[Sca-cooks] mead

[Gretchen Beck]

I believe the Oxford English Dictionary calls this type of concoction a 
hydromel:
 A liquor consisting of a mixture of honey and water, which when fermented 
is called vinous hydromel or mead.

c1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 83 A stynkynge wounde is heelid in remeuynge awey 
e stinche & e rotenes; & erto is myche wor a waischinge of ydromel: at is 
hony & watir soden togidere wi mirre. 1563 T. GALE Treat. Gonneshot 2b 
(Stanf.), Nitrum helpeth the Collicke if it bee taken with cummyne in 
hydromell. c1645 HOWELL Lett. (1650) I. 367 In Russia, Moscovy and Tartary, 
they use Mead,..this is that which the antients called hydromel. 1839 E. D. 
CLARKE Trav. Russia 18/1 The young man used to drink the Russian beverage 
of hydromel, a kind of mead. 1861 LD. LYTTON & FANE Tannhäuser 42 A 
fountain!yea, but flowing deep With nectar and with hydromel.

toodles, margaret

--On Tuesday, November 02, 2010 7:47 PM -0300 Suey <lordhunt at gmail.com> 
wrote:

> AGUAMIEL, hidromiel, Eng. 1. mead, a non-alcoholic beverage formerly
> called a pellitory infusion, honey and water syrup, a non-alcoholic
> infusion made with a mixture of honey and water. The 13th C  Anon Andalus
> calls for one oz of honey and 5 lbs water boiled until all the water has
> evaporated. The honey is skimmed constantly. Then 1/2 oz. of pellitory
> root or root powder is added. The mixture is strained through a cloth and
> put in a marmite (over low heat) where the root is bruised until
> pirathrine oil and an insulin substance is released from the oil glands.
> Then it is poured into a glass jar and drunk as needed. It could be drunk
> as a cordial  or used to relieve toothaches or headaches. It was popular
> from the beginning of beekeeping and especially in the Muslim world for
> its non-alcoholic content. See /aloja/.