1903 The Flowing Bowl by Edward Spencer

CORDIALS AND LIQUEURS

197

of Dalmatia. The word implies bitterness, yet the liquid is sweet enough to catch flies. " It is a curious fact," says a modern writer, " in natural history that the fair sex prefer a sweet liqueur to the finest wine ; and they have such a tendency to maraschino that Mr. Hayward has proposed that whereas the toast most honoured among men is Wine and Women, they should adopt as their own return toast—Men and Maraschino." The French make different imitations of the true liqueur, one of them from peach-stones, which they call " Marasquin de peches." And in the true Maraschino of Zara there be a few peach-stones mixed with those of the geans. These are small and quite black, and are fer mented first with honey, then with the leaves and kernels of the fruit, and are last of all distilled and sweetened with sugar. One more cordial, to finish the chapter. The recipe was given in theLady's Pictorial.^ by Mrs. C. E. Humphry, the delightful and ever-welcome "Madge" of Truth. I can vouch for the efficacy of the potion. Ginger Cordial. Two quarts of Scotch whisky, three lemons sliced, one ounce of ground ginger, half an ounce of carra- way seeds, three pounds of lump-sugar, one ounce of bitter almonds, three ounces of sweet almonds, one pound of raisins. Put all into a crock, and stir every day for three weeks. Then strain through three folds of blotting-paper, or one fold of filtering-paper, and bottle.

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