Hippocras with Loire Wine, Cinnamon, and Ginger
Wine from the Loire Valley sweetened with sugar and honey, long infused with cinnamon, ginger, and cloves, then filtered until clear. The festive beverage served at dessert.
Wine from the Loire Valley sweetened with sugar and honey, long infused with cinnamon, ginger, and cloves, then filtered until clear. The festive beverage served at dessert.
Sweetheart, when the rose of the meal fades and the table is cleared, send for the hippocras! I would take my Loire wine, sweeten it with honey, spice it with cinnamon and ginger, then strain it through the cloth bag until it was clear as the eye of my beloved. Drink it without excess, for it warms the blood and loosens the tongue: it is the wine that gives birth to odes, and more than one of my sonnets has flowed from that cup.
- •Loire Valley wine — a pitcher (base)
- •Sugar and honey — a generous hand (sweetness)
- •Cinnamon — one stick (master spice)
- •Ginger — a piece (spice)
- •Cloves and grains of paradise — a few (spice)
Hippocras with Loire Wine, Cinnamon, and Ginger
Wine from the Loire Valley sweetened with sugar and honey, long infused with cinnamon, ginger, and cloves, then filtered until clear. The festive beverage served at dessert.
Why this dish? No poet celebrated wine as much as Ronsard, singer of roses and Bacchic banquets. Hippocras, a sweet spiced wine drunk at the end of the feast, naturally accompanied the verses and loves he dedicated to Cassandre and Hélène.
Sweetheart, when the rose of the meal fades and the table is cleared, send for the hippocras! I would take my Loire wine, sweeten it with honey, spice it with cinnamon and ginger, then strain it through the cloth bag until it was clear as the eye of my beloved. Drink it without excess, for it warms the blood and loosens the tongue: it is the wine that gives birth to odes, and more than one of my sonnets has flowed from that cup.
Ingredients (period version)
- Loire Valley wine — a pitcher (base)
- Sugar and honey — a generous hand (sweetness)
- Cinnamon — one stick (master spice)
- Ginger — a piece (spice)
- Cloves and grains of paradise — a few (spice)
Ingredients
- Red or white Loire wine — 75 cl (base)
- Sugar — 80 g (sweetness)
- Honey — 1 tbsp (sweetness)
- Cinnamon — 1 stick (master spice)
- Fresh ginger — 3 thin slices (spice)
- Cloves — 3 (spice)
- Grains of paradise or long pepper — 4 grains (spice)
Method
- Pour the wine into a container, dissolve the sugar and honey without heating (or barely warm).
- Add all the spices and let infuse cold for at least 12 hours (or 1 hour hot, without boiling).
- Filter carefully through a fine cloth or coffee filter until the liquid is clear.
- Serve cool or at room temperature, in small cups, at the end of the meal.
How it was made : Hippocras (named after the physician Hippocrates) was prepared by filtering spiced wine through a 'hippocras bag', a conical cloth bag. It was the ritual drink of the 'issue de table', reputed to aid digestion, and one of the rare dishes where sugar reigned unchallenged.
The contemporary twist : Serve it chilled over a few shavings of fresh pear, Renaissance-style kir, for a festive aperitif that surprises guests.
Sources : Le Ménagier de Paris · Nostradamus, Traité des fardements et confitures (1555)
Pierre de Ronsard · Charactorium
