flipQueen's Hypocras
Queen's Hypocras
Why this dish? After grand meals, the queen and her guests were served spiced and honeyed wine, hypocras, believed to seal digestion. Made with wines from the Île-de-France and spices from the Champagne fairs, it alone embodied the perfumed luxury of Adèle's court.
A red wine sweetened with honey and infused with cinnamon, ginger, and grains of paradise, then filtered until clear. A closing drink, sweet and warming, at the boundary between remedy and pleasure.
When the dishes are cleared, I have the hypocras brought in, for it is fitting to end a meal with something that warms and gladdens. Take good wine, melt honey in it, and throw in cinnamon, ginger, and grains of paradise, tied in a cloth called Hippocrates' sleeve. Let the spices yield their soul for a night, then strain the wine until it is clear as ruby. Drink little, but with good heart: it helps, they say, to sleep and digest.
- •Red wine from Île-de-France — a pitcher (base)
- •Honey — to taste (sweetness)
- •Cinnamon — one stick (signature spice)
- •Ginger — a dried piece (warmth)
- •Grains of paradise — a pinch (peppery perfume)
Queen's Hypocras
A red wine sweetened with honey and infused with cinnamon, ginger, and grains of paradise, then filtered until clear. A closing drink, sweet and warming, at the boundary between remedy and pleasure.
Why this dish? After grand meals, the queen and her guests were served spiced and honeyed wine, hypocras, believed to seal digestion. Made with wines from the Île-de-France and spices from the Champagne fairs, it alone embodied the perfumed luxury of Adèle's court.
When the dishes are cleared, I have the hypocras brought in, for it is fitting to end a meal with something that warms and gladdens. Take good wine, melt honey in it, and throw in cinnamon, ginger, and grains of paradise, tied in a cloth called Hippocrates' sleeve. Let the spices yield their soul for a night, then strain the wine until it is clear as ruby. Drink little, but with good heart: it helps, they say, to sleep and digest.
Ingredients (period version)
- Red wine from Île-de-France — a pitcher (base)
- Honey — to taste (sweetness)
- Cinnamon — one stick (signature spice)
- Ginger — a dried piece (warmth)
- Grains of paradise — a pinch (peppery perfume)
Ingredients
- Fruity red wine (e.g., Pinot) — 75 cl (base)
- Honey — 80 to 120 g to taste (sweetness)
- Cinnamon — 1 stick (signature spice)
- Fresh ginger — 3 thin slices (warmth)
- Grains of paradise (or long pepper) — 1/2 tsp (perfume)
- A few cloves (optional) — 2 to 3 (warm note)
Method
- Gently warm (do not boil) the wine with the honey until fully dissolved.
- Coarsely crush the spices and add them to the warm wine.
- Cover and let infuse cold for at least 12 hours (ideally overnight) to respect the medieval method, which does not boil the wine.
- Filter several times through a fine cloth (the "Hippocrates' sleeve") until perfectly clear.
- Serve chilled or slightly tempered, in small quantities, at the end of the meal.
How it was made : Hypocras takes its name from Hippocrates, via the conical cloth "sleeve" used to filter it. Unlike modern mulled wine, it was traditionally cold-infused and clarified, not boiled. Sugar was sometimes used by the wealthiest, but honey remained the common sweetener. A prestige drink, it signaled a household's wealth in spices.
The contemporary twist : Serve it over ice in small glasses, as a "medieval digestif" at the end of dinner, with a sliver of gingerbread for dipping.
Sources : Le Ménagier de Paris (1393), recipe for hypocras · Bruno Laurioux, Le règne de Taillevent, Publications de la Sorbonne, 1997
Adela of Champagne · Charactorium
