Wassail

[Darbla]

I did a search here in the MW Kitchen and didn't find wassail mentioned. Anybody got any good and easy recipes? Here's one I came across elsewhere:


"Wassail" was originally a toast to one's good health, and over time came to represent the drink itself. There are as many versions of this ancient beverage as their are sources, but they all contain a spirit, beer, or wine, and spices. Here is a simple yet satisfying version based on red wine.

Red Wine Wassail

2 cups (500 ml) water
1 cup (250 ml) honey
4 whole cloves
3 cinnamon sticks
2 lemons, thinly sliced
1 750-ml bottle red wine

Boil the water, honey, cloves, and cinnamon for five minutes. Remove from the heat, add the lemons, and allow to stand for 10 minutes. Add the wine and heat slowly until just below the boiling point. Serve
hot. Serves 6.

Bon appetit from the Chef at Worldwide Recipes.


Darbla

[StarPhoenix]

Here's the recipe for the Wasail my mom makes, it's always a hit at our house :hahugh:

2qt. apple cider
2c. orange juice
1c. lemon juice
5c. pineapple juice
1 stick cinnamon
1tsp. whole cloves
sugar or honey to taste
orange slices (optional)

Combine all ingredients except orange slices in large saucepan. Simmer slowly for 1 hour or longer. Do not boil. Strain before serving. Garnish with orange slices.

My mom uses the same pot/pan as we use to make a box of spaghetti noodles to give you an idea of the size.

[Merrilyn]

Been meaning to try this, as well. They both sound delish!

[Darbla]

Oh yum! Sitalique's would be perfect for work since it's non-alchoholic.

I know nothing about wine, so I'm unsure what to get for the recipe I posted. I mean, would some brands be better suited for this and others to be avoided? Are some sweeter than others? Or if I just go to the liquor store, pick up whatever my hand lands on first, would that be OK? Sorry to be so clueless; just trying to keep from wasting a whole pot of this stuff by having bought the wrong thing.

[Ma'at's_Feather]

it looks great. I am so going to make this.

[Darbla]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wassail

Wassail
Wassail is a hot, spiced punch often associated with winter celebrations of northern Europe, usually those connected with the Christmas holiday such as Christmas, New Year's and Twelfth Night. Particularly popular in Germanic countries, the term itself is a contraction of the Old English toast wæs þu hæl, or "be thou hale!" (i.e., "be in good health"). Alternate expressions predating the term, with approximately the same meaning, include both the Old Norse ves heill and Old English wes hál.

History
While the beverage typically served as "wassail" at modern holiday feasts with a medieval theme most closely resembles mulled cider, historical wassail was completely different, more likely to be mulled beer. Sugar, ale, ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon would be placed in a bowl, heated, and topped with slices of toast as sops. Hence the first stanza of the traditional carol the Gloucestershire Wassail dating back to the Middle Ages:
Wassail! wassail! all over the town,
Our toast it is white and our ale it is brown;
Our bowl it is made of the white maple tree;
With the wassailing bowl, we'll drink to thee.

Recipes
Recipes vary, but usually call for a base of either wine or fruit juices (apple being popular) simmered with mulling spices, possibly fortified with spirits such as brandy. Orange slices might be added to the mixture. (In northern Europe, oranges once enjoyed the status of a novelty Christmas fruit. As oranges come into season in the winter, in pre-refrigeration days that might be the only time of year that they were available to cold climates -- provided they survived shipment from the warmer countries in which they were grown.)

Other uses and similarities
• Wassail is very similar to a Roman winter beverage called calda which, according to the recipes of Apicius, consisted of wine cut with water, then heated, sweetened with honey, and flavored with aromatic spices. (Many Christmas traditions actually derive from those of the Roman festival of Saturnalia, so a connection between the two is possible.)
• Today, many microbreweries produce a beverage very similar to wassail – spiced beer – during the winter months.
• A Wassail is traditional ceremony carried out to ensure a good crop of cider apples for the coming harvest. See wassailing.
• Wassail or wæs þu hæl is a greeting often used by Neopagans to avoid saying anything Christian. It can be used as a form of farewell and greeting. It can be used at any time of the year or day and is not required that it is related to toasting. The belief that it is only done in respect to apples comes form Fraser's The Golden Bough in which the custom is mentioned. As this practice has been revived -- ironically -- by churches, Mummers, and Morris troupes, many non-pagans have come across the term.
• In the modern day, Wassail is most commonly recognized as an obscure reference in various traditional Christmas carols: "Wassail, wassail all over the town," for example, or "Here we come a-wassailing among the leaves so green". Wassail-themed songs were once sung by winter carollers who went from house to house, singing to the residents in exchange for small gifts of money, food and drink (often wassail.)




Other info:
The Wassail Page - http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/5567/wassail.html
Recipes from The Wassail Page - http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/5567/wasdrink.html



http://www.culinarycafe.com/Drinks/Christmas_Wassail.html
Christmas Wassail
• 1 gallon apple cider
• 25-30 whole cloves
• 6-10 cinnamon sticks
• 1 quart pineapple juice
• 1 6 ounce can frozen orange juice concentrate
Mix all ingredients in a large pot and simmer. Serve hot.


http://www.mixed-drink.com/NonAlcoholic/HotDrinks/hotwassail.html
Hot Wassail
• 4 cups Unsweetened apple juice
• 3 cups Unsweetened pineapple juice
• 2 cups Cranberry juice cocktail
• 1/4 teaspoon Ground nutmeg
• 1 Cinnamon stick
• 3 Whole cloves
• Lemon slices
Combine all the ingredients in a large kettle and simmer for 10 minutes. Serve hot.


LOTS more recipes here:
http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/cat/212/0.shtml
http://www.cooks.com/rec/search/0,1-0,wassail,FF.html
www.about.com - type 'wassail' in the search box, upper right of screen

[banondraig]

I did a search here in the MW Kitchen and didn't find wassail mentioned. Anybody got any good and easy recipes? Here's one I came across elsewhere:


"Wassail" was originally a toast to one's good health, and over time came to represent the drink itself. There are as many versions of this ancient beverage as their are sources, but they all contain a spirit, beer, or wine, and spices. Here is a simple yet satisfying version based on red wine.

Red Wine Wassail

2 cups (500 ml) water
1 cup (250 ml) honey
4 whole cloves
3 cinnamon sticks
2 lemons, thinly sliced
1 750-ml bottle red wine

Boil the water, honey, cloves, and cinnamon for five minutes. Remove from the heat, add the lemons, and allow to stand for 10 minutes. Add the wine and heat slowly until just below the boiling point. Serve
hot. Serves 6.

Bon appetit from the Chef at Worldwide Recipes.


Darbla

that sounds a lot like german gluhwein . . . i miss germany.