A mead recipe from Le Menagier de Paris, c. 1393

" BEVERAGES FOR THE SICK - BOCHET To make six sesters of bochet take six pints of very soft honey and set it in a cauldron on the fire, and boil it and stir it for as long as it goes on rising and as long as you see it throwing up liquid in little bubbles which burst and in bursting give off a little blackish steam; and then move it, and put in seven sesters of water and boil them until it is reduced to six sesters, always stirring. And then put it in a tub to cool until it be just warm, and then run it through a sieve, and afterwards put it in a cask and add half a pint of leaven of beer, for it is this which makes it piquant (and if you put in leaven of bread, it is as good for the taste, but the colour will be duller), and cover it warmly and well when you prepare it. And if you would make it very good, add thereto an ounce of ginger, long pepper, grain of Paradise and cloves, as much of the one as of the other, save that there shall be less of the cloves, and put them in a linen bag and cast it therein. And when it hath been therein for two or three days, and the brochet tastes enough of the spices and is sufficiently piquant, take out the bag and squeeze it and put it in the other barrel that you are making. And thus this powder will serve you well two or three times over."

(Translation found in Eileen Power's The Goodman of Paris, 1928, pp. 293-4)





From Pichon's edition of 1846 (with his notes):

" BOCHET . Pour faire six sextiers de bochet, prenez six pintes de miel bien doulx, et le mettez en une chaudière sur le feu et le faites boulir, et remuez si longuement que il laisse à soy croistre, et que vous véez qu'il gette bouillon aussi comme petites orines* qui se creveront, et au crever getteront un petit de fumée aussi come noire: et lors faites-le mouvoir, et lors mettez sept sextiers d'eaue et les faites tant boulir qu'ils revienguent à six sextiers, et tousjours mouvoir. Et lors le mettez en un cuvier pour refroidier jusques à tant qu'il soit ainsi comme tiède; et lors le coulez en un sas, et après** le mettez en un tonnel et y mettez une choppine de leveçon*** de cervoise, car c'est ce qui le fait piquant, (et qui y mettroit levain de pain, autant vauldroit pour saveur, mais la couleur en seroit plus fade,) et couvrez bien et chaudement pour parer. Et se vous le voulez faire très bon, si y mettez une once de gingembre, de poivre long, graine de paradis et cloux de giroffle autant de l'un que de l'autre, excepté des cloux de giroffle dont il y aura le moins, et les mettez en un sachet de toile et gettez dedans. Et quant il y aura esté deux ou trois jours et le bochet sentira assez les espices et il piquera assez, si ostez le sachet et l'espraignez et le mettez en l'autre baril que vous ferez. Et ainsi vous servira bien celle pouldre jusques à trois ou quatre fois."

*Ordinairement origine (interdum urina): mais ici, sans doute globules.

**A et B répètent lors.

***Sans doute levure de bière.



'Sextier'?

The original French 'sextier' is explained by Jerome Pichon, in his notes as "Sans doute le setier de huit pintes plutôt que celui d'une demi-pinte (ou chopine)." ["Without doubt the sester of eight pints rather than that of one half-pint (or chopine)."*]

Using this definition of sextier to determine the proportion of honey to water, we get:

6 pints honey to (7 sesters x 8 pints/sester = 56 pints water), or 1 part honey to 9 1/3 parts water to begin with. (This is boiled and reduced to 48 pints (6 sesters) total volume.)

Digby's "Weak Honey Drink" has the proportion 1 part honey to 9 parts water. Digby (1669) also has a recipe for "Hydromel as I made it weak for the Queen Mother" that calls for 1 part honey to 18 parts water, so Le Ménagier's Bochet is not an unreasonably weak hydromel recipe.



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* Thanks to Susan Troy for translating this tidbit.