{"id":5586,"date":"2020-12-01T21:53:37","date_gmt":"2020-12-01T21:53:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/herbarium\/?p=5586"},"modified":"2020-12-12T12:03:07","modified_gmt":"2020-12-12T12:03:07","slug":"adventbotany-2020-day-2-mulled-wine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/herbarium\/2020\/12\/01\/adventbotany-2020-day-2-mulled-wine\/","title":{"rendered":"#AdventBotany 2020 – Day 2 Mulled Wine"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Jonathan Mitchley<\/a>\u00a0 (heavily edited by Alastair Culham<\/a>)<\/h2>\n

\"Orange<\/p>\n

The first #Adventbotany post by @DrMgoeswild was an exciting medly of fruit, spices and wine.<\/p>\n

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Vines in southern France, 2006<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dr M offers a botanical extravaganza with mulled wine, a drink supposedly invented by Hippocrates and for which there are recipes in English from as early as the 14th century in the form of hypocras. If you’d like to look in to the origins of mulled wine then Old Cook has a nice page on spiced wines<\/a> going back to Roman times and medieval cookery has a recipe for Hypocras<\/a>, the original mulled wine in English.<\/p>\n

For a slightly more modern version and a detailed recipe Rare Cooking blog<\/a> has a well illustrated account and includes rosemary as a flavouring.<\/p>\n

The British Library<\/a> has digitised Forme of Cury<\/em><\/a>, a treatise on cookery by the chief cook of Richard II\u2019s household, composed c.1390.\u00a0 The digitised manuscript (in the form of a scroll, not a book) is from about 1420 and includes a mulled wine receipe.<\/p>\n

British Food: A History<\/a> blog by Dr Neil Buttery<\/span><\/a> includes a translation of the Ypocras receipe and comment on ingredients. They offer an excellent account of the recipe and, very importantly, remind you to strain it through muslin before drinking!<\/p>\n

“Pur fait ypocras. Troys vnces de canell & iii vneces de gyngeuer; spykenard de Spayn, le pays dun denerer; garyngale, clowes gylofre, poeure long, noie<\/em>\u021d mugade<\/em>\u021d, ma<\/em>\u021dio<\/em>\u021dame, cardemonii, de chescun dm. vnce; de toutes soit fsait powdour &c.<\/em><\/p>\n

To make hippocras. Three ounces of cinnamon and three ounces of ginger, spikenard of Spain, a pennysworth; galingale, cloves, long pepper, nutmeg, marjoram, cardamom, of each a quarter of an ounce; grain of paradise, flour of cinnamon, of each half an ounce; of all, powder is to be made etc.”<\/p>\n

However, I would be sad to see you replace long pepper and grains of paradise with black pepper, which they suggest as a cheaper alternative. Grains of paradise, particularly, has a distinctive aromatic flavour that is difficult to substitute.\u00a0 Internet shopping makes even obscure spices surprisingly available.<\/p>\n

\"Medieval
Pur fait ypocras XX.IX.XI from Forme of Cury (1420)<\/a> British Library<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Before you make mulled wine you need to start with grapes which form the basis of wine and differing sources offer wildly different estimates of the number of grape cultivars cultivated to make that wine.\u00a0 For instance Berry Bros. & Rudd in London offer a list of 143<\/a> varieties of grape from which they stock wine, while Wikipedia list 335 Red grape varieties and 418 White grape varieties used for wine making and Wine Tutor claims over 5000<\/a> varieties (but does not attempt to list them).<\/p>\n

Once you have your wine, it is fairly easy to buy ready made mixes of mulled wine spices or you can devise your own mix to suit your taste.\u00a0 I’m quite eclectic and use ready mixed spices or various recipes including Delia Smith’s Christmas (all my favourite Christmas recipes are marked by sticky sugary and ingredient stained pages). For an alternative view to mine, you can read Felicity Cloake<\/a>‘s How to make perfect mulled wine<\/a> published in The Guardian.\u00a0 It’s even possible to buy ready made Hippocras<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/span>The spice content of mulled wine has varied over time but cinnamon<\/a>, ginger<\/a>, nutmeg, mace<\/a>, Piper longum<\/em><\/a>, Star Anise, Cardamom and cloves<\/a> are each listed in at least some recipes.\u00a0 These will feature in their own #AdventBotany blogs in due course.<\/p>\n

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