When you walk around Paris in winter, you’re likely to come across a cafe’s blackboard that offers rum grogthe French version of rum toddy. This ubiquitous drink is popular not only for its supposed healing qualities – it is said to be a remedy for the common cold and associated ailments – but also because it is warm and tasty, a great stimulant in good weather. And the best part is that it can be done at home in just a few minutes.
Rum Grog / Rum toddy, French style
The recipe is ultra simple. Boiling water is poured over dark rum mixed with raw cane sugar or honey, a teaspoon of lemon juice is added, and there you have itha. Variations abound. Some people add spices: a cinnamon stick, ground cinnamon, star anise, cloves, a vanilla pod or grated nutmeg. Sometimes rum is replaced by another type of alcohol, for example whisky, cognac (brandy) or, in Normandy, calvados (apple brandy).
One question with grog is the ratio of rum to water. When the drink was first invented – in 1740 by Vice Admiral Edward Vernon of the Royal Navy – sailors were ordered to dilute their daily ration of half a pint of rum with a liter of water, resulting in the ratio 1:4. According to Vernon’s notes, the drink was to be consumed twice a day: half in the morning, from 10am to 12pm, and half in the afternoon, from 4pm to 6pm. (Since ‘grog’ is the root of the word ‘groggy’) ‘, one wonders how much work was done on those ships.)
As time passed, in fact, the proportion decreased, with the daily ration of rum and water reduced to 1:6 to combat drunkenness. But when sailors had access to the barrel of rum, they were known to do what they called “a north-west.” Named after the points of the compass, with N for rum and W for water, the proportions were – yikes! –50-50.
As for the name “grog”, it also comes from Vice Admiral Vernon, known informally as “old Grog” because he wore a coat of grogham, a wool and silk fabric. Lemon or lime juice and sugar were added for flavor and not to fight scurvy as is sometimes claimed, since the evidence that vitamin C could prevent the disease was still anecdotal at the time, a time when scurvy was decimating populations. seafarers, with thousands of deaths every year. year.
Despite searching far and wide, I could not figure out how grog spread from Britain to France, although one can easily imagine sailors fraternizing if they passed each other at a time when European ships were busy cross the globe to bring back the bounty of colonized lands. British rum came from Jamaica, French rum from Guadeloupe and Martinique. The US Navy revived the grog tradition, but in due course substituted rye whiskey for rum. This was discontinued in 1862. Surprisingly, the Royal Navy only ended the tradition of distributing rum to British sailors in 1970.
Grog is a close relative of hot toddy, usually made with whisky. Both are believed to be useful in treating colds. The French call it ‘Grandma’s remedy‘ (free translation: ‘a home-made remedy’). As a French recipe says, although the proportions of the ingredients can vary according to taste, “it is strongly recommended to drink the grog while sitting on the edge of the bed and to go to bed immediately afterwards”.
Good cooking.
