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Drink

Sour Parisian Barm

A fermented liquid made by scalding water and adding cane sugar, then allowing it to ferment.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 2 ingredients
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Sour Parisian Barm

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Place 3 pints of scalded liquid in a small pot built into the front of the oven.

  2. Keep the liquid at a fixed temperature and stir it 3-4 times a day.

  3. After the first day, add 4 ounces of moist cane sugar and continue stirring occasionally until fermentation begins.

  4. Let it ferment until ready, stirring and keeping it in a warm atmosphere until the process is complete.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Moist cane sugar
Feeds the yeast and bacteria, providing fuel that drives fermentation and gas production.

The step that matters

Keeping the liquid at a fixed, warm temperature. Fermentation depends on steady warmth. Temperatures that swing too low slow or stall the yeast and bacteria, while excessive heat can kill them, so the culture may fail to develop or sour properly.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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