flipHippocras with Burgundy Wine
Hippocras with Burgundy Wine
Why this dish? Philip Augustus's royal banquets ended, after the dishes, with 'chamber spices': sugared almonds and spiced wine. Hippocras, made from Burgundy or Île-de-France wine served at his table, was the prestige drink meant to aid digestion and honor guests.
A red wine, served warm or cold, infused with cinnamon, ginger and clove, sweetened with honey and strained. Sweet and perfumed, it is the princely digestive of the Middle Ages — the ancestor of mulled wine.
When the cloths were lifted and the dishes cleared, came the hour of chamber spices. They brought me hippocras: my best Burgundy wine, married with honey, cinnamon and ginger, then passed through the straining cloth until perfectly clear. A cup, and digestion becomes gentle, the mind light, the guest honored. Drink to my health, but keep measure: this is a king's drink, not a soldier's.
- •Burgundy wine — a good pitcher (base)
- •Honey — enough (sweetness (sugar is very rare))
- •Cinnamon, ginger, clove — to measure (spices)
- •Long pepper, grains of paradise — a pinch (spicy heat)
Hippocras with Burgundy Wine
A red wine, served warm or cold, infused with cinnamon, ginger and clove, sweetened with honey and strained. Sweet and perfumed, it is the princely digestive of the Middle Ages — the ancestor of mulled wine.
Why this dish? Philip Augustus's royal banquets ended, after the dishes, with 'chamber spices': sugared almonds and spiced wine. Hippocras, made from Burgundy or Île-de-France wine served at his table, was the prestige drink meant to aid digestion and honor guests.
When the cloths were lifted and the dishes cleared, came the hour of chamber spices. They brought me hippocras: my best Burgundy wine, married with honey, cinnamon and ginger, then passed through the straining cloth until perfectly clear. A cup, and digestion becomes gentle, the mind light, the guest honored. Drink to my health, but keep measure: this is a king's drink, not a soldier's.
Ingredients (period version)
- Burgundy wine — a good pitcher (base)
- Honey — enough (sweetness (sugar is very rare))
- Cinnamon, ginger, clove — to measure (spices)
- Long pepper, grains of paradise — a pinch (spicy heat)
Ingredients
- Red wine (Burgundy or Pinot Noir) — 750 ml (base)
- Honey — 4 to 6 tbsp (sweetness)
- Cinnamon stick — 1 (spice)
- Fresh ginger — 3 slices (spice)
- Cloves — 3 (spice)
- Peppercorns — 4 (heat)
Method
- Pour the wine into a container, add honey and stir to dissolve.
- Add cinnamon, ginger, cloves and pepper.
- Let infuse cold for 1-2 hours (historical method) or gently heat without boiling for 15 min for a quicker version.
- Strain carefully through a fine cloth (the 'Hippocrates' sleeve', which gives the drink its name) until clear.
- Serve cool or warm, in small cups.
How it was made : Hippocras takes its name from the conical cloth filter, the 'Hippocrates' sleeve', used to clarify it. It was sweetened with honey (cane sugar remained a luxury spice) and concluded feasts as a digestive. Its precise recipe is fixed in 14th-century texts, but the practice of spiced wine is much older.
The contemporary twist : Serve it chilled in summer, in small frosted glasses, like an 'inverted mulled wine' that surprises guests.
Sources : Le Viandier de Taillevent (c. 1300) · Le Mesnagier de Paris (1393)
Philippe Auguste · Charactorium
