Mrs. Traill’s Advice on Black Currants

This useful fruit may be dried whole, or boiled down and spread on tin plates and dried, with or without sugar; made into jam or jelly, or merely stewed with a little sugar, sufficient to sweeten, not preserve them. The convenience of this method is very apparent. In Canada, preserves are always placed on table at the evening meal, and often in the form of tarts. This method enables any one who has ripe fruit to prepare an agreeable dish at a small expense, and very little trouble, if a party of friends arrive unexpectedly to tea.

From Catherine Parr Traill’s The Female Emigrant’s Guide / Cooking with a Canadian Classic, edited by Nathalie Cooke and Fiona Lucas (MQUP 2017). It was originally published at Toronto in 1855. “Mrs. Traill’s Advice” on seasonal topics appears in each issue of The Fife and Drum, advice sampled from this attractive and comprehensive new edition of an indispensable Canadian reference.