Eggnog is one of those holiday drinks that you either love or you really, really hate.
Personally I love it especially when it is made from scratch because it doesn't actually
taste like what you're going to get at the store. And that is why today I am making from scratch
George Washington's unbelievably boozy eggnog,
but did our founding father actually make this eggnog?
We'll discuss that and more this time on Tasting History.
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by the end of the year that was that was the goal, and we made it because I think that
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I post this, so awesome. Thank you so much and if you haven't Subscribed
do it now maybe we'll hit 500k by the end of the year,
but that's actually too much pressure.
Just thank you for watching.
Anyway George Washington's eggnog.
One quart cream, one quart milk, one dozen tablespoons sugar,
one pint brandy, a half pint rye whiskey, a half pint Jamaica rum,
a quarter pint sherry, mix liquor first, then separate yolks and whites of 12 eggs,
add sugar to beaten yolks, mix well.
Add milk and cream, slowly beating.
Beat whites and eggs until stiff and fold slowly into mixture.
Let set in cool place for several days. Taste frequently.
I like that last instruction.
Taste frequently, and I took that to heart all week long. Though i'm not exactly sure
what I was supposed to be tasting for but I did as George Washington suggests.
And that brings me to the question, is this actually George Washington's Recipe?
Well according to the "Farmer's Almanac"
yes, it is. Supposedly it came from the kitchen papers at Mount Vernon but in every collection of
the kitchen papers that I could find I didn't find this recipe, and in fact the first time that this
recipe seems to have come about wasn't until 1948 in a book called "Christmas with the Washingtons" by Olive Bailey,
and she doesn't really cite her sources. Not that it's the the kind of book that
you would expect that but still not a lot of help.
So could it even be George Washington's recipe?
Yeah, it could. It does read like a recipe from the time period from like the late 1700s and
we do have recipes from George Washington who actually wrote them down. We have one for beer
that he did and this recipe includes rye whiskey. George was a big fan he actually had one of the
largest rye whiskey distilleries in america at the time.
Plus eggnog was a very popular drink in the late 1700s,
but could it be that Miss Bailey just took another recipe and attributed it to
George Washington as an active literary license? Yes, maybe.
We'll probably never know, but I ask you does it matter?
It reads like a historical recipe, it's filled with booze and maybe it is just another
one of those pieces of lore surrounding George Washington like his false teeth being made of wood
or chopping down the cherry tree I cannot tell a lie, but while those are a little hard to swallow
I don't think this one's going to be.
So what you'll need is:
one quart or 950 milliliters of cream,
one quart or 950 milliliters of whole milk,
three-fourths of a cup or 150 grams of sugar,
12 medium eggs or 10 large eggs or eight extra large eggs,
two cups or 475 milliliters of brandy,
one cup or 235 milliliters rye whiskey
one cup or 235 milliliters dark rum
and a half cup of sherry.
You want to use something like a cream sherry, a little bit sweeter than a
really dry sherry, though either one will work but stay away from that cooking sherry.
In fact just leave that at the store.
Now there is one ingredient that is missing that is included
in a lot of other contemporary eggnog recipes and that is nutmeg.
So as to not upset Jon Townsend I am going to add some nutmeg.
I'm going to add one teaspoon into the whole recipe.
Then i'll probably grate a little bit on top at the end as well but it is optional it's not included in the original
recipe but it's gonna make things taste better.
So the recipe says to mix the liquors first.
I honestly don't know why, but that's what the recipe says so that's what I did.
Next separate your eggs and add the yolks to a bowl,
and beat them until they go from a dark yellow to a nice pale yellow.
Then slowly beat in the sugar. It's important that you do this just a little bit at a time if you put
it all in it's not going to incorporate properly.
Beating slowly add in your milk and your cream.
Now I started with what I thought was going to be a big enough bowl but clearly I didn't do my math right,
and it was not big enough at all so I had to switch to my Le Creuset dutch oven.
You can feel free to cut it in half because this recipe really is like enough for an entire party um but if
you are going to make the full recipe make sure to get the biggest bowl that you possibly can.
Then add in the liquor and mix everything together until nice and smooth.
If you are going to add nutmeg or any other spices cinnamon or ginger or whatever you want go ahead and do that right now.
