Dictionary Definition
posset n : sweet spiced hot milk curdled with ale
or beer
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Noun
- A beverage composed of hot milk curdled by some strong infusion, as by wine, etc.
Verb
- To curdle; to turn, as milk; to coagulate; as, to posset the blood
- To treat with possets; to pamper
Derived terms
References
Extensive Definition
A posset is a hot milk drink, popular in the Middle Ages
for its supposed medicinal properties. Wine or ale was added to the milk, which
curdled it, and the mixture
was usually spiced. It was considered a specific remedy for some
minor illnesses, such as a cold, and a
general remedy for others, as even today people drink hot milk to
help them get to sleep. A caudle was a later development that added
a thickening agent—usually some kind of grain (a cereal or "gruel")
but sometimes eggs—that also increased its nutritional value.
Eggnog
belongs to the same family of milk punches.
Possets are generally made from lemon, or other
citrus, juice; cream and sugar. Eggs are often added, as
well.
The preparation of posset could be elaborate, and
the word "posset" became a verb, meaning to coddle or pamper
someone by taking trouble to make them comfortable. Some scholars
trace the verb "coddle" to "caudle", but others assign them
different derivations.
"Posset sets" for mixing and serving possets were
popular gifts, and valuable ones (often made of silver) were heirlooms. Such sets
contained a posset "pot," or "bowl," or "cup" to serve it in, a
container for mixing it in, and usually various containers for the
ingredients, as well as spoons. The posset set that the
Spanish
ambassador gave Queen
Mary I
of England and King Philip
II of Spain when they became betrothed in 1554 is believed to
have been made by Benvenuto
Cellini and is of crystal, gold, precious gems, and enamel.
It is on display at Hatfield
House in England and
consists of a large, stemmed, covered bowl, two open, stemmed
vessels, a covered
container, three spoons, and two forks.