Well, the year is rapidly coming to an end, so I guess I’ll have to move on from my current obsession with ancient esoteric beverages. But first, one last drink for New Year’s Eve: alchermes (alternatively spelled alkermes), a scarlet red cordial with origins that are medieval, middle eastern, and medicinal. I was looking for something colorful to mix with champagne, and came up with this mysterious red elixir, although I doubt I’ll be able to find a bottle. Today, its most common use is in Italian pastries and the Italian variation on trifle, zuppa Inglese, but in the Renaissance it evolved from a herbal tonic for the heart to a secretive and fashionable cordial under the patronage of the Medici family in general and Catherine de’ Medici in particular, who introduced it to the court of France when she married the future King Henri II in 1533. Alchermes derived its name and its color from its most exotic ingredient, a tiny parasitic bug named kermes, which was later replaced by another red bug, cochineal. The presence of insects (along with gold leaf, crushed pearl, and ambergris) in the elixir doesn’t seem to have been too objectionable before the twentieth century, but thereafter artificial ingredients were substituted (I think). The venerable Dominican Santa Maria de Novella pharmacy is a major producer of Alchermes, which has been recognized and registered as a “traditional product” of Tuscany.
British Library Sloane MS 2560, central Europe, 15th century: an alchemical treatise illustrating the red elixir, a king or rosa rubea (red rose); Catherine de’ Medici, Queen Consort of France, as a new widow in 1560 by François Clouet; an 18th century pharmacy jar from the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum; a bottle of Alkermes from the Santa Maria de Novella pharmacy.
December 29th, 2013 at 10:16 am
Too much!!
December 29th, 2013 at 12:00 pm
Absolutely fascinating and highly beautiful images. Such a sense of glass and plants and imagined flavour blended in this. What a zap!
December 29th, 2013 at 12:40 pm
There are recipes on the ‘net, if you want to try making your own…
December 29th, 2013 at 2:08 pm
I have found several with vodka, which look pretty easy, but as I want to make a champagne cocktail with this red spirit I’m afraid of an instant headache! I might just put a few drops of pomegranate juice in the glass….
December 29th, 2013 at 12:42 pm
Interesting and extremely nice frames Donna.
January 1st, 2014 at 6:12 am
Probably a lot safer than any chemical additive (although I cannot approve the addition of any substance to a good champagne…). An English friend gave me a bottle of homemade mulled wine before Christmas, shortly before I read your post on the same subject. My only reference of mulled wine so far had been from the Ellis Peter’s Brother Cadfael novel!
Lovely illustration, as always, thanks for them all and a happy new year to you!
March 23rd, 2023 at 5:17 pm
I have a shot of a 16th c Italian majolica jar for medicines labelled ALCHERMES from the Scuola Grande di San Rocco (Venice) – no on display in Mar 2023. I will email it to you to add to your blog if you email me (rwbal@conncoll.edu)
March 29th, 2023 at 5:05 pm
Thank you, I will!