By Cassie Patton
Thinking of ringing in the season with eggnog? While not everyone’s choice, many grow accustomed to the acquired taste and it becomes a holiday favorite.
Eggnog has been traced back to medieval Britain, referred to as a punch known as posset. Which translates to warm curdled milk that could be mixed with a variety of spices and alcohol. By the dawn of the 17th century, the English aristocracy would drink eggnog with brandy, wine or sherry.
By the time eggnog reached colonial America, it was no longer just for the wealthy, as eggs, milk and cheap spirits became widely available. This festive holiday drink ran rampant and as time passed each region of the country developed its own versions of the drink.
Around the 19th century, some doctors prescribed eggnog as providing nutrition to help patients who were on a liquid diet. Physicians also used eggnog for patients with typhoid fever, dysentery, diphtheria, certain types of operations, ulcers or tuberculosis. Since eggs consist of proteins, fats and essential vitamins, eggnog was intended to support many vital bodily functions. According to a medical journal from 1883, nurses would administer eggnog with two teaspoons of brandy.
In the early 1900s, if children were picky eaters, parents were encouraged to make a non-alcoholic eggnog, flavored with fruit or chocolate syrups.
Today, eggnog is served throughout the world, with many countries and regions tweaking the recipe. For example, in Puerto Rico, which has a tropical twist, it’s served with rum, fresh coconut juice or coconut milk. The basic eggnog recipe is still eggs beaten with sugar, milk and/or cream stirred into rum, whiskey or brandy.
While eggnog is mostly served through the fall and winter months, there was a time when it was offered to celebrate the Fourth of July. This tradition took place during 1817-1833. However, from 1826 onward, the presence of alcohol was banned at the U.S. military academy at West Point. Of course, this didn’t stop the teenage lads from consuming alcohol.
The taverns they visited regularly denied any alcohol-based beverage to a young person in uniform. So, the cadets disguised themselves as civilians and hoped for the best.
Once, in the late hours of Christmas Eve 1826 to around 4 a.m. Christmas day, cadets threw one big banger that led to an attempted homicide on Captain Ethan Allen Hitchcock for disrupting their party. Over a dozen cadets were arrested and expelled.
The West Point cadet Jefferson Davis, who would become president of the Confederacy, graduated at the bottom of his class and brewed a long-lasting hatred for the Yankees, but his love of eggnog remained true.
Cassie Patton, born and raised in Washington state, says she has always enjoyed writing about any topic possible. When not actively writing, she can be found baking up a sweet treat or watching football.