“The chief physician nearly every day provided new remedies in case of need, and yet administered none to me, except in giving me, as my sole beverage, water, in which, according to its quantity, oranges were thrown, cut in two with their skins on, and which gently simmered before my fire; occasionally some spoonful of a gentle and agreeable cordial during the height of the suppuration, and afterwards a little Rota wine, and some broth, made of beef and partridge.”
A cook of roughly the same moment, setting down the same dish.
Take half a chest of Seville oranges, pare off the rinds as thin as possible, put two-thirds of them into six gallons of water, and let them remain for twenty-four hours. Squeeze the oranges (which ought to yield seven or eight quarts of juice) through a sieve into a pan, and as they are done throw them into six gallons more of water; let them be washed well in it with the hands, and then put into another six gallons of water and left until the following day. For each gallon of wine, put into the cask three pounds and a quarter of loaf sugar, and the liquor strained clear from the rinds and pulp. Wash these again and again, should more liquor be required to fill the cask; but do not at any time add raw water. Stir the wine daily until the sugar is perfectly dissolved, and let it ferment from four to five weeks; add to it two bottles of brandy, stop it down, and in twelve months it will be fit to bottle.
Sources: The passage is from Louis de Rouvroy Saint-Simon, Memoirs of Louis XIV and His Court and of the Regency — Complete, free to read in full at Project Gutenberg. The recipe is from Acton, Modern cookery for private families of 1845, also free in full. Both are in the public domain in the United States. The binding above is ours — oxblood cloth, grapes stamp.