Evening star., 1903-07-13
RATAFIASOF OLD TIMES
LIQUEURS OR coRDIALS IN THE
DAYS OF THE TUDoRS.
The Ancient Vogue Of Curacao - Dis
titled Herbs, Fruits
and Seeds.
From the New York Tribune.

If etymologiStS are not conspicuOuSly
humorous class. they may at least claim
the merit of being the occasional cause of
humor in other men. With a painful twist
of ingenuity one of the former has derived
the word ratafia from the Latin "ratus,
because Of the old custom of wetting, or
raufying, a bargain with the glass of cor
dial comfort. The custom is certainly no
uncommon one. 1t is. in fact, SO ancient
and widespread that it must in its time
have been honored in every national drink
all the world over. But the origin of the
word Is admittedly not very clear. fact
which may possibly account for some of
the confusion which prevails about the
thing. Ratafia is generally supposed to be
a liqueur, or cordial. in which the flavor Of
almonds strongly predominates. The older
cookery books support this idea, and tell
us that the bruised kernels of peach, cher
ry and apricot stones steeped in brandy
make the best But the propounders of the
recipe appear to have thought that the
liqueur itself offered too many temptati tons
to the cook: for should that pOtentate aspire
to it for the favoring of her creams or
jellies she is coldly advised to make use of
laurel bay leaves. According, however,
to the modern sense of the word, ratafias
form one of the two great branches into
which liqueurs are divided. The term
broadly stands for those that are made by
SllHple III uSloll. anu not DN ulStllldtlOH VI
the various herbs. fruits and seeds to which
their flavor Is due. Thus, real cherry
brandy (homemade) is a ratafia; while the
German kirschenwasser is liqueur dis
titled from fermented cherries
Housewives Arts
AS ratafias have been largely superseded
by the liquerurs of the "dstillateur," so the
ld-time "elixrs' gradually gave way to
the former. Ratafas began to be popular
at about the beginning of the Tudor period,
and in a few years to excel in their making
became prime object of domestic ambi-
ton. A housewives manual published in
the year 1860 contains several established
recipes on this head. They were doubtless
realized with skill and effect by many
stately lady of the manor whose happlest
hours We're often passed in such employ
mcnt. Her herbs and fruit were surely
of the best. but may entertain some
reasonable doubt as to the nature and
quality of the alcohol at her command
though this of course. was effectually dis
guSed by some of the poignant favors
infused in it
What came to be regarded the true
and only 'ratatias' was simply an infusion
of almonds in brandy; then gin was en-
ployed. and ''noyeau' resulted. The ex-
treme ease with which these cordials were
made was. of course, a chief cause of
their former popularity. To produce the
latter the housewife had only to infuse
four ounces of sweet and the same guam
tity of bitter almonds in quart of British
gin. together with pound of loaf sugar
keep them In a warm place. mix and stir
frequently for a fortnight then strain and
filter into your nqueur bottles Nothing
could we'll be easier. though. OF course,
many of the ratafias were OF a much moro
composite character. And even noyeau
assumed a more professional aspect when
1t was once taken in hand by the experts.
Apricot and peach kernels began to be
used and a delicate pink tinge was i'm
ba which did tend to
sustain its innocent reputation
Stomachic and Wholesome.
Two of the very best ratafias, the most
stomachic and wholesome" were our good
old friends, cherry brandy and cherry
'bounce." The former needs no introduc-
ton but it's name, but the latter has 80
fallen from its once fashionable estate that
1t should now perhaps be called cherry gin.
In its palmy days. and rs the special
make" of a leading firm whom 1t helped
to make fortune the famous bounce
was sold at no less than shillngs pint.
But of all the ratafias-and first and last
their number and variety have been almost
endless-curacoa once stood 1aclle prln-
ceps" Fashion took it under It's we'll
plumed wing, 1t stamped as gen
tlemanly sort of drink and II was certain
ly partaken of at all times. seasons and
places. The novels of eighty years ago
were full Of It, We know how the feeble
IT after breakfast. and how 1T disagreed
with Major Pendennls because OF the or
ange peel. In short curacao had an I'M
mense vogue and long and most re-
munerative career. And then made at
Luxembourg and Amsterdam 1T was almost
as good as 1t was exclusive and expensive
For several years curacao was the thing,
and was the choice alike Of the dilettante
and the connoisSeur. Used in mOdera ton
1t is not unwholesome, but the adulatiOn
universally bestowed upon it was certainly
in excess of its real merits 1t is an oft
told story how. at the elegant dinners once
given by the unhappy Fauntleroy, some re-
marka BILE and quite unmatchable curacao
always appeared to challenge the taste and
curiosity of the guests FaunterOy was
often asked of whom he bought 1t, but he
always declined to reveal the secret. AS
the story runs, one of his dining friends
visited his former host while lying under
sentence of death for forgery, and made an
earnest appeal to him that he would, in the
sad circumstances of the case, say how and
of whom he procured the famous lfqueur.
With what result is not recorded, nor need
we regret the omission. 1t is an .'ill-found'
story. which bears the marks of invention
on the face of 1t. The vogue of curacao
appears. however, to have declined from
about that time and ii is now almost as
seldom seen as heard of. Nevertheless its
turn may again come round. The now
fashionable creme de menthe' is an old
French preparation. and who would ven
ture to say that there can be no revival of
curacao? The rod of fashion is often more
powerful than the wit of man.
Currants and Cherries.
Their comparative cheapncss and the fa-
city with which they could be made at
home prompted the French grocers to take
the ratafias kindly by the hand, and some
of them realized considerable fortunes by
n lucky hit In navoring. and often enough
by a catching name and 'get-up." One of
these happy spectators in a happy idea
was thus enabled to build a handsome
villa in the cnvirons of Paris, and had the
illustrioUs motto 'EX liquido Solidum' in
scribed ever the entrance. Naturally
enough, these infusions of fruits and flow
ers were specially favored by the bour-
geoisie and few were more popular than
the ratatia OF black currants. The famous
wild cherry ratafa is still made at Gren-
oble and the so-called "fve-ffuited rata
fla at HyercS, while Orleans yet retains Its
speciality of ounce But they retain only
shadow of their former greatness
Once taken up by the manufacturer the
old distinC tionS were gradually lost sight
of. and now accept our tqueurs pure
and simple (as fondly hope) without
question as to kind degree. They taste
sufficiently pleasant and we are not in the
mood to inquire too curtously. OF course,