flipConditum Paradoxum (Spiced Honeyed Wine)
Conditum Paradoxum (Spiced Honeyed Wine)
Why this dish? Wine was explicitly part of Theodosius II's diet. In Constantinople, the meal opened with a spiced honeyed wine, the conditum, of which Apicius left the exact recipe; it was the ceremonial drink of the Byzantine elite, inherited from Rome.
A sweet wine infused with honey, pepper, saffron, and aromatic leaves, heated then cooled — the quintessential Byzantine aperitif, fragrant like a chest of Eastern spices.
Before we speak of Empire affairs or councils, your cup is filled with this wine that the Ancients called paradoxon, the marvelous. My cupbearers melt honey in the wine, throw in pepper, saffron, a leaf of nard and bay, then heat gently without ever boiling. It is left to rest a few days before being drunk cool. Drink it with measure, stranger: it is the drink of emperors, not of drunken soldiers.
- •Wine — an amphora (base)
- •Honey — abundantly (sweetness)
- •Pepper — a few grains (spicy heat)
- •Saffron — a few stigmas (color and fragrance)
- •Bay leaf and nard (mastic) — one leaf (aroma)
- •Dates — a few (roundness)
Conditum Paradoxum (Spiced Honeyed Wine)
A sweet wine infused with honey, pepper, saffron, and aromatic leaves, heated then cooled — the quintessential Byzantine aperitif, fragrant like a chest of Eastern spices.
Why this dish? Wine was explicitly part of Theodosius II's diet. In Constantinople, the meal opened with a spiced honeyed wine, the conditum, of which Apicius left the exact recipe; it was the ceremonial drink of the Byzantine elite, inherited from Rome.
Before we speak of Empire affairs or councils, your cup is filled with this wine that the Ancients called paradoxon, the marvelous. My cupbearers melt honey in the wine, throw in pepper, saffron, a leaf of nard and bay, then heat gently without ever boiling. It is left to rest a few days before being drunk cool. Drink it with measure, stranger: it is the drink of emperors, not of drunken soldiers.
Ingredients (period version)
- Wine — an amphora (base)
- Honey — abundantly (sweetness)
- Pepper — a few grains (spicy heat)
- Saffron — a few stigmas (color and fragrance)
- Bay leaf and nard (mastic) — one leaf (aroma)
- Dates — a few (roundness)
Ingredients
- Sweet red or white wine — 1 bottle (750 ml) (base)
- Honey — 120 g (sweetness)
- Black peppercorns — 6 crushed (spicy heat)
- Saffron — 1 pinch (color and fragrance)
- Bay leaf — 1 (aroma)
- Pitted dates — 3 (roundness)
Method
- Melt the honey with a small glass of wine over low heat, skim off foam.
- Add the rest of the wine, crushed pepper, saffron, bay leaf, and dates.
- Heat without boiling for about ten minutes, then let infuse covered off the heat.
- Strain, ideally let rest for 1 to 2 days in a cool place.
- Serve cool or slightly warm in small cups.
How it was made : Apicius opens his book with conditum paradoxum: honey cooked with a little wine, skimmed, then mixed with spices (pepper, saffron, mastic, nard, bay, dates). It was prepared in advance and often cut with water. It was the ceremonial wine of Roman and then Byzantine aristocratic tables.
The contemporary twist : Served over ice with a splash of sparkling water and an orange zest, conditum becomes an ancient spritz for aperitif.
Sources : Apicius, De re coquinaria, I, 1 (Conditum paradoxum) · A. Dalby, Flavours of Byzantium (2003)
Theodosius · Charactorium