Next with either beaters or a whisk, whisk your egg whites until they form nice stiff peaks.
One important note if you are going to be using the same beaters that you used on the egg yolks
make sure to wash and dry them thoroughly because even a little bit of yolk can stop the whites
from achieving the nice stiff peaks that you're looking for.
Then ever so slowly fold the beaten egg whites into the yolk,
and cream mixture until nicely incorporated.
Now at this point you should have a nice frothy eggnog,
and really you can actually drink it right now but it does say to
let it age for a few days in a nice cool spot so I put mine into the refrigerator for five days.
Make sure to cover it though.
Now while we wait for our nog to age all the while tasting frequently
let's take a gander at this creamy yet polarizing Christmas cocktail.
Eggnog! Eggs and nog.
What is nog?
Sounds like something that Pinky would say.
Nog!
There are actually a few theories kicking around as to where this term nog comes from.
In 1693 the Dean of Norwich in England,
a Mr. Humphrey Prideaux wrote "you will find him walking about his room with a pipe in his mouth
and a bottle of claret and a bottle of old strong beer
(which in this country they call nog) upon the table ..."
So maybe it's this strong beer this nog that lent its name to what we're making today.
Eggs in strong beer makes eggnog
and there is actually another drink called posset which had
been consumed at least since the Middle ages that was usually made with milk and strong beer.
Though it could also be done with wine and later recipes call for eggs. So it seems a natural evolution kind of makes sense.
Interesting if slightly off-putting fact about this alcohol curdled milk drink called posset,
is that today posset or positing refers to when a baby spits up milk after feeding.
So I think we should change that to eggnogging. You want to definitely wear that little um that little
blanket over your shoulder so the baby doesn't eggnog all down your back, yeah.
Another theory is that the word comes from the word noggin which before it meant your head referred to a wooden cup.
And then another is that it actually came from the word nug which in scotland at the time was
an ale that was warmed by sticking a red-hot poker in it.
Possible. The last theory is that it's a contraction of the words egg and grog.
Though I don't think that's right because one
it didn't come around until the 1980s this theory. Two there's almost no evidence for it because
if it had been egg and grog surely there would have been a point in time where it was eggrog and
we never see that happening, so how it turned into eggnog that just doesn't make sense.
But regardless of where the name came from it gained popularity in America around the mid-18th century
"Fog-drams i' th' morn, or (better still) egg-nog, at night hot-suppings,
and at mid-day, grogg, my palate can regale."
That's one of the very first written mentions of eggnog from 1775 written by a
Mr. Jonathan Boucher or 'Boucher'. He was English so it's impossible to say how he pronounced it,
bit it kind of reminds me of the "Keeping Up Appearances" quote
"Boucher residence, lady of the house speaking"
except that was Bouquet residence but if you've never watched that show it's really funny.
What's interesting in regards to our recipe today is that this Mr. Boucher or Boucher was actually a good
friend of George Washington and even taught his stepson John Custis.
Kind of weird right?
There's another contemporary story from Virginia where Washington lived that impresses me to no end.
See in today's drinking contest you're rarely asked to do more than throw a ping-pong ball into a cup 6 feet away.
Not that hard but in the 18th century it seems that they like to test their mental acuity when they were drunk.
"On last Christmas Eve several gentlemen met at Northampton court-house,
and spent the evening in mirth and festivity when EGG-NOG was the principal Liquor used by the company.
After they had indulged pretty freely in this beverage,
a gentleman in company offered a bet that not one of the party could write four verses,
extempore which should be rhyme and sense."
The author then goes on to tell how this supposedly inebriated contestant spits out
off the cuff a poem which extols the virtues of eggnog over wine and includes the stanza
"... 'Tis Egg-Nog now whose golden streams dispense far richer treasures to the ravish'd sense.
The muse from Wine derives a transient glare, but Egg-Nog's daughters afford her solid fare."
I can't imagine being able to come up with that completely sober with as much time as
I was allowed. It's just I'm always impressed by 18th and 19th century people and their ability to
to craft things with words. Clearly something I do not possess. Craft things with words.
Anyway by this writing we can see that Christmas and eggnog had a connection.
It was being drunk on Christmas eve,
but where did that connection come from? We don't really know?
