flipChantilly Hypocras
Chantilly Hypocras
Why this dish? We know that La Bruyère "drank wine cut with water" and ate with moderation. Yet at the Condé table, the meal often ended with a glass of hypocras, that sweetened, spiced wine served in the office alongside preserves. The sober moralist likely barely wet his lips with it — but no one could ignore it.
A wine perfumed with cinnamon, ginger, and sugar, filtered through a felt bag: the refined digestif of great classical tables.
When we rise from table, as the preserves are brought in, hypocras is also poured. It is a wine in which cinnamon, ginger, and sugar have been steeped, then passed and repassed through the straining bag until it runs clear as a ruby. I use it with measure, water ever at hand, for pure wine heats the mind and loosens tongues too much. A finger's breadth suffices: it warms the stomach without clouding judgment.
- •Red wine (or clairet) — a pint (base)
- •Sugar — a good handful (sweetness)
- •Cinnamon stick — a piece (master spice)
- •Ginger — a little, grated (spicy warmth)
- •Clove, grains of paradise — a few (fragrance)
Chantilly Hypocras
A wine perfumed with cinnamon, ginger, and sugar, filtered through a felt bag: the refined digestif of great classical tables.
Why this dish? We know that La Bruyère "drank wine cut with water" and ate with moderation. Yet at the Condé table, the meal often ended with a glass of hypocras, that sweetened, spiced wine served in the office alongside preserves. The sober moralist likely barely wet his lips with it — but no one could ignore it.
When we rise from table, as the preserves are brought in, hypocras is also poured. It is a wine in which cinnamon, ginger, and sugar have been steeped, then passed and repassed through the straining bag until it runs clear as a ruby. I use it with measure, water ever at hand, for pure wine heats the mind and loosens tongues too much. A finger's breadth suffices: it warms the stomach without clouding judgment.
Ingredients (period version)
- Red wine (or clairet) — a pint (base)
- Sugar — a good handful (sweetness)
- Cinnamon stick — a piece (master spice)
- Ginger — a little, grated (spicy warmth)
- Clove, grains of paradise — a few (fragrance)
Ingredients
- Fruity red wine (or full-bodied rosé) — 75 cl (base of the drink)
- Sugar — 80 to 100 g (sweetness)
- Cinnamon — 1 stick (main spice)
- Fresh ginger — 2 thin slices (warmth)
- Clove — 2 (fragrance)
- Nutmeg — 1 pinch, grated (spiced roundness)
Method
- Pour the wine into a container, add the sugar and stir until dissolved (without heating to stay true to classic usage, or warm slightly).
- Add cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg.
- Let infuse cold for 12 to 24 hours, covered, in a cool place.
- Strain carefully through a fine cloth (the famous "Hippocrates' sleeve") until the liquid is clear.
- Serve chilled, in small quantities, with preserves or dry biscuits.
How it was made : Hypocras takes its name from Hippocrates, by reference to the filtering sleeve. Very ancient, it remained in the 17th century the sweet drink of the office, served at the end of the meal with fruits and preserves. It was reserved for feast days because sugar, still expensive, made it a luxury. It is the direct ancestor of our spiced wines.
The contemporary twist : Serve it over a large ice cube, "period cocktail" style, or warm in winter as an aristocratic mulled wine. A splash for adults only.
Sources : La Varenne, Le Confiturier françois, 1660 · Nicolas de Bonnefons, Les Délices de la campagne, 1654
Jean de La Bruyère · Charactorium
