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THE EXOTIC DRINKING BOOK
2 days, then strain this off and add to the spirits. Put in burnt sugar
for colour. Filter again, let stand until it settles perfectly clear, then
bottle for use-being careful not to agitate the slight precipitation
or sediment during this final operation.
HELL-FIRE BITTERS or CAYENNE WINE, another RECEIPT
from the IsLAND of TRINIDAD, in the BRITISH WEST INDIES, and Now
and AGAIN UsED in GIN-and-BITTERS,
&
OTHER SIMILAR SHARP
DRINKS
instead of routine BITTERS by STOUT ENGL1sm.1EN with BOILER PLATE
GASTRIC LININGS
This is an old, old receipt dating to 1817 in print right here before
us-and likely long before that, because the British knew Port of
Spain a century and a half before.
In
fact we have just been diving up
coins, cannons, shot, crystal goblets and other miscellaneous relics
from
HMS WINCHESTER,
60 guns, 933 tons, commanded by one
John Soule, and while bound from Jamaica to England, sank in a gale
on a certain coral barrier reef, 24th September 1695-and have the
loot to prove it! And photographs; and cinl!ma
film.
This Hell-Fire Bitters is an excellent cooking and seasoning sauce
for fish, salads, soups and meats, when ·mixed half and half with
strained lime juice and stood for 2 wks, in an uncovered bottle, be–
fore using-a fact which has been disclosed in
Volume I.
Pound up 2 cups of scarlet round bird peppers, or small chilis or
cayenne peppers. Put in a saucepan with
l
cup of tart white wine;
simmer up once and turn everything into a pint jar, add
l
cup of
cognac brandy and seal jar tight. Let steep for 14 days, strain through
several thicknesses of cloth and bottle for use.
lWien used solely for
seasoning food,
put everything through a fine sieve. These peppers
have a vast
am~unt
of flavour in
.the~r
scarlet skin and flesh, entirely
aside from the mtense h at of their 01ls. Seeds for their home growth
in ordinary window boxes, flower pots, or rusty tin cans!, may be
bought at any half-way seed store.
If
no fresh peppers are possible simply stir
~
oz of ground
cayen~e'
pepper into the wine-brandy mix. Claret and brandy, claret alone,
• 1
53 .