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recipe january/february 2003
French mustard and hippocras from the fourteenth century
Dutch version of this recipe

Mustard has always been a popular condiment. Mustard is made from the seeds of several species of the brassica-family (cabbage). From some varieties the leaves can be eaten, and the seeds not only serve to make mustard, but can also be pressed to yield a culinary oil, or distilled to make a medicinal oil. There are black, white and brown mustard seeds (from brassica nigra, sinapis alba en brassica juncea), each with their own specific properties. The first to are indigenous to Europe, the brown mustard has its origins in Asia.
In a recipe from the antiquity mustard seeds are being soaked in vinagre, and mixed with pine nuts and almonds. The recipe of these months is medieval, and uses -or rather: recycles- spices wich were used in other dishes, spiced wine or sauces. That is why a second recipe is being given on this page, of spiced wine, so that you can do your own recycling.

The recipes are taken from a French book dating from the fourteenth century, called "Le Ménagier de Paris". It is not just a cookbook, but a complete guidebook for the wife of a well to do citizen or knight. It was written by her spouse, at her own request (according to the prologue). She was very young (in her teens), and could do with some advice regarding the management of the household affairs of her sixty-year old husband. Besides, she would be widowed at a relatively young age, and so the lessons he bestowed on her would serve her well in her second marriage.
The book can be divided into three parts: The first part concerns the way in wich a good woman was to behave towards God and her husband. This part is enlivened with stories about women (like the one about Griselda). The second part is the most interesting from a culinary point of view, and concerns itself with the household management: How do you pick a good servant, where can you find a good butcher, how do you organize a succesfull dinnerparty? And of course: How do you prepare (or instruct the cook to prepare) the viands for such a party? The third part is not complete. It was to have a survey of fitting pass-times for a lady, but after a treatise on hawks, horses and dogs the text breaks off.
The writer was not a professional cook, and he concerns himself with subjects wich a professional would never think of mentioning, as for example in the recipe for a dish with green peas. This has to be thickened with egg yolks, and describes worrisome the risks of the process. In the same recipe he vents his mistrust towards dairymaids that dilute the milk with water. 
The text is really very interesting, and gives us a glimpse into the doings of a well to do household in France at the end of the fourteenth century.

N.Crossley-Holland has written a book on the Menagier, called "Living and dining in medieval Paris. The household of a fourteenth century knight" (edition). She has identified the anonymous author as Guy de Montigny, a knight who served the duke De Berry. She even identified the building the De Montigny's may have lived in in Paris (the building has been demolished at the start of the twentieth century, only a photo remains).

The original text of the recipe for mustard is taken from Le Menagier de Paris in the edition (1981), p.258. 
The original text of the recipe for hippocras (or hypocras) is missing in this edition. That is because this recipe, a fifteenth century addition, appears only in one of the three manuscripts of the Menagier that have survived (the manuscripts date all three from the fifteenth century, there is no autograph by the Menagier himself). The additions are partly published by J. Pichon in an appendix to his edition in 1847, vol. 2, p.273.

The recipe for mustard:

250 gram (2 cups) white or black mustard seeds, or some of both
4 decilitre (1 3/4 cup) white wine vinagre of good quality
1 tsp. mixed spices
salt

Preparation in advance: Since must or stum (the freshly pressed juice of winegrapes about to ferment) is available only in wine-countries in octobre, we make the mustard with wine vinagre. Let the mustard seeds soak during the night in white wine vinagre, The vinaigre should stand about 2 centimeters above the seeds.

Preparation: The next morning the mustard seeds have absorbed the vinagre, and become soft (you can crush them between your fingers). Mash them in a blender, and add as much vinagre as is needed to obtain the desired thickness. Add salt and spices. Taste it, be sure there is enough salt in it.
Keep the mustard in a well closing container in the refrigerator during at least eight days, to let the taste mature.

To serve: In small dishes on the table. 

Here you can find a page with several medieval mustard recipes.

The recipe for hippocras:

For one bottle of wine:
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1 1/2 tsp. ground galanga
100 gram (1/2 cup) sugar
1 bottle superb red wine
cheesecloth

Preparation in advance: If you want to use the spices afterwards to make mustard, pack the ground spices in a coffee filter, and close this tightly. If you want to use the spices for mustard, just scoop out the dregs (that is what has become of the spices after two hours soaking in wine) afterwards. If you just want to make hippocras, you can also mix the spices directly in the wine. It will be more work to get a clear wine, you will have to strain the wine several times. However, if the wine remains opaque, this will not affect the taste of the hypocras.

Preparation: Mix wine with sugar, and add the spices. Let stand for two hours. Strain the wine through a moistened cheese cloth and rebottle the wine. Keep the hypocras in the refrigerator, and wait a couple of days before pouring.

To serve: In summer this wine is delicious when slightly chilled, in winter you can warm the hypocras. But remember: the alcohol evaporates when heated. In medieval times this spiced wine was served as an "after dinner drink", with some sweets to nibble.

Stum or must: Freshly pressed grape juice of wine grapes, not fully fermented. 
Lot and ounce: A "lot" is a liquid measure, about 3,72 litres (about 5 bottles of wine). 
An "once" is about the same as the modern "ounce": 30 grams. 
White or black mustard seeds: White mustard seeds are easier to find in the shops than black ones. White seeds are also softer, and can be crushed more easily. There is a difference in taste: white seeds are spicy, black seeds are really  hot. In the Middle Ages both kinds of seeds were used to make mustard. Because brassica nigra is difficult to harvest by machines, it is less and less cultivated nowadays. The asian brassica juncea has replaced black mustardseeds in the production of dark mustard.
Mixed spices: You can use the spices from the hypocras. It says in the original recipe that you can also use spices  leftover from  the making of jellies and sauces. This means that you can use other spices as well, for example black pepper, mace, cloves, grains of paradise (can be replaced by cardamom seeds).
Superb red wine: The recipe calls for wine from Beaune, a Burgundy wine. Whatever wine you take, make sure it is of good quality, your hypocras will never be better than the wine you have used to make it. Cheap wine, bad hypocras.

Bibliography
The editions below are in my possession. Links refer to available editions. 
All books mentioned on this site (with short reviews)

Nicole Crossley-Holland,  Living and dining in medieval Paris, Cardiff, 1996.
The Goodman of Paris. A Treatison moral and domestic economy by a citizen of Paris, c.1393. Translation Eileen Power. Woodbridge, 2006 (reproduction of the original edition from 1928).
Le Menagier de Paris. Edition: G.E. Brereton and J.M. Ferrier (Oxford, 1981) See also: Le Mesnagier de Paris. Text edition Georgina E. Brereton and Janet M. Ferrier, translation (in modern French) Karin Ueltschi. Paris, 1994.
Le Ménagier de Paris, Traité de morale et d'économie domestique [...]. Jérôme Pichon, Genève, 1847 (2 vol.).

All text and pictures of dishes are the intellectual property of Coquinaria and may not be reproduced without permission and acknowledgement.