§ XXX.
Fruits and their Juices.
Fruits and their juices require the utmost celerity in the preparatory process, and particularly in the application of heat to the water-bath.
The fruit which is to be preserved either whole or in quarters, ought not to be completely ripe, because it dissolves in the water-bath. In like manner it should not be gathered either at the commencement or the end of the season. The first and the last of the crop have neither the fine flavour, nor the perfume of those which are gathered in the heighth of the season, that is, when the greater part of the crop of each species is ripe at the same period.
§ XXXI.
White and Red Currants in Bunches.
(Groseilles rouges et blanches en Grappes.)
I gather the white and red currants apart, and not too ripe. I collect the finest, and in the finest bunches; and I bottle them, taking care to shake them down on the stool, in order to fill up the vacancies in the bottle. Then I cork them, &c. in order to put them in the water-bath which I am careful to watch closely; and as soon as I perceive it boils, I withdraw the fire rapidly, and a quarter of an hour afterwards draw off the water from the bath by means of the cock, &c.