REPASTS: SYLLABUB, ELIZABETHAN EGGNOG

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REPASTS: SYLLABUB, ELIZABETHAN EGGNOG

A frothy bubbly drink chronicled by Samuel Pepys, preparing syllabub is "a sure way to carpal-tunnel syndrome," writes Jon Fasman in his latest column on literary treats ...

From INTELLIGENT LIFE Magazine, Summer 2009

“After dinner the Commissioner and I… talked of our businesses and matters of the navy. So to church again, where quite weary, and so after sermon walked with him… to his house, and had a syllabub” ~ “The Diary of Samuel Pepys”, August 3rd 1662

Syllabub occupies a unique space in the world of sweets: somewhere between a dessert, a beverage and an intense arm-exercise. Its name comes from Sillery, a region of Champagne in France, and bub, which was Elizabethan slang for a bubbly drink, and it almost certainly is the refined grandmother of eggnog. Like eggnog, syllabub was generally a festive drink, its blend of froth, sugar and alcohol ushering in good cheer. For Pepys and his host, it presumably would have been a reward at the end of an industrious day, spent on discussions of naval business and a wearying sermon.

Syllabub’s core ingredients are cream or full-fat milk, sugar, a sour fruit (usually citrus, but rhubarb works) and alcohol; its texture and tang come partly from the mild curdle effected by the acid fruit and the alcohol. Eggs can also be added to the mix; this would produce an almost custard-like texture, as opposed to the thinner, frothier, more cappuccino-like milk-or-cream-only version. The presence of eggs and the quantity of wine determines whether a particular syllabub is more dessert or punch.

The bubbliness in the recipe’s name comes not from sparkling wine, but from the action involved in making it: wine, sugar and nutmeg (other chefs add cinnamon or vanilla) are mixed in a bowl with milk or cream, beating the whole time until frothy. In these days of eggbeaters, immersion blenders and coffee frothers, this is a doddle; in centuries past it would have been a sure road to carpal-tunnel syndrome.

Still, at least one popular 19th-century cookery writer, G.W.M. Reynolds, outsourced the frothing: after mixing a quart each of port and sherry with a pint of brandy, two grated nutmegs, a pound of powdered sugar and the juice of four lemons, he instructs the reader to “place the bowl under a cow and milk it full. In serving it, put a portion of curd into each glass, fill it up with whey, and pour a little rich cream on the top.” Less frothy, perhaps, than using a cappuccino foamer, but more energy-efficient by far.

Illustration: Clifford Harper

(Jon Fasman is an editor for Economist.com, and the author of two novels, both published by the Penguin Press: "The Geographer's Library" and "The Unpossessed City".)