Groene Abrikoozen Vogtige
"Green Apricots Conserved"
From the treasured pages of Het Hollands, of Neederlands kook-boek
Unknown Author
Groene Abrikoozen Vogtige
"Neemt groene Abrikoozen zagt gekookt en gefchilt, legt ze in het koude Water; maakt voorts het Water warm, doet ze daar in, en zet ze op een klein vuurtje, tot dat ze beginnen groen te werden; neemt ze van het vuur, en laat ze koud werden, in haar water; koud zynde, doet ze weer in koud Water: Kookt Suiker à Liffé, en doet 'er de Abrikoozen in, welke dat gy eerft hebt laten verdruipen, na dat gy ze had uit het Water gehaalt: laat ze een weinig kooken, fchept ze op, en laat ze een weinig koud werden; zet ze weer op het vuur, en laat ze kooken tot dat de Syroop tot à perlé is gekookt: doet ze in Steene of Percelaine Potten, en dekt ze wel toe als zy zullen koud wezen."
English Translation
"Take green apricots, gently cooked and peeled, place them in cold water; then warm the water, put them in it, and set them on a low fire until they begin to turn green; remove them from the heat and let them cool in their water; when cool, put them again in cold water. Boil sugar to the thread stage, and put in the apricots, which you have previously let drain after you took them out of the water. Let them cook a little, scoop them up, and let them cool a little; put them again on the heat, and let them boil until the syrup is cooked to the perlé stage. Put them in stoneware or porcelain pots, and cover them well when they have cooled."
Note on the Original Text
Written in archaic Dutch, the recipe uses older spellings such as 'Abrikoozen' (apricots), and employs terms related to kitchen processes ('kookt', 'verdruipen', 'perlé'). The lack of strict measurement reflects both the oral tradition of cookery and the expectation that cooks bring personal experience to the dish. The instructions are sequential but assume familiarity with basic preservation skills—like how to test syrup stages or properly peel fruit. The playful use of 'perlé' (pearl) references the visual appearance of sugar syrup at a thread stage, a classic sugarwork milestone even today.
Title
Het Hollands, of Neederlands kook-boek (1725)
You can also click the book image above to peruse the original tome
Writer
Unknown
Era
1725
Publisher
J. du Vivie
Background
A delectable journey into 18th-century Dutch cuisine, this cookbook serves up traditional recipes, culinary wisdom, and a flavorful glimpse of the Netherlands’ rich gastronomic heritage.
Kindly made available by
Internet Archive
This recipe comes from the Dutch cookbook "Het Hollands, of Neederlands kook-boek," published in Leyden in 1725. At that time, Europe was enthralled with sugarwork and preserving exotic fruits brought in via trade. Wealthy Dutch kitchens prized novelties like green (unripe) apricots, which could be candied or preserved as a show of both culinary skill and international reach. Recipes like this one display both mastery over sugar techniques and a fascination with transforming otherwise inedible fruits into sweet delicacies. This was an era when sugar was a luxury, used not only for flavor but as a status symbol and means of food preservation. The methodical steps of blanching, cooling, and simmering reflect both a careful attention to texture and an understanding of how to maintain the vibrant color of the apricots—a small marvel in the days before refrigeration or modern food chemistry.
In the 18th century Dutch kitchen, this recipe would have required a sturdy brass or copper pan for boiling and simmering both water and sugar. Slotted spoons or wooden spatulas would have been used for handling the delicate apricots, and pottery or porcelain jars would be the vessel of choice for storing the final product. Heat control was managed with small, steady charcoal or wood fires, often on a hearth or over special stoves. Measuring was roughly by sight or estimation ('à l'œil'), and sugar would have been carefully judged for its syrup stage by techniques like the 'thread' or 'pearl' test, dipping fingers into the cooled syrup to check consistency.
Prep Time
20 mins
Cook Time
40 mins
Servings
6
We've done our best to adapt this historical recipe for modern kitchens, but some details may still need refinement. We warmly welcome feedback from fellow cooks and culinary historians — your insights support the entire community!
Ingredients
- 1 lb unripe (green) apricots (or under-ripe plums if unavailable)
- 1 lb white granulated sugar
- 1 cup water
Instructions
- Begin by taking unripe green apricots—about 1 pound for a manageable batch.
- Gently simmer the apricots in water until the skins soften, then peel them.
- Place the peeled apricots into a bowl of cold water.
- Next, warm fresh water and return the apricots to it, placing the pot over a low heat.
- Heat until the apricots begin to turn a brighter green, but do not let them boil hard.
- Remove the pot from the heat and let the apricots cool completely in the water they're in.
- Once cold, transfer the apricots once again into a fresh bowl of cold water.
- In a separate saucepan, prepare a sugar syrup: use about 1 pound of white sugar with 1 cup water, heating gently to dissolve the sugar.
- Once the apricots have drained from the last water bath, add them to the syrup.
- Allow the fruit to cook gently for a few minutes, then remove them from the syrup and let them cool slightly.
- Return both syrup and apricots to the heat and cook again until the syrup reaches a 'perlé' stage—about 221°F, when the syrup forms a thread between fingers.
- Finally, transfer the apricots and syrup to ceramic or porcelain jars and cover well once fully cooled.
Estimated Calories
220 per serving
Cooking Estimates
You will need about 20 minutes to prepare the apricots, peel them, and set up the ingredients. Cooking, simmering, and syrup steps take about 40 minutes. Each serving contains the calories mostly from the sugar syrup. This recipe makes about 6 standard servings.
As noted above, we have made our best effort to translate and adapt this historical recipe for modern kitchens, taking into account ingredients nowadays, cooking techniques, measurements, and so on. However, historical recipes often contain assumptions that require interpretation.
We'd love for anyone to help improve these adaptations. Community contributions are highly welcome. If you have suggestions, corrections, or cooking tips based on your experience with this recipe, please share them below.
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