Smoking bishop is a type ofmulled wine,punch, orwassail, especially popular inVictorian England at Christmas time, and it is mentioned in Dickens' 1843 storyA Christmas Carol.[1]
Smoking bishop was made fromport,red wine,lemons orSeville oranges, sugar, and spices such ascloves. The citrus fruit was roasted tocaramelise it and the ingredients then warmed together. A myth persists[citation needed] that the name comes from the shape of the traditional bowl, shaped like abishop'smitre, and that in this form, it was served in medievalguildhalls and universities.
Other variations of drinks known collectively as "ecclesiastics"[2] included[3] the smokingarchbishop (made withclaret), the smokingbeadle (made withginger wine andraisins), the smokingcardinal (made withChampagne orRhine wine) and the smokingpope (made withburgundy).
Eliza Acton published a recipe in herModern Cookery in 1845:
Make several incisions in the rind of a lemon, stick cloves in these, and roast the lemon by a slow fire. Put small but equal quantities ofcinnamon,cloves,mace, andallspice, with a race ofginger, into a saucepan with half a pint of water: let it boil until it is reduced one-half. Boil one bottle of port wine, burn a portion of the spirit out of it by applying a lighted paper to the saucepan; put the roasted lemon and spice into the wine; stir it up well, and let it stand near the fire ten minutes. Rub a few knobs 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 into it, grate in somenutmeg, sweeten it to the taste, and serve it up with the lemon and spice floating in it.
Bishop is frequently made with a Seville orange stuck with cloves and slowly roasted, and its flavour "to many tastes is infinitely finer" than that of the lemon.[4]
"A Merry Christmas, Bob!" said Scrooge with an earnestness that could not be mistaken, as he clapped him on the back. "A merrier Christmas, Bob, my good fellow, than I have given you for many a year! I'll raise your salary, and endeavour to assist your struggling family, and we will discuss your affairs this very afternoon over a bowl of smoking bishop, Bob!"
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