I mean it could have been served hot at times
which would make sense to have it then in the winter months.
Other drinks such as the nug that I mentioned as well as something called smoking bishop that
was popular in the 19th century where they would take a red hot poker and stick it into the drink
to warm it up. Were very, very popular at the time. So maybe they did the same thing with eggnog, who knows.
Also Christmas being a special occasion it might have warranted the cost of making eggnog
because even without the liquor, the eggs, the cream, and especially the sugar were very, very expensive
at the time. It was even enough to possibly put a dent in old wealthy Washington's purse.
In a letter written on December 26, 1788 Washington admitted,
"I have never before felt the want of Cash so severely as at present,
and of course any monies that may arise from my property under your care
could never come more opportunely than at this time."
Now was it really eggnog that made him cash poor that year
or had he been remodeling his kitchen or impulse bought a horse? Who knows.
But it is clear that the Washingtons did like to splurge at the holidays.
They would often host large parties with guests staying at Mount Vernon.
They would go fox hunting and drinking and have
exotic animals come visit.
Yes, in his Christmas expense ledger in 1787 Washington wrote
"By the man who brought a camel from Alexandria for a show... eighteen shillings.
After the fox hunting and the camel peeing,
there were often big meals. Something that Washington once referred to
as the 'Attack of Christmas Pies." Which I just love.
There was one pie that they had that was
a turkey, a goose, a fowl, a partridge, and a pigeon baked into a crust.
Then on twelfth night Martha Washington would serve her famous Great Cake,
which was made with 40 eggs and four pounds of butter.
So between that and the eggnog the poor chickens and cows
of Mount Vernon must have found Christmas time very taxing.
And add insult to injury,
a camel is getting all of the attention.
Really not fair,
but you really can't fault poor George Washington for wanting to splurge a little bit at the holidays because
for much of his life Christmas sucked.
In 1740 when George was only 8 years old his home on fairy farm burnt down on Christmas eve.
Then during Christmas of 1753 during the French and Indian War,
George got shot at by a group of French-Indians at a place endearingly called Murdering Town.
Then in 1777 during the American Revolution
while running low on food and whiskey, Washington and his army of twelve thousand spent Christmas at
Valley Forge where upwards of one out of six of them
would die.
And then on Christmas day in 1790 George found out that his favorite horse Nelson, the horse
that had got him through the Revolutionary War had died.
I mean come on, give this man a break .
Christmas hasn't been this hard on a George since 'It's A Wonderful Life'
but just as George Bailey and hindsight had had some really wonderful Christmases,
so too did George Washington.
One of his most memorable was in 1776 when he crossed the Delaware to surprise a camp of Hessian mercenaries.
Cold and wet perhaps at the time in hindsight it was a very good Christmas for our Founding Father.
Now in contrast to the popular myth that the Germans who were fighting on behalf of the English were drunk that day,
John Greenwood a Continental soldier who was actually there wrote,
"I am willing to go upon oath that I did not see even a solitary drunken soldier belonging to the enemy."
Fortunately for me I don't have any battles to fight today so I look forward
to having a nice cup of George Washington's eggnog.
So after a few days or really whenever you want
go ahead and serve yourself a glass of eggnog.
As I said I'm going to grate a little fresh nutmeg on top.
And here we are, George Washington eggnog, maybe.
Eggnog all the same.
Let's give it a try.
Top is foamy.
That is- That is good.
@_@ Oh my gosh that is so strong.
It really hits you. At first, it's like oh it's sweet and creamy,
and then it's like oh ho ho! It's sweet and creamy.
It doesn't taste anything like modern day eggnog,
like what you would get at the store. I mean it's just it's totally different.
It's creamy and rich
but it's not thick and you know sometimes like it it coats the the stuff that you get at
store like coats your throat. This isn't it's much lighter actually.
Looks very boozy.
It's really good. I would actually add a little bit of cinnamon, or ginger, or more nutmeg you know
to kind of make the flavors come alive even more
but as it is it's really, really good.
So instead of a standard merry Christmas, and happy holidays i'm going to leave you with some words
from George Washington himself,
"We remain in Status quo and all unite in offering you, and yours,
the compliments of the season, and the return of many, many more
and happy ones."
Thanks for watching.