Brandied Cherries

History

"Brandied Cherries" appears in The Jewish Manual (London, 1846), a book that opens by noting that among existing culinary works "there have been none which afford the slightest insight to the Cookery of the Hebrew kitchen" — it is generally regarded as the first English-language Jewish cookbook. The book was published anonymously, credited only to "A Lady." It is traditionally attributed to Lady Judith Montefiore, but researchers acknowledge there is "no conclusive proof" of her authorship.

The recipe sits in the book's preserves-and-bottling section (indexed as "Brandy cherries," page 162). As printed, it directs the cook to fill a large wide-mouthed bottle with very ripe black cherries, add two pounds of loaf sugar, a quart of brandy, and a few cloves, then bruise a few more cherries and simmer them with sugar, strain, add the juice to the bottle, cork it closely, and keep it in a warm, dry place.

Beyond the recipe text itself, the historical record I could source does not document who prepared or ate this particular preparation, or that it carried any special social status. In the book, preserving fruit in spirits is simply one of several bottling methods recorded for keeping fruit through the year.

Ingredients

• black cherries
• 2 pounds loaf sugar
• 1 quart brandy
• cloves
• cherries
• sugar

Instructions

1. Fill a large wide-mouthed bottle with very ripe black cherries. Add two pounds of loaf sugar, a quart of brandy, and a few cloves.
2. Bruise a few additional cherries and simmer them with sugar. Strain this mixture and add the resulting juice to the cherries in the bottle.
3. Cork the bottle closely and keep it in a warm, dry place.