Mulsum (honeyed wine for banquets)
Sweet wine mixed with honey, sometimes spiced with pepper, served chilled at the start of the meal to whet the appetite. The quintessential convivial drink.
Sweet wine mixed with honey, sometimes spiced with pepper, served chilled at the start of the meal to whet the appetite. The quintessential convivial drink.
Pour, cupbearer, and let the cup overflow! Before any feast worthy of the name, we marry wine with the blondest honey — a little crushed pepper to awaken the palate, and we stir until all is blended. Trust me, reader, it is this nectar that loosens tongues and gives birth to verses. Alas, here on the icy shores of the Pontus, I have only the barbarians' plonk, and my heart weeps for the mulsum of Rome.
- •Wine (preferably sweet) — an amphora reduced to a cup (base)
- •Honey — a good third of the wine volume (sweetness)
- •Pepper — a few crushed grains (spice)
Mulsum (honeyed wine for banquets)
Sweet wine mixed with honey, sometimes spiced with pepper, served chilled at the start of the meal to whet the appetite. The quintessential convivial drink.
Why this dish? Mulsum was served at the start of the cena, and Ovid, singer of Roman festivals in his *Fasti* and *Amores*, shared many cups of it. In exile at Tomis, he bitterly missed the good wine of Rome compared to the rough drink of the Black Sea shores.
Pour, cupbearer, and let the cup overflow! Before any feast worthy of the name, we marry wine with the blondest honey — a little crushed pepper to awaken the palate, and we stir until all is blended. Trust me, reader, it is this nectar that loosens tongues and gives birth to verses. Alas, here on the icy shores of the Pontus, I have only the barbarians' plonk, and my heart weeps for the mulsum of Rome.
Ingredients (period version)
- Wine (preferably sweet) — an amphora reduced to a cup (base)
- Honey — a good third of the wine volume (sweetness)
- Pepper — a few crushed grains (spice)
Ingredients
- Sweet white wine or light red wine — 75 cl (base)
- Liquid honey — 150 to 200 g (sweetness)
- Black peppercorns — 5, crushed (spice)
- Bay leaf (optional) — 1 (aroma)
Method
- Gently warm a ladleful of wine and dissolve the honey in it, stirring.
- Pour this syrup back into the rest of the wine and mix.
- Add the crushed pepper (and bay leaf), cover, and let infuse in a cool place for a few hours.
- Strain to remove the spices before serving.
- Serve chilled at the start of the meal, in cups.
How it was made : Mulsum was made by mixing honey with wine (proportions vary by author). It was drunk during the gustatio. Apicius and Pliny mention it; some aged it, others prepared it fresh. Not to be confused with mead, which is based on honey and water.
The contemporary twist : Served as an ancient spritz over crushed ice with a zest, for an aperitif that spans twenty centuries.
Sources : Apicius, De re coquinaria, I · Pliny the Elder, Natural History, XIV · Columella, De re rustica, XII
Ovid · Charactorium
