Blackberry Cordial

History

"Blackberry Cordial" is recorded in Martha McCulloch-Williams's "Dishes & Beverages of the Old South" (1913), and it is written at preserving scale: half a bushel of very ripe but sound berries, picked over, washed and drained, mashed with a very little cold water and simmered half an hour, then strained and the juice measured. A pound of sugar goes to each pint, and to each gallon "a teaspoon of cloves, the same of allspice, a race of ginger well bruised, a tiny pod of Cayenne pepper, and a half dozen black pepper corns," the spices tied loosely so they can be lifted out.

The historical record does not document a specific earlier origin for this particular cordial. This preparation is a domestic fruit cordial of a kind common in nineteenth-century American households, recorded here as one Southern kitchen made it.

"Dishes & Beverages of the Old South" is a mixture of recipes and plantation reminiscence. McCulloch-Williams was a white writer born near Clarksville, Tennessee, who grew up on a plantation before the Civil War, and the book's affection for that world goes unexamined in it: its dedication is "to our Mammys," and its opening holds that being "the best fed people in the world" let "we of the South Country... put up the best fight in history." Much of the cooking it records is the work of enslaved and formerly enslaved Black women the book does not name.

Ingredients

• 1/2 bushel blackberries
• cold water
• 1 pound sugar
• 1 teaspoon cloves
• 1 teaspoon allspice
• 1 race ginger
• 1 pod Cayenne pepper
• 6 count black pepper corns
• 2 pints whiskey or brandy

Instructions

1. Pick over, wash and drain well half a bushel of very ripe, but sound berries.
2. Mash, add a very little cold water, and simmer for half an hour, then strain and measure the juice.
3. Put a pound of sugar to each pint, and to each gallon, a teaspoon of cloves, the same of allspice, a race of ginger well bruised, a tiny pod of Cayenne pepper, and a half dozen black pepper corns.
4. Tie the spices loosely in very thin muslin so they may not be skimmed off.
5. Skim away all froth, and cook for an hour, keeping the kettle barely boiling. It should reduce about one-half.
6. Take from the fire and add spirits, either whiskey or brandy, in the proportion of one to two — two pints cordial to one of liquor.
7. Let cool uncovered, bottle and cork tight — sealing is unnecessary.
8. For the version the book treats as medicinal, dig up and wash clean dewberry roots, cut short, and boil in clear water, making a very strong decoction. Add this to the cordial while still boiling, in proportion of one to four. Then mix in the spirits. A quart of cordial can be thus treated, and the rest kept for ordinary uses.