When it comes to homemade drinks, there is nothing better than mulled wine. And though it's usually made for Christmas, there are dozens of historic recipes to make all year round. The version featured in today's post is dated from the 17th century but the ingredients and method were borrowed from earlier times.
'Ipokras/ypokras' or 'hippocras' was named after the hippocratic sleeve (manicum hippocraticum), a cone-shaped device used by the 5th century Greek physician Hippocrates for filtering water. Hippocras was the descendant of piment - a mixture of wine, spices & honey already popular in the High Middle Ages. Roman gourmets were also known to enjoy something like that.
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| Hippocrates refuses the gifts of the Persian king - Girodet, 1792 |
A recipe for piment was featured in Tractatus de modo, the first part of Liber de Coquina (late 13th-early 14th c.). It used a large amount of cinnamon, ginger, valerian, cloves, turnsole, pepper and honey for a relatively small amount of wine: "Confectio pimenti uel clareti: recipe cinamomi unciam; et zinziberi uncias .2. et semi, galange unciam, spice nardi, gariofilorum, ana unciam dimidiam folii unciam et piperis longi uncias .II., uini boni sextarios et mellis despumati quartarios .III. Et hec de potationibus sufficiat."
The Forme of Cury (late 14th c.) named the spices -cinnamon, ginger, valerian, cloves, pepper, nutmeg, marjoram and cardamom- leaving the cook to decide how much wine and sugar (or honey) was needed: "PUR FAIT YPOCRAS XX.IX.XI. Treys Unces de canett. & iii unces de gyngeuer. spykenard de Spayn le pays dun denerer, garyngale. clowes, gylofre. poeurer long, noiez mugadez. maziosame cardemonij de chescun i. quart' douce grayne & de pardys stour de queynel de chescun dim unce de toutes, soit fait powdour & c."
Both recipes must have resulted in very strong drinks, which is not unusual in medieval cuisine. Medieval physicians also believed sugar and spices to be not only condiments but also medicine & aphrodisiacs.
A lighter version of hippocras is featured in The English Hvswife (1615) by Gervase Markham, using a moderate amount of cinnamon, ginger, cloves, pepper, and nutmeg for approximately two liters of wine: "To make Ipokras, take a pottell of wine, two ounces of good Cinnamon, half an ounce of ginger, nine cloues, and a nutmeg, and bruise them, and put them into the wine with some rosemary flowers, and to let them steepe all night, and then put in sugar a pound at least; and when it is well setled, let it runne through a woollen bag made for that purpose: thus if your wine be clarret, the Ipokras will be red; if white, then of that color also."
This drink is much easier to make at home. The hippocratic sleeve used for large quantities was now replaced with a small bag of cloth. Rosemary flowers also yielded a more delicate flavor.
Hippocras retained its popularity until the nineteenth century when mulled wine became known under several names, with people following each their local traditions. A simplified version with little or no reference to quantities was featured in Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management (first published in 1861, with several editions to come): "3599. MULLED CLARET. Ingredient._1 pint of claret, 1/2 pint of boiling water, sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon to taste. Method._Heat the claret nearly to boiling point, add the boiling water, sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon to taste, and serve hot. Any kind of wine may be mulled, but port and claret are those usually selected for the purpose."
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