Smoking Bishop from A Christmas Carol

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Full Recipe:
“Make several incisions into the rind of a lemon; stick cloves in these incisions, and roast the said lemon by the fire. Put small but equal quantities of cinnamon, mace, cloves, and allspice, and a race of ginger, into a saucepan, with half a pint of water; let it boil until it be reduced one half. Boil one bottle of port wine; burn a portion of the spirit out of it, by applying a lighted taper to the saucepan which contains it. Put the roasted lemons and spice into the wine; stir it up well, and let it stand near the fire ten minutes. Rub a few nobs of sugar on the rind of a lemon; put the sugar into a bowl or jug, with the juice of half a lemon, (not roasted) pour the wine upon it, sweeten it to your taste, and serve it up with the lemon and spice floating in it.”
- Apician Anecdotes, Or, Tales of the Table, Kitchen and Larder - Dick Humelbergius Secundus 1836 (Also known as Apician Morsels)

13 pieces of citrus
24 whole cloves
2 sticks of cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground mace
⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
An inch of ginger, peeled and sliced
1 1/4 cup (300ml) water
½ cup (65g) powdered sugar
The juice of half a lemon
One 750ml bottle ruby port

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Subtitles: Jose Mendoza

MUSIC CREDIT

#tastinghistory #Christmas #dickens

[TastingHistory]

Tasting History is closing in on 1 Million Subscribers! If you aren't subscribed, help us get to 1 million by Christmas by clicking subscribe.

[Desdinova]

"Don't use an expensive bottle for this" - but it's snowing outside, and well, any port in a storm.

[LightyNourT]

I will forever cherish the moment when poor Max forgot that the name is a lighter and just described it as "click click flame" 🤣

[EarlsYardSale]

"She does add nutmeg... making it completely her own recipe, I guess."
[*Townsends internally*]

[williamwhite]

"Click-click flame, " a delightfully Dickensian manner of describing that confounding modern contraption

[FaeAstray]

WAIT is that why my grandma made "Bishop's Punch" for Christmas?? I thought she called it after her grandpa Bishop but now I think they just coincidentally had the same name! 😂

[darlagoddesshate]

I feel like we need a Lego tour and punch throughout history sampling.

[kvngn]

The oldest family recipe for gloegg I could find was a bit like that, except the liquor to add at the end was bathtub gin. "Make sure your guests can find their way home" was the last line.

[GaldirEonai]

7:03 The hint is in the name. Seville oranges, as the name suggests, mostly came from Spain and for the next couple of centuries it's a lot easier to list the times when England and Spain _aren't_ at war with each other than the various wars (hot, cold, or undeclared).

[Disturban]

I didn’t feel very Christmasy, but this video got me in the spirit. I’m gonna make this, looks delicious!

[strawhousepig]

I remember my Mom made something similar when I was a kid. Would've been non-alcoholic, but the thumbnail brought back a distinct memory of oranges and cloves in a punch cooked on the stove. This was sometime in the 70's, and wasn't a yearly spectacle, so I can almost recall the aromatic of cloves and fruit.

I wish she could've seen these videos. I can't escape the feeling that part of why I'm drawn to them myself is I know she would've absolutely loved Max and his demeanor.

[taekwongurl]

Omg "Smoking Bishop" confused me as heck when I was a kid when I read the book! Thanks for reminding me of an old memory and filling in a spot of my forgotten curiosity!

[coreymerrill]

A heated taper is a red hot iron poker, as used to mull wine . It boils the liquid instantly and vigorously amd may make a frothy, cream like texture.
Bishop when described as wine with orange and sugar, sounds like it would be "by ship", as they had to flavour and heat wines to remove bad taste and contaminants like mold, dead bugs and dead or drunk rats and all their leavings. So that could be an avenue to explore.

[johnmckenzie]

I wish I was Max's friend. He just seems like he'd be a good guy to be friends with.

[gpdewitt]

Sugar suggestion: Try bakers fine grain sugar for a clearer brew. Powdered sugar contains cornstarch to prevent caking, which clouds liquids it's dissolved in. I am definitely making this!

[jingizu]

"A click-click flame" may in fact be the cutest thing I have ever heard. God I love this channel.

[lucasblanchard]

I’m participating in a local theater production of “Christmas Carol” in the style of an old live radio show reading. During our first read through, we were all wondering what the heck Smoking Bishop was! It sounds tasty! Always enjoy your content, much love from Texas!

[calebleland]

I was listening to the audiobook of A Christmas Carol last night while fixing supper, and when he mentioned Smoking Bishop, I immediately thought that you should do an episode on it. So glad you did. Merry Christmas, Max!

[GiselleMF]

Interestingly, they showed a version of it front and center in the 1999 Patrick Stewart version of "A Christmas Carol", when the Spirit of Christmas Present takes Scrooge for a visit to his nephew's home... only they heated it with a red-hot iron poker.

[isabelled]

I love the very low music in the background, it doesn't distract from the commentary or make it inaudible contrary to many programmes thèse days. Really appreciated!