🧪 Bad Science 1909

Syllabub

Brandy and sugar in a cup, then milk into it straight from the cow until the foam reaches the top.

From: Good Housekeeping's Cook Book
Published: 1909
Yikes Scale: Yikes

Exactly as printed, 1909

Dissolve a generous teaspoon of sugar in a tablespoon of brandy. Put in a pint cup and milk into this from the cow till the foam reaches the top.

Good Housekeeping's Cook Book, 1909. Public domain; transcription unaltered.

So what happens if I make it?

Milk drawn directly into the cup is unpasteurised and at blood heat. Raw milk is a documented vehicle for campylobacter, salmonella, listeria and E. coli, and a tablespoon of brandy sterilises nothing.

It is the invalid-cookery placement that makes it worse. The drink was for the sick, the pregnant and the elderly — the people for whom those organisms do the most damage.

Notes from the 21st century

The foam is the whole point. Milking from a height into the cup aerates it. That is why it had to be done at the animal; you cannot get the same foam from a jug.
Two books in our set do this. Good Housekeeping's version and Cassell's grander punch-bowl one. It was a recognised dish, not a curiosity.
Modern syllabub is safe and good. Cream, wine, sugar, lemon, whipped. It is the same dessert without the cow.

Also in this book

Broiled Beef Balls — Raw round scraped to a pulp with a knife, pressed loosely into balls, cooked two minutes.
Good Mincemeat Without Intoxicants — Temperance mincemeat, put up by the crock — and hot-packed like fruit.

Don't take our word for it. The complete book is online, free and searchable.

Read the original page →

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