Claret
Source:
Netherlands, 16th c.
Recipe by Jennifer Marshall-Craig
Sweet Flag has been noted to cause labor, so I have left it out of the spice mixture. While the original recipe calls for using 2 1/2 pints of wine, I have chosen to use quarts instead. I did not want to have the drink to be too spiced to drink. It is easier to add more spices to a drink than to remove them once made, other than to water the drink down with water.
Ingredients
2 1/2 quarts Grape Juice
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1 Tbsp. Cinnamon
1 Tbsp. Ginger
1 Tbsp. Grains of Paradise
1 Tbsp. Long Pepper
1 Tbsp. Galingale
1 Tbsp. Coriander
Method
Take 1/2 pint of the grape juice and place it into a pot with the brown sugar and warm until the sugar is fully dissolved. Put 1 oz. of the spice mixture into a strainer and steep into warmed juice, add into cooled juice.
Om goeden finen witten clareyt te maken. Neemt twee vierendeel ende een half pinte witten wijn of petau Dan neemt van dien wijn een lettel ende maecten werm in dien wijn doet bruyn suycker ende rueret so lange tot dat dit suicker al wel ghesmolten es in dien wermen wijn Dan mingelt daer in een once ende een half once van desen na volghende poeder wel ende seer Dan suldijt ghieten duer den sack acht oft neghe weruen ende clarify ceret Dyts dat poedere Neempt wt ghelesen caneel witten ghimber/ greyne lanck peper/ galigaen calini aromatici coriander asi. Maect hier af poedere ende laet al met duer loopen
To make good fine white clareyt. Take two vierendeel [approx. 1.3 litres or 2 pints each] and a half pint of white wine or [wine of] Poitou. Then take a little of this wine and make it warm; into this wine put brown sugar and stir it as long until the sugar is all well melted in the warm wine. Then thoroughly mix into it an ounce and a half of this following powder. Then you shall pour it through the sack eight or nine times and clarify it. This is the powder. Take fine cinnamon white ginger, grains of paradise, long pepper, galingale, sweet flag [Acorus calamus], coriander in equal parts. Make powder of this and let it all run through [the sack] together.
Published: 2013-07-02