flipTouraine hypocras with wine and sweet spices
Touraine hypocras with wine and sweet spices
Why this dish? Rabelais, son of a winemaker and great celebrator of Touraine wine, never tired of praising the "dive bouteille." Hypocras, a sweetened and spiced wine served at the end of the meal, was the festive and digestive drink par excellence of his time — the wedding of his giants could not have done without it.
Red or white wine sweetened with honey and sugar, perfumed with cinnamon, ginger, and clove, then filtered through a "hippocras bag." A warm or cool drink, round and spicy, that closes the feast gently.
Buveurs très précieux, c'est ici la dive liqueur qui réchauffe le cœur et déride la cervelle ! Prends du bon vin de Chinon, fais-y fondre miel et sucre, jette-y cannelle, gingembre et girofle pilés menu, puis coule le tout par la chausse jusqu'à ce qu'il soit clair comme rubis. Bois-en un gobelet à l'issue de table : il chasse les vents, console l'estomac et rend la langue prompte à conter. Trinque, et que jamais ta coupe ne sèche !
- •Touraine wine (red or white) — a pint (base)
- •Honey and sugar — to taste (sweetness)
- •Cinnamon, ginger, clove — pounded (sweet spices)
- •Grains of paradise (melegueta pepper) — a pinch (pungent spice)
Touraine hypocras with wine and sweet spices
Red or white wine sweetened with honey and sugar, perfumed with cinnamon, ginger, and clove, then filtered through a "hippocras bag." A warm or cool drink, round and spicy, that closes the feast gently.
Why this dish? Rabelais, son of a winemaker and great celebrator of Touraine wine, never tired of praising the "dive bouteille." Hypocras, a sweetened and spiced wine served at the end of the meal, was the festive and digestive drink par excellence of his time — the wedding of his giants could not have done without it.
Buveurs très précieux, c'est ici la dive liqueur qui réchauffe le cœur et déride la cervelle ! Prends du bon vin de Chinon, fais-y fondre miel et sucre, jette-y cannelle, gingembre et girofle pilés menu, puis coule le tout par la chausse jusqu'à ce qu'il soit clair comme rubis. Bois-en un gobelet à l'issue de table : il chasse les vents, console l'estomac et rend la langue prompte à conter. Trinque, et que jamais ta coupe ne sèche !
Ingredients (period version)
- Touraine wine (red or white) — a pint (base)
- Honey and sugar — to taste (sweetness)
- Cinnamon, ginger, clove — pounded (sweet spices)
- Grains of paradise (melegueta pepper) — a pinch (pungent spice)
Ingredients
- Red or white Touraine wine — 75 cl (base)
- Honey — 3 tbsp (sweetness)
- Sugar — 50 g (adjust) (sweetness)
- Cinnamon stick — 1 (spice)
- Fresh ginger — 3 thin slices (spice)
- Cloves — 3 (spice)
- Grains of paradise (or long pepper, optional) — 1 pinch (period pungent note)
Method
- Gently warm (do not boil) the wine with honey and sugar until dissolved.
- Add cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and grains of paradise; cover.
- Let infuse off the heat for 1 to 2 hours for the spices to diffuse.
- Filter carefully through a fine cloth (the "hippocras bag") or a coffee filter.
- Serve warm in winter or cool in summer, in small cups, with fouaces or dragées.
- Enjoy in moderation — it is an alcoholic beverage for adults.
How it was made : Hypocras takes its name from the Greek physician Hippocrates, whose "sleeve" (bag) was used to filter the spiced wine. Recipes appear as early as the Middle Ages in *Le Ménagier de Paris*; it was prepared for feasts and considered cordial and digestive, faithful to the medieval idea of wine as medicine.
The contemporary twist : Non-alcoholic version for young guests: replace wine with red grape juice and infuse the same spices — a "schoolchildren's hypocras."
Sources : Le Ménagier de Paris (14th c.), recipes for hypocras · François Rabelais, praises of Touraine wine and the "dive bouteille" (*Le Tiers Livre* and *Le Quart Livre*)
François Rabelais · Charactorium
