Wassail Recipes (pronounced WAH sel)
We hope you are wassailing wherever you are
Seasons greetings from the SAT. We offer you recipes for a traditional celebratory drink of the season familiar to the author, whoever he or she or they may be.
From Antony & Cleopatra:
“Antony,” says Octavius, “Leave thy lascivious wassails.” Antony & Cleopatra
Wassail can mean to drink lots of alcohol with noisy friends, as above. It is also the name of a delicious spiced ale or cider drink, as below.
In Macbeth, Lady Macbeth says:
His two chamberlains
Will I with wine and wassail so convince
That memory, the warder of the brain,
Shall be a fume, and the receipt of Reason
A limbeck only.
We offer two recipes. The first is authentic to the early-modern period and calls for a fire, a cauldron, the speaking of Paternosters, and a Steward.
The second is for what Julia Child might call the “servantless cook” for a 21st-century brewmaster and only requires a baking sheet, oven, and heavy-bottomed pot. We salute you for whichever recipe you try.
Wassail with ale and wine or brandy
Ingredients:
One gallon of good strong ale, well-brewed (can use hard cider if you prefer)
Half a pound of fine sugar
Four whole cloves
Two nutmegs, grated
A small handful of cinnamon sticks, broken
A large piece of ginger, bruised well
Two or three bay leaves
A quart of odoriferous [no, it’s not odiferous] red wine (as you will, for richness) OR a cup of brandy if you use hard cider instead of ale
Two or three apples, roasted till tender
A little lemon peel, finely pared
The Method:
Firstly, take a gallon of your best strong ale (or hard cider) and set it in a cauldron or large pot over the fire that it may heat gently, but do not boil.
Add thereto the sugar and stir it well.
Take your spices—cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, and ginger—binding them in a small cloth or muslin so they may infuse without dispersing.
Put this bundle of spice into the ale and let it simmer softly for the space of half an hour.
In the mean while, roast your apples before the fire until their skins do split and their flesh becomes soft, but they should yet hold their shape.
When the ale hath taken up the warmth and savor of the spice, add thereto a quart of red wine, stirring gently.
Drop in the roasted apples and the bay leaves, and allow all to steep together for the time it takes to say two Paternosters (about five minutes).
Before serving, cast in a little finely pared lemon peel for brightness.
Pour the wassail into a great bowl or pitcher, with the apples floating therein like small islands, and serve it forth hot to your good company.
Let each man and woman drink with cheer, crying out “Wassail!” in token of health and fellowship.
Notes for the Steward:
If wine is scarce, the same may be omitted, yet wine doth lend richness and merry spirit to the draught.
The apples may be softened with a little butter before roasting, as some cooks do.
To make this drink sweeter still, add more sugar as your company doth prefer.
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The second recipe for the servantless 21st-century cook.
Wassail with hard cider, brandy, and eggs
Ingredients:
4 small apples, peeled
1 cup cane sugar
1 medium orange
13 whole cloves
2 quarts of hard apple cider (or mix hard and soft ciders)
½ cup brandy
1 tablespoon powdered ginger
1 teaspoon grated nutmeg
6 allspice berries
2 cinnamon sticks
6 large eggs, separated
The Method:
Preheat the oven to 350° degrees Fahrenheit.
Cut the apples into bite-sized pieces; sprinkle liberally with several tablespoons of sugar. Place the apples on the baking sheet.
Stud an orange with fifteen cloves and place it on the baking sheet. (small children can help with this)
Bake the apples and orange together for forty minutes.
While the apples and orange bake, pour the hard cider, sugar, and brandy into a heavy-bottomed pot such as a Dutch Oven or large soup pot. Feel free to use a cauldron if that is easier.
Warm over moderately low heat.
Whisk in powdered ginger and grated nutmeg.
Drop the allspice berries and the cinnamon sticks into the wassail.
Do not bring the wassail to a boil.
Separate the eggs.
Beat egg yolks until light in color and set aside.
In a separate bowl, whip egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Fold egg yolks into whites, then temper the eggs by slowly pouring one-half cup of the hot wassail into the eggs, whisking all the while.
Pour the tempered eggs into the spiced liquid and fold softly together.
Transfer to a punch bowl.
Float the baked apple pieces and the orange in the wassail and serve in mugs, topping each with pieces of apple.
Let each man and woman drink with cheer, crying out “Wassail!” in token of health and fellowship.
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