Mulsum was the ancient beverage used by

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

, with the two main ingredients being

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

and

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several species of bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of pl ...

. The beverage was usually served before the main meal and is therefore an aperitif.

History

Mulsum was usually the drink offered at the beginning of the Roman dinner in conjunction with the "gustus", what we would call the course of

appetizers An hors d'oeuvre ( ; ), appetiser, appetizer or starter is a small dish served before a meal in European cuisine. Some hors d'oeuvres are served cold, others hot. Hors d'oeuvres may be served at the dinner table as a part of the meal, or th ...

. Also for mulsum there were different production methods and quality categories of the product. The best mulsum was obtained from the must resulting from the half-complete crushing of grapes coming from vines cultivated near trees and harvested in dry days. To 5-parts of must was added 1-part of honey; after careful shaking the mixture was put in a jar, which was closed and left to rest for at least one month in order to be filtered and put again to rest. A similar preparation is mentioned in the Greek

Geoponica The ''Geoponica'' or ''Geoponika'' () is a twenty-book collection of agricultural lore, compiled during the 10th century in Constantinople for the Byzantine emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus. The Greek word ''Geoponica'' signifies "agricul ...

as ''oenomeli''. Besides being used as a beverage, mulsum was also used as a "medicine", for example consumed against stomach pains.

Composition

Some authors maintain that mulsum was elaborated with the first pressing of the grape to which honey was added, once the must was fermented (it sometimes appears under the denomination "wine and honey" in numerous references) in proportion of four parts of wine for one of honey. According to

Columella Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella (, Arabic: ) was a prominent Roman writer on agriculture in the Roman Empire. His in twelve volumes has been completely preserved and forms an important source on Roman agriculture and ancient Roman cuisin ...

the drink was made by adding 10 pounds of honey to a jar of

must Must is freshly crushed Juice, fruit juice (usually grape juice) that contains the skins, seeds, and stems of the fruit. The solid portion of the must is called pomace and typically makes up 7–23% of the total weight of the must. Making must ...

. The mixture was then kept for 30 days in a closed vessel and afterwards decanted and

smoked Smoking is the process of flavoring, browning, cooking, or preserving food, particularly meat, fish and tea, by exposing it to smoke from burning or smoldering material, most often wood. In Europe, alder is the traditional smoking wood, but ...

. Pliny on the other hand, recommends old wine mixed with boiled honey in order to make mulsum.

Uses

Mulsum is an alcoholic drink, with a sweet taste, very similar to

mead Mead (), also called honey wine, and hydromel (particularly when low in alcohol content), is an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting honey mixed with water, and sometimes with added ingredients such as fruits, spices, grains, or hops. The alco ...

(which is made by the fermentation of water and honey). It was customary, at the time, to offer this wine at the beginning of banquets. It is also known that, in spite of the presence of honey in its composition, mulsum was more affordable than pure honey, at the time of the Roman Empire.

Celebrations

The Fair of Honey is celebrated in November, by the people of Llubí,

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest of the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, seventh largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. The capital of the island, Palma, Majorca, Palma, i ...

, the

Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands are an archipelago in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago forms a Provinces of Spain, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain, ...

, in Spain.

References

{{Reflist

External links