clove of garlic sliced
- four thieves
Directions
Take a large handful of lavender blossoms, and the same quantity of sage, mint, rue, wormwood and rosemary. Chop and mix them well. Put them into a jar, with half an ounce of camphor that has been dissolved in a little alcohol, and pour in three quarts of strong clear vinegar. Keep the jar for two or three weeks in the hot sun, and at night plunge it into a box of heated sand. Afterwards strain and bottle the liquid, putting into each bottle a clove of garlic sliced. To have it very clear, after it has been bottled for a week, you should pour it off carefully from the sediment, and filter it through blotting paper. Then wash the bottles, and return the vinegar to them. It should be kept very tightly corked. It is used for sprinkling about in sick-rooms; and also in close damp oppressive weather. Inhaling the odour from a small bottle will frequently prevent faintness in a crowd.
It is best to make it in June.
This vinegar is so called from an old tradition, that during the prevalence of the plague in London the composition was invented by four thieves, who found it a preservative from contagion; and were by that means enabled to remain in the city and exercise their profession to great advantage, after most of the inhabitants had fled.