This book is titled “Cordial waters simple waters and syrrups” at the front. It contains 55 pages of recipes, followed by a 6-page alphabetical index, all written in a single exuberant hand. A water, broadly speaking, was simply a drink, produced either by distilling animals and/or botanicals in wines, spirits or some other liquid, or by diluting a fruit or flower syrup in water. All waters had medicinal properties. The more pleasant ones, however, were often served more for pleasure than for remedy. This book contains a number of such waters, including “Orange Water” (page 11), a very potent “Strawberry Water” (page 33), “Cinnamon Water” (page 36), and Cherry Brandy (page 42). The relatively few syrups outlined in the book are also pleasant, such as those made with lemons (page 47) and mulberries (page 49). Waters that were expressly medicinal in purpose were not necessarily unpleasant, although they were unlikely to be served as part of an entertainment. “A Most Excellent Cordial Water” (page 15), for example, a distillation of multiple flowers and spices with sack and a little sugar, sounds odd but palatable. Some medicinal waters, however, were ghastly. This book, like many others of the period, outlines detailed instructions for Snail Water (page 29), made with actual garden snails. “How to make Swallow Water’ (page 5) outlines a less common potion that is even more disturbing to modern sensibilities. The recipe calls for mashing forty or fifty fledgling swallows (“feathers and all”) to a pap and then distilling the birds with white wine vinegar. Dispensed by the spoonful “with sugar,” this water is recommended for “passion of the heart” and various other complaints.
