flipHypocras au vin de Guyenne
Hypocras au vin de Guyenne
Why this dish? Hypocras closed the meals of humanists: a spiced and honeyed wine sipped while discussing philosophy and friendship. For La Boétie, friend of Montaigne and reader of the Ancients, this issue de table drink accompanied fine conversations.
A red Bordeaux wine infused with cinnamon, ginger, and clove, sweetened with honey and filtered until clear. Aromatic and warming, it was served at the end of the meal with sweets.
When leaving the table, as the mind lingers on the pleasure of conversation, nothing is better than a good hypocras. I take wine from our hillsides, add crushed cinnamon, ginger, and clove, and honey to sweeten it. Let the spices infuse, then strain and re-strain through the cloth bag until it is clear as ruby. Serve it cool to your friends: you will see how much easier words become and how much more open the heart.
- •Red wine from Guyenne — a pitcher (base)
- •Cinnamon — a stick (master spice)
- •Ginger — a little, grated (warming spice)
- •Clove — a few cloves (spice)
- •Honey — to taste (sweetness)
- •Grains of paradise or long pepper — a pinch (fine spice)
Hypocras au vin de Guyenne
A red Bordeaux wine infused with cinnamon, ginger, and clove, sweetened with honey and filtered until clear. Aromatic and warming, it was served at the end of the meal with sweets.
Why this dish? Hypocras closed the meals of humanists: a spiced and honeyed wine sipped while discussing philosophy and friendship. For La Boétie, friend of Montaigne and reader of the Ancients, this issue de table drink accompanied fine conversations.
When leaving the table, as the mind lingers on the pleasure of conversation, nothing is better than a good hypocras. I take wine from our hillsides, add crushed cinnamon, ginger, and clove, and honey to sweeten it. Let the spices infuse, then strain and re-strain through the cloth bag until it is clear as ruby. Serve it cool to your friends: you will see how much easier words become and how much more open the heart.
Ingredients (period version)
- Red wine from Guyenne — a pitcher (base)
- Cinnamon — a stick (master spice)
- Ginger — a little, grated (warming spice)
- Clove — a few cloves (spice)
- Honey — to taste (sweetness)
- Grains of paradise or long pepper — a pinch (fine spice)
Ingredients
- Red wine (Bordeaux) — 75 cl (base)
- Cinnamon stick — 1 (master spice)
- Fresh ginger — 1 small piece, grated (warming spice)
- Cloves — 3 (spice)
- Honey — 3 to 4 tbsp (sweetness)
- Long pepper or pinch of nutmeg — 1 pinch (fine spice)
Method
- Pour the wine into a container, add honey and stir until dissolved (without heating, in the cold method of the period).
- Add the cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and fine spice.
- Let infuse in a cool place for several hours, ideally overnight.
- Strain carefully through a fine cloth (the old "Hippocrates sleeve") until clear.
- Taste, adjust honey if needed, and serve cool in small cups.
How it was made : Hypocras takes its name from the "Hippocrates sleeve," the conical cloth bag used to filter it. Highly prized from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance, it was drunk at the end of the meal. Nostradamus gives a detailed recipe in his 1555 treatise on preserves, during La Boétie's own lifetime.
The contemporary twist : Served in a small frosted glass with an orange zest and a slice of poached pear, as a festive digestif.
Sources : Nostradamus, Excellent & moult utile opuscule à touts necessaire qui desirent avoir cognoissance de plusieurs exquises receptes, 1555
Étienne de La Boétie · Charactorium
