Evening hypocras
Red or claret wine in which sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves are infused, then passed and repassed through a felt bag until clear. The chic digestif of the Grand Siècle.
Red or claret wine in which sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves are infused, then passed and repassed through a felt bag until clear. The chic digestif of the Grand Siècle.
When the dessert is cleared and the ladies prepare to retire, it is the hour of hypocras, trust me. Take a good wine, not too green, and marry it with sugar, cinnamon, and a hint of ginger, as one tunes the voices of a concert. The secret lies in patience: you must pass it many times through the strainer, until it runs clear as a ruby. They say it is a friend to the stomach — I, for my part, hold it especially a friend to conversation, for it loosens tongues without weighing down heads.
- •Claret wine — one bottle (base)
- •Sugar — a good dose (sweetness)
- •Cinnamon stick — one (master spice)
- •Dried ginger — a piece (warmth)
- •Clove — a few (spice)
- •Grains of paradise or long pepper — a pinch (noble heat)
Evening hypocras
Red or claret wine in which sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves are infused, then passed and repassed through a felt bag until clear. The chic digestif of the Grand Siècle.
Why this dish? When an academician entertained, the last service ended with a hypocras, that spiced and sweetened wine considered kind to the stomach. Perrault, a man of salons and receptions under Versailles, surely offered more than one glass to his literary guests.
When the dessert is cleared and the ladies prepare to retire, it is the hour of hypocras, trust me. Take a good wine, not too green, and marry it with sugar, cinnamon, and a hint of ginger, as one tunes the voices of a concert. The secret lies in patience: you must pass it many times through the strainer, until it runs clear as a ruby. They say it is a friend to the stomach — I, for my part, hold it especially a friend to conversation, for it loosens tongues without weighing down heads.
Ingredients (period version)
- Claret wine — one bottle (base)
- Sugar — a good dose (sweetness)
- Cinnamon stick — one (master spice)
- Dried ginger — a piece (warmth)
- Clove — a few (spice)
- Grains of paradise or long pepper — a pinch (noble heat)
Ingredients
- Light red wine (gamay, pinot) — 75 cl (base)
- Sugar — 100 g (sweetness)
- Cinnamon — 1 stick (master spice)
- Fresh ginger — 3 slices (warmth)
- Clove — 3 (spice)
- Bitter orange zest — 1 strip (perfumed bitterness)
Method
- Pour the wine into a container and add the sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and zest.
- Let infuse cold for at least 12 hours (or gently heat without boiling for a quicker version).
- Filter several times through a fine cloth or coffee filter until perfectly clear.
- Taste and adjust sugar, then bottle.
- Serve cool or at room temperature, in small glasses, at the end of the meal.
How it was made : Hypocras (from the corrupted name of Hippocrates) was filtered through a 'chausse' or 'Hippocrates' sleeve', a conical felt bag. It was prepared cold by maceration, never boiled, so as not to kill the wine. It was the prestigious digestif since the Middle Ages, still very much in vogue in the 17th century.
The contemporary twist : Serve it over ice in a large crystal glass, as a replacement for an overly sweet mulled wine in winter. A non-alcoholic version can be made with red grape juice infused with the same spices.
Sources : La Varenne, Le Cuisinier françois, 1651 · Pierre de Lune, Le Cuisinier, 1656
Charles Perrault · Charactorium