Mix together :

  • 12 g cinnamon ,
  • 8g ginger,
  • 2g cloves ,
  • 2 g cardamom ("graine de paradis"),
  • 190 g sugar,
  • 1l red wine.

Allow mixture to macerate one or two days, then filter through a sieve with cheesecloth to clarify the wine

Preparation of hypocras, a spiced wine.

© C. Huyghens.

Hypocras was served either at the beginning or end of a meal.

Claude Huyghens and Françoise Danrigal kindly donated this recipe-as well as the photograph displaying it with archaeological objects from Saint-Denis. For a number of years, they have been researching the cuisine of times past. In particular, they have contributed to the volume Fêtes gourmandes au Moyen Age (Feasts of the Middle Ages), Paris, Imprimerie nationale, 1998.