Candied Ginger from 1793
Many apologies for the amount of elapsed time since my last post! It has been a busy, exciting summer. Let's start current and work our way backward, shall we? Today's endeavor is Candied Ginger, from The Housekeeper's Instructor by William Henderson (sixth edition, 1793, London, W. and J. Stratford, Printers). Candied ginger, or more accurately, ginger candy. I struggled quite a bit with this recipe, but I think I finally have it worked out. A SIDE NOTE ON GINGER Ginger, from Medical Botany, R. Griffith, MD; 1847 Philadelphia Then, as now, people were aware of the medicinal qualities of ginger. If you ever drank ginger ale to calm an upset stomach, you are drawing on ginger's long-proven ability to calm digestive issues. People also enjoyed candied ginger as a sweetmeat. THE RECIPE The ingredients are simple enough: Webster's American Dictionary of the English Language (1828 edition) defines "ra...