510. French and much improved Method of making Hungary Water
Take a large handful of the flowers and tender leaves of rosemary with a few of thyme lavender and sage then putting all of them into a thick glass bottle pour in a quart of spirits of wine; afterwards, merely to give it colour, put in a few pieces of alkanet root; instantly recork the bottle and shake it briskly till the water obtains a purple tinge. This is far preferable to any other Hungary water and particularly so if it be placed for at least a month exposed on sand or gravel to the heat of the Sun.
(page 235)
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| Rosemary, sage, thyme and "spirits of wine." I initially forgot the lavender and added it later. |
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| After two days in the sun, the liquid is pale yellow and smells of rosemary and alcohol. |
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| Alkanet added, and set overnight. Decanted liquid is red, with a mild odor of rosemary and sage. |
What does it taste like?
ReplyDeleteI have no desire to drink perfume, but one of the other receipts I found for it refers to Hungary water being taken internally (as well as applied to injuries). All of the scent agents I used here are edible, but alkanet may not be. I would probably try a different receipt if I wanted to sample it (some of them have no coloring agent, and one uses only rosemary, without other herbs).
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