Pare off the green skin, and the soft, white, inner rind. Cut into
strips or into fanciful shapes. Allow a pound and a quarter of sugar to
each pound of rind. Line your kettle with vine leaves and fill with the
rind, scattering a little pulverized alum over each layer. Cover with
vine-leaves, three thick; pour on water enough to reach and wet these,
and lay a close lid on the top of the kettle. Let all steam together
for three hours; but the water must not actually boil. Take out your
rind, which should be well greened by this process, and throw at once
into very cold water. It should lie in soak, changing the water every
hour, for four hours.
For the syrup, allow two cups of water to a pound and a quarter of
sugar. Boil, and skim it until no more scum comes up; put in the rind,
and simmer gently nearly an hour. Take it out, and spread upon dishes
in the sun until firm and almost cool. Simmer in the syrup for half an
hour; spread out again, and, when firm, put into a large bowl, and pour
over it the scalding syrup.
Twelve hours later put the syrup again over the fire, adding the juice
of a lemon and a tiny strip of ginger-root for every pound of rind.
Boil down until thick; pack the rind in jars and pour over it the
syrup. Tie up when cool.
A very handsome sweetmeat, although rather insipid in flavor. The
reader can judge whether, as the charity boy said of the alphabet, and
the senior Weller of matrimony, it is worth while to go through so much
and get so little.