Spruce Norway spruce

Picea abies or Sitka spruce P. sitchensis These are the two most common species found in Britain and either may be used for this recipe. Danzig, in Prussia, was and is famous for spruce beer; in Britain the beverage was considered very poor stuff. This gave rise to the Cockney rhyming slang ‘bottle of spruce’ i.e. ‘deuce’ (meaning tuppence), an expression used to refer to worthless objects or suggestions. A consignment of ‘essence of spruce, and other extra stores adapted to cold climates and a long voyage’ was taken by Captain Davy on his voyage of discovery to the North-west Passage in 1819.