S1E3

Let's read a bedtime story to the Earl of Grantham, shall we?

February 6, 2012

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Dining at Downton explores the exhilarating culinary ups and downs of our favorite PBS costume drama, including but not limited to Edwardian fork etiquette and The Raspberry Meringue Incident.

HOW TO ENTERTAIN A TURKISH GENTLEMAN

SEASON 1, EPISODE 3

Let's read a bedtime story to the Earl of Grantham, shall we?

If you give a Turkish diplomat a piece of cake...

...he's going to ask for a cup of mulled wine.

When you give him the cup of mulled wine, he may feel particularly daring on a foxhunt.

When he's finished a successful foxhunt, he may want to celebrate at dinner.

So he'll want at least three kinds of wine--you know, to take the edge off.

And when he's had at least three kinds of wine, he might get some ideas about your eldest daughter.

And here, dear Earl, is the Moral of the Story, so listen up:
If you let a Turkish diplomat have cake, go hunting, and drink three kinds of wine, he's going to sneak into your eldest daughter's bedroom for a sleepover, then have a heart attack and die, so don't do that. That is not a good idea. Really, just cut him off after the piece of cake, okay?

EPISODE CUPPA COUNT: 2
CUMULATIVE CUPPA COUNT: 15

Our friend Mrs. Beeton has some excellent things to say about mulled wine, which we assume you'll be serving at your next foxhunt. If you're alarmed by the prospect of selecting your own spices in "what quantity might suit," head over to Epicurious for a more precisely calibrated rendition. And by all means offer up a silver platter of Gingerbread Cake alongside, but remember, when dealing with Turkish diplomats: One piece, and THAT'S IT.

From Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management, Chapter 37: Beverages:

TO MULL WINE.

INGREDIENTS - To every pint of wine allow 1 large cupful of water, sugar and spice to taste.

Mode.--In making preparations like the above, it is very difficult to give the exact proportions of ingredients like sugar and spice, as what quantity might suit one person would be to another quite distasteful. Boil the spice in the water until the flavour is extracted, then add the wine and sugar, and bring the whole to the boiling-point, when serve with strips of crisp dry toast, or with biscuits. The spices usually used for mulled wine are cloves, grated nutmeg, and cinnamon or mace. Any kind of wine may be mulled, but port and claret are those usually selected for the purpose; and the latter requires a very large proportion of sugar. The vessel that the wine is boiled in must be delicately clean, and should be kept exclusively for the purpose. Small tin warmers may be purchased for a trifle, which are more suitable than saucepans, as, if the latter are not scrupulously clean, they will spoil the wine, by imparting to it a very disagreeable flavour. These warmers should be used for no other purposes.

*This recipe was not edited or tested by the Bon Appetit Test Kitchen (obviously, we hope)

--Rachel Sanders