Barberry Water is a traditional British recipe, based on Robert Kemp Philp's recipe of 1859, for a classic drink of barberry jam and lemon juice diluted with simple syrup and water that's sieved until smooth and served. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Barberry Water.
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This is a classic recipe for a Victorian version of Barberry Water that's derived from Robert Kemp Philp's 1859 volume, The Dictionary of Daily Wants. Below you will find both the recipe in its original form and a modern redaction.
The barberry (Berberis spp is a genus of about 450–500 species of deciduous and evergreen shrubs from 1-5 m tall with thorny shoots, native to the temperate and subtropical regions of Europe, Asia, Africa, North America and South America. Typically they bear bunches of pale yellow drooping flowers in May, which are succeeded by oblong scarlet berries, ripening in September. Several are popular garden shrubs, grown for their ornamental leaves, yellow flowers, and red or blue-black berries. They are also valued for crime prevention; being very dense, viciously spiny shrubs, they make very effective barriers impenetrable to burglars. For this reason they are often planted below potentially vulnerable windows, and used as hedges and other barriers. The berries are edible, and rich in vitamin C, though with a very sharp flavour; the thorny shrubs make harvesting them difficult, so in most places they are not widely consumed. Berberis thunbergii is one of the best for culinary use. They were frequently used in the Victorian era, as this recipe demonstrates They are still made into a candy in Estonia, Lithuania and the Ukraine (known as (Barberis). Berberis microphylla or Berberis heterophylla (Calafate) and Berberis darwinii (Michay) are two species found in Patagonia in Argentina and Chile and their edible purple fruit are used for jams and infusions. Zereshk (زرشک) is the Persian name for the dried fruit of Berberis vulgaris, which are widely cultivated in Iran. Zereshk is widely used in cooking, imparting a tart flavour to chicken dishes. It is usually cooked with rice, called zereshk polo, and provides a nice meal with chicken. Zereshk jam, zereshk juice, and zereshk fruit rolls are also produced in Iran.
Original Recipe
BARBERRY WATER.—Put two tablespoonfuls of barberry jam, with the same quantity of the juice of two lemons, and a gill of syrup, into a basin, dilute with water, and strain through a fine sieve.
Combine the barberry jam and lemon juice in a bowl. Whisk in the syrup until smooth then dilute with chilled water (still or carbonated), to taste, pass through a fine-meshed sieve and serve.
Barberry jam, 2 tablespoonfuls; lemon juice, 2 : syrup, 1 gill; water, sufficient.