wassail
noun

Merriam-Webster offers three definitions. OWAD today focusses on the first, which is the most common:

- a hot drink that is made with wine, beer, or cider, spices, sugar, and usually baked apples,... and is traditionally served in a large bowl, especially at Christmas time

- an early English toast to someone’s health

- wild, riotous drinking

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ORIGIN

13th century. Old English wæs hæl, literally ‘be you healthy’, refers both to the salute Waes Hail and to the drink of wassail, a hot mulled cider. It was traditionally drunk as an integral part of wassailing, an ancient southern English drinking ritual.

In the cider-producing counties in the South-West of England (primarily Devon, Somerset, Dorset, Gloucestershire, and Herefordshire) or South-East England (Kent, Sussex, Essex, and Suffolk) wassailing refers to a traditional ceremony. A ceremony involving singing and drinking to the health of cider-apple trees, intended to ensure a good harvest the following year.

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HOW ABOUT A WASSAIL?

Why not enjoy a wassail this Christmas, as I will with my family? You might have to hunt around a bit for the ingredients, but it’s worth it.

INGREDIENTS

- 8 small dessert apples
- 3 litres medium cider
- 350 ml calvados
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
Spices:
- 1 cinnamon (Zimt) stick, broken in three
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves (gemahlene Gewürznelken)
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (Muskat)
- 6 juniper berries, crushed (Wacholder)
- 1 small knob of peeled, fresh ginger (Ingwer)

DIRECTIONS

Run a sharp knife around the middle of each apple to split the skin, then place them in an oven-proof dish.

Pour a little cider around the base of the apples and put them in an oven, pre-heated to 180 degrees C.

Cook for about 40 minutes, or until they are just starting to burst around the slits. Meanwhile, make a little muslin (Musselin) bag and put all the spices into it, tying it up with a piece of kitchen string.

Put the cider, calvados, sugar, cinnamon sticks, lemon juice, into your most beautiful saucepan. Add the spices and bring the liquid to a simmer - don’t boil it, as the alcohol will evaporate.

Serve in heat-proof glasses with chunks of baked apples on top. Enjoy!

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SMUGGLE OWAD into a conversation today, say something like:

“Let’s make a WASSAIL this Christmas, I got the recipe from OWAD.”

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HOLIDAY BREAK

Wassail was the last OWAD of 2021, service resumes on Wednesday 5th of January.

Happy holidays with your family and friends, and have a great start into the New Year.

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HERZLICHEN DANK to all readers helping me keep OWAD alive with single or monthly donations at:

https://donorbox.org/please-become-a-friend-of-owad-3

Paul Smith