Hipocras³

Potus ypocras. Take a half lb. of canel tried; of gyngyuer tried, a half lb.; of greynes, iii unce; of longe peper, iii unce; of clowis, ii unce; of notemugges, ii unce & a half; of carewey, ii unce; of spikenard, a half unce; of galyngale, ii unce; of sugir, ii lb. Si deficiat sugir, take a potel of honey.

1 bottle (750 mll) of an inexpensive, sweet red or white wine⁴

1 - 1 1/2 cups sugar (OR: 1 - 2 cups honey)

1 Tbs. each of ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, white pepper, clove, nutmeg, & caraway seed

cheesecloth

Bring the wine and sugar or honey to a boil; if using honey, skim off the scum as it rises. Taste for sweetness; add honey or sugar as necessary. Remove from heat, stir in spices, and allow to sit covered for 24 hours. After sitting, the spices will create a thick residue which will settle to the bottom. Using a ladle, pass the wine into another container through a strainer lined with 2 or 3 layers of cheesecloth to remove the spices, being careful to leave as much of the spice residue in the pot as possible. Bottle. Make at least 1 month before serving. The older it is, the better.

Ypocras was a very popular Medieval beverage, and many different directions for preparation still exist. Also called Hipocras, the drink is named after the famous physician Hippocrates.

Fry the onions in the oil with the garlic, spices and seasoning.  Stir in the cooked beans and mix thoroughly.  Reheat and serve.

Caudell³

Draw yolkes of eyron thorow a streynour with wyne or with ale, that hit be ryght rennyng; put therto sigure, safron, & no salt. Bet well togedyr; set hit on the fyre on clene colys. Stere welle the bottom & the sydys tyl hit be ynowghe scaldyng hote; thu shalle fele be the staffe when hit begynnys to com. Then take hit of and styre alwey fast, & yf be nede, aley hit up with som of the wyne; or yf hit com to hastyly, put hit in cold watyr to myd syd of the pot, & stere hit alwey fast; & serve hit forth.

5 egg yolks

2/3 cup white wine

sugar to taste

pinch saffron

In a pot, beat together the yolks, wine, sugar, and saffron. Heat the mixture over a medium flame, stirring continually, until the caudle is hot and thick & fluffy. Be careful to not let it burn or scorch or stick to the pot. Serve at once, in small glasses as a drink, or as sauce with desserts. It makes an excellent accompaniment to Payne Foundow, served on the side as a drink or poured over as a sauce.

The amount of sugar used will depend on the type of wine used. I prefer using an inexpensive sweet wine, as the taste of an expensive dry or semi-sweet will be lost. In fact, it has seemed to me that the cheaper & sweeter the wine, the better is the final result! Add just enough sugar to mellow the taste.

Clarey³

Clarrey. Take kanel & galinga, greyns de paris, and a lytel peper, & make pouder, & temper hit wyt god wyte wyne & the þrid perte honey & ryne hit þorow a clop.

1 bottle (750 mll) of an inexpensive, sweet white wine

1 -2 cups honey

1 tbs. each cinnamon, galingale (or substitute ginger), & cardamom

1 tsp. white pepper

cheesecloth

Bring the wine and honey to a boil; reduce heat & skim off the scum as it rises. Taste for sweetness; add honey as necessary. Remove from heat, stir in spices, and allow to sit covered for 24 hours. After sitting, the spices will create a thick residue which will settle to the bottom. Using a ladle, pass the wine into another container through a strainer lined with 2 or 3 layers of cheesecloth to remove the spices, being careful to leave as much of the spice residue in the pot as possible. Bottle. Make at least 1 month before serving. A good Clarrey aged for a year or more is exquisite!

Clarrey was wine to which honey and spices were added; the name comes from the Latin vinum claratum, which means "clarified wine." The name survives today as claret, a dry, red wine.

^{1Seven Centuries of English Cooking, A Collection of Recipes by Maxime de la Falaise, Grove Press, New York}

²http://www.godecookery.com/scafeast/ians3.htm#colle

³Hieatt, Constance B. and Sharon Butler. Curye on Inglish: English Culinary Manuscripts of the Fourteenth-Century (Including the Forme of Cury). London: For the Early English Text Society by the Oxford University Press, 1985.

^{4http://www.godecookery.com/how2cook/howto09.html}