“A lady whose husband had a severe cold recomended flaxseed lemonade.
‘Huh!’ he said, irascibly, ‘a man can’t have a cold without everybody suggesting some fool remedy. I’ll send for a doctor.’
So the doctor came, charged the sick man $2 for his visit and advised flaxseed lemonade.” – New York Sun, 1887
The earliest recorded evidence of lemonade comes from Egypt, where in the year 1000 AD, peasants made a drink of lemons, dates, and honey. The poet Nasir-i-Khusraw wrote of a bottled beverage made from sugar and lemon juice, known as qatarmizat, being traded and exported.
In 17th century France, a honey-sweetened version of lemonade was sold by street vendors known as ‘limonadiers’.
Meanwhile, in Britain, they had been enjoying various forms of a drink called a “posset,” made variously with milk wine, spices, herbs, or/and sometimes egg. Lemon and orange juice inevitably made their way into these beverages. And so, “egg lemonade” became a logical form of refreshment.
“The Up-To-Date Bartender’s Guide,” Harry Montague, 1913
I have 20 lemonade recipes in the Old Line Plate database. There are some variations. Two recipes are for “Pineapple Lemonade.” A few are for lemonade ice, including a recipe in the 1870 “Queen of the Kitchen,” which includes whipped egg-whites. “Flaxseed Lemonade” was a recipe “for the sick.” Bartender Harry Montague included a recipe for “Hot Lemonade” in his 1913 book of cocktails.
If you ask me, hot lemonade is just taking it TOO FAR. I’ll do many things for this blog but I won’t drink hot lemonade.
I will, however, risk my health by consuming a bunch of raw eggs! Despite Montague’s grotesque suggestion with the hot lemonade, I tried his egg lemonade recipe first. It was perfectly acceptable. Weirdly, it calls for limes instead of lemons but I’ll happily comply with that. Harry Montague, you jokester!
Mrs. E. J. Strasburg’s 1904 recipe for “Excellent” Egg Lemonade calls for lemons and oranges, muddled with their zest plus sugar and egg whites, strained into a glass. “When serving, partly fill a glass, put something on top, and shake it well to make it foam,” the recipe suggests. A second recipe in Strasburg’s book “Lemonade With Egg,” suggests sherry can be substituted for lemon juice, bringing the beverage right back to posset territory.
Despite the obvious appeal Strasburg’s ideas, I opted to make an Egg Lemonade recipe containing actual lemons, from the 1908 “Church Cook Book.” Calling to mind another egg-bearing beverage, this recipe suggested topping the drink off with nutmeg.
Both versions of “Egg Lemonade” that I tried were fine. Very refreshing. More or less like regular lemonade but with added anxiety.
Recipes:
“Fill mixing glass one-third full of cracked ice. 1 tablespoonful sugar. Juice of 2 limes. 1 egg. Fill up with water; shake; strain into goblet; dress with fruit and serve with 2 straws.”
Recipe from “The Up-To-Date Bartenders’ Guide” by Harry Montague, 1913 (I. & M. Ottenhemier, Baltimore)
“Beat the egg thoroughly, and add the sugar and lemon juice; add the water slowly, stirring until smooth, and well mixed. Strain and serve. A little grated nutmeg may be added if liked.”
Recipe from “The Church Cook Book” 1908 (Williams & Wilkins Co., Baltimore)
