World Flavors Cookbook

Conditum Paradoxum (Spiced Honey Wine)

Name: Conditum Paradoxum (Spiced Honey Wine)
Cook time: 20 min
Cuisine: Ancient World
Ingredients: dry white or red wine, honey, black pepper, bay leaves, saffron, Medjool dates, mastic resin (or a drop of pine resin), roasted almonds or walnuts

Honey wine infused with pepper, laurel, saffron, dates, and mastic — Apicius opens his entire cookbook with this festive spiced wine recipe.

Cuisine: Ancient World

Ingredients

dry white or red wine, honey, black pepper, bay leaves, saffron, Medjool dates, mastic resin (or a drop of pine resin), roasted almonds or walnuts

Instructions

Warm wine with honey until honey dissolves. Add crushed pepper, bay leaves, saffron strands, pitted dates, and a small piece of mastic. Simmer on very low heat 15 minutes. Strain through cloth. Cool. Serve diluted with warm or cold water (Romans always diluted wine). Garnish with a roasted almond in each cup.