"This most venerable of American flowing bowls
is held to have been first concocted in 1732 at Philadelphia’s fishing club,
the State in Schuylkill, also
known as the "Fish House".
A 1744 note by the secretary of an embassy of
Virginia Commissioners contains what may be the earliest record of the Punch.
Meeting local notables at the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, he described being
served "a Bowl of fine Lemon Punch big enough to have a half a dozen of
young Geese swimming in." America's first President, George Washington, was
known to be fond of a drink or two, and sometimes more. He indulged in thirteen
toasts — one for each state — during a victory celebration at New York’s Fraunces Tavern, and it’s
said that after he partook of Fish House punch at Philadelphia’s State in
Schuylkill, he couldn’t bring himself to make an entry in his diary for the
following three days.
The State in Schuylkill Fish
House Punch is traditionally made in a large bowl that did double duty as a
baptismal font for the citizens' infant sons; “its an ample space . . . . .
would indeed admit of total immersion”, as one citizen noted. I doubt that
there was Punch in it at the time — it was far too precious for such usage, and
far too potent.
The Fish House was an August Gentleman's
Society devoted to escaping domestic tribulation, but also to cigars, whiskey,
and the occasional fishing foray upon the Chesapeake or the Restigouche River in Nova Scotia. Another
version states that it was created in 1848 by Shippen Willing of Philadelphia, to celebrate
the momentous occasion of women being allowed into the premises of the
"Fish House" for the first time in order to enliven the annual
Christmas Party. It was supposed to be just
"something to please the ladies' palate but get them livelier than is
their usual wont".
Read More at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fish_House_Punch
Fish House Punch
by the Bowl
·
1 cup sugar
·
3½ cups water
·
1½ cups fresh lemon juice (6 to 8 lemons), strained
·
1 (750-ml) bottle Jamaican amber rum
·
12 oz Cognac (1½ cups)
·
2 oz peach brandy (¼ cup)
·
Float lemon slices
on the punch
Stir
together sugar and 3½ cups water in a large bowl or pot until sugar is
dissolved. Add lemon juice, rum, Cognac, and brandy and chill, covered, at
least 3 hours. Put half-gallon ice block in a punch bowl and pour punch over
it.
Fish House Punch
by the glass
·
1 ½ tsp. Superfine Sugar
·
2 oz. Spring Water
·
1 oz. Lemon Juice
·
2 oz. Dark Jamaican Rum
·
1 oz. Cognac
·
1/8 oz. Peach Brandy
In a shaker, dissolve the sugar in hot water, add the lemon juice and stir. Fill with ice, then add the spirits. Shake until chilled and pour into a pint
glass and add ice to top up the glass.
Traditionally there is no garnish used with Fish House Punch, but you
can float a lemon slice if you like.
Either way this is a very flavorful punch perfect for the summer time patio get together.
