Spiced Honey Wine (Claré)
Hot wine, but from another time: sweetened with honey (sugar did not yet exist), perfumed with cinnamon, ginger, and long pepper, then filtered until clear and golden. The distant ancestor of hippocras.
Hot wine, but from another time: sweetened with honey (sugar did not yet exist), perfumed with cinnamon, ginger, and long pepper, then filtered until clear and golden. The distant ancestor of hippocras.
After leaving the table, when the candles burn low, I would have you served this drink I love: good wine in which I have melted the honey from my hives, and thrown cinnamon, ginger, and pepper brought from the East at great cost. It is passed through a cloth until it is clear as ruby. Drink it warm, in small sips: it warms the belly and loosens the tongue, and no king could offer you a better sign of friendship.
- •Red or white wine — a pitcher (base)
- •Honey — to taste (sweetness (no sugar))
- •Cinnamon — one stick (signature spice)
- •Ginger — a pinch (spice)
- •Long pepper or black pepper — a few grains (prestige spice)
Spiced Honey Wine (Claré)
Hot wine, but from another time: sweetened with honey (sugar did not yet exist), perfumed with cinnamon, ginger, and long pepper, then filtered until clear and golden. The distant ancestor of hippocras.
Why this dish? At the itinerant court of Hugh Capet, wine flowed at every table, but wine sweetened with honey and perfumed with Eastern spices closed the feasts of the great. A prestige and comfort drink, it was also believed to aid digestion — it was willingly served at the end of the royal meal.
After leaving the table, when the candles burn low, I would have you served this drink I love: good wine in which I have melted the honey from my hives, and thrown cinnamon, ginger, and pepper brought from the East at great cost. It is passed through a cloth until it is clear as ruby. Drink it warm, in small sips: it warms the belly and loosens the tongue, and no king could offer you a better sign of friendship.
Ingredients (period version)
- Red or white wine — a pitcher (base)
- Honey — to taste (sweetness (no sugar))
- Cinnamon — one stick (signature spice)
- Ginger — a pinch (spice)
- Long pepper or black pepper — a few grains (prestige spice)
Ingredients
- Fruity red wine (or sweet white) — 75 cl (base)
- Honey (multifloral or chestnut) — 3 to 4 tbsp (sweetness)
- Cinnamon stick — 1 (signature spice)
- Fresh ginger, sliced — 3 rounds (spice)
- Long pepper (or 5 black peppercorns) — 1 piece (prestige spice)
- Clove — 1 (optional) (additional spice)
Method
- Pour the wine into a saucepan, add honey and stir to dissolve.
- Add cinnamon, ginger, pepper (and clove) and heat gently without ever boiling.
- Keep at a very low simmer for 15 to 20 minutes to infuse the spices.
- Taste and adjust honey to desired sweetness.
- Strain through a fine cloth or sieve to obtain a clear liquid.
- Serve warm in cups or goblets.
How it was made : Spiced wine sweetened with honey is the ancestor of hippocras and claré, popularized in later centuries. In the 10th century, cane sugar was almost unknown in the West: honey sweetened everything. Filtering wine through a cloth (the 'Hippocrates sleeve') was a renowned technique, from which the word hippocras derives. This drink was both a pleasure and a remedy.
The contemporary twist : Serve it chilled in summer, as a 'medieval sangria': cool, strain, and add a few slices of fresh pear and fig.
Sources : Bruno Laurioux, Le Moyen Âge à table, Adam Biro · Odile Redon, Françoise Sabban, Silvano Serventi, La gastronomie au Moyen Âge
Hugh Capet · Charactorium