Christmas

Wassail - mulled ale or cider

The word wassail comes from the Anglo-Saxon toast “be thou hale” – which translates as: “to your health.” In feudal times, peasants would go “a-wassailing” (also known as caroling) door to door in hopes of scoring snacks such as figgy pudding and alcoholic drinks such as mulled wine and wassail.

What commonly passes for wassail today is just mulled cider, the original recipe was actually made with ale. Hence these lyrics to the Christmas carol classic “Gloucestershire Wassail”:

Wassail! Wassail! All over the town,
Our toast it is white and our ale it is brown

Yep, that’s it: brown ale and toast. Putting spiced toast in cocktails was quite the thing back in the day. In fact, it’s where the phrase “proposing a toast” comes from: both were thought to add flavor to a drink.

Originally, wassail was topped with toasted slices of white bread, which soaks up the ale and gets pleasantly soggy and bittersweet. Here, it’s garnished with a slice of toasted baguette, which adventurous guests can dunk in the ale and eat (it tastes a lot better than it sounds). Traditional recipes also call for adding roasted apples, but in this simpler version, apple slices are cooked right in the ale.

Traditional Wassail

Ingredients

6 bottles of brown ale (I used Newcastle)
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
4 cinnamon sticks
4 whole cloves
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ginger
3/4 cup sweet cream sherry
4 apples, peeled, cored and cut in thin slices
1 baguette
Ground cinnamon

Method

Combine ale, brown sugar, cinnamon sticks, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, sherry and apples in a large saucepan. Cover and cook over medium heat for 20 to 25 minutes or until apples become soft.

Use a spoon to remove the cloves so your guests don’t choke on them. However, no need to remove the cinnamon sticks until the last of the ale has been served. (Note: Cinnamon sticks are dear. Once the wassail is done, wash off your cinnamon sticks, let them air-dry, then put them back in their jar and reuse.)

Cut 12 slices from the baguette, then cut a V-shaped wedge from the edge of each piece to the center so the slice will fit over the edge of each cup or mug without breaking once toasted.

Place the slices on an ungreased baking sheet. Broil for 2 minutes or until toasted on one side, then flip the slices over and broil for an additional minute or until golden brown.

Ladle wassail (including apple slices) into each cup, sprinkling cinnamon on top and garnishing with a toasted baguette slice.

Serves 12