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  Despite Matthew’s scolding, Queen Elizabeth did not give up her candied violets. Paul Hentzer, a German who traveled to London in 1598, described the ill effects of candy on Queen Elizabeth’s dental hygiene: “Her face oblong, fair but wrinkled, her eyes small, yet black and pleasant, her nose a little hooked, her lips narrow and her teeth black (a defect the English seem subject to, from their too great use of sugar).” Indeed, overindulgence in sugar became a mark of wealth, as did its consequent problems, including dental decay. It was the fashion for a time during Elizabeth’s rule for ladies to blacken their own teeth as a mark of their gentility and rank, as this gave them the appearance of having consumed a great deal of sugar themselves.

  Here’s a modern recipe for candied violets (just don’t overindulge as Elizabeth I did):

  Candied Violets

  INGREDIENTS

  2 egg whites

  Superfine (caster) sugar

  1 large bunch wild violets, including stems for ease of handling, washed gently in a colander or sieve and allowed to dry

  DIRECTIONS

  In a medium-size bowl, allow the egg whites to come to room temperature, then beat with a wire whisk just until frothy.

  Place the sugar in another bowl. Taking one violet at a time, pick it up by the stem and dip into the egg whites, covering all surfaces of the flower. Gently dip into the sugar, again being sure that all the petals, both tops and bottoms, are covered.

  Place on baking parchment or wax-paper-lined baking sheets; snip off the stems.

  Using a toothpick, open the petals to their original shapes. Sprinkle sugar on any uncoated areas. Dry in an oven at 400 degrees F/200 degrees C/Gas Mark 6 for 30–40 minutes, or until sugar crystallizes. With a spatula or a two-tined fork, gently remove the violets to wire racks. Sprinkle them again with sugar if the violets appear wet or syrupy. Cool. Store in airtight containers with wax paper between the layers. Keep cool and out of direct sunlight.

  Note: The recipe calls for using the common wild purple violet, not the African violet (often grown as a houseplant). And remember to brush your teeth and floss daily.

  (This recipe was adapted from Taste of Home, February/March 1993.)

  Wine

  Matthew’s Wine Cellar

  Vampires love wine. Given their bottomless bank accounts and the years they’ve devoted to collecting great bottles from the world’s best producers, it’s no surprise that they have terrific cellars. Sparkling, white, red, or fortified—all wine is fascinating to vampires thanks to their long memories and preternatural palates. Here are a few of the wines Matthew has stashed away:

  SPARKLING WINE

  1953 Diebolt-Vallois Champagne Brut Blanc de Blancs

  1959 Billecart-Salmon Cuvée Nicholas-François

  1961 Dom Pérignon

  1979 Roederer Cristal

  1982 Philipponnat Clos des Goisses

  1989 Roederer Cristal

  1990 Krug

  1996 Krug Clos du Mesnil

  WHITE WINE (DRY AND SWEET)

  1811 Château Yquem

  1847 Château Yquem

  1862 Schloss Johannisberger Riesling Goldblaulack Auslese

  1865 Hugel Tokay d’Alsace

  1911 Erbacher Marcobrunn Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese

  1921 Château Yquem

  1944 M. Chapoutier Hermitage Blanc Chante-Alouette

  1947 Le Haut Lieu Moelleux Vouvray, S.A. Huet

  1949 Château Climens Sauternes-Barsac

  1976 Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne

  1976 Moulin Touchais

  1978 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Montrachet

  1978 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage Blanc

  1991 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Montrachet

  1996 Château Haut-Brion Blanc

  RED WINE

  1825 Château La Nerthe

  1865 Château Lafite Rothschild

  1870 Château Lafite Rothschild

  1899 Petrus

  1900 Château Margaux

  1921 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Romanée-Conti

  1921 Château Cheval Blanc

  1929 Clos Vougeout

  1937 Château Ausone

  1945 Château Mouton-Rothschild

  1945 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Romanée-Conti

  1946 Beaulieu Vineyard Pinot Noir

  1947 Château Cheval Blanc

  1947 Beaulieu Vineyard Georges de Latour Cabernet Sauvignon

  1949 Château Latour

  1949 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Hermitage La Chapelle

  1952 Château Ausone

  1956 Charles Krug Vintage Selection Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

  1959 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Richebourg

  1959 Château Lafite Rothschild

  1959 Château Haut-Brion

  1959 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Romanée Saint-Vivant

  1961 Château Latour

  1961 Château Lynch-Bages

  1962 Penfolds Bin 60A

  1964 Vega Sicilia Único

  1966 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, La Tâche

  1968 Nathan Fay’s “Homemade” Cabernet Sauvignon

  1973 Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon SLV [Stag’s Leap Vineyards]

  1976 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Romanée Saint-Vivant

  1976 Penfolds Grange

  1978 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape

  1978 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, La Tâche

  1978 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Romanée-Conti

  1978 Château Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon

  1979 Ridge York Creek Zinfandel

  1982 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande

  1982 Petrus

  1985 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Romanée-Conti

  1985 Tenuta San Guido Sassicaia Bolgheri

  1989 Petrus

  1989 Au Bon Climat Benedict Vineyard Pinot Noir

  1990 Petrus

  1990 E. Guigal La Turque Côte-Rôtie

  1991 Château Cheval Blanc

  1991 Qupé Syrah

  1998 Château Petrus

  OTHER FORTIFIED AND DESSERT WINES

  1795 Henriques & Henriques Madeira Malmsey

  1862 H.M. Borges Terrantez Madeira

  1905 Pérez Barquero Solera

  1905 Pedro Ximenez

  1914 Cossart Gordon Bual Madeira

  1927 Fonseca Vintage Port

  1931 Quinta do Noval Nacional Vintage Port

  1933 Justino Henriques Malmsey Madeira

  1974 Heitz Cellar Angelica

  Matthew’s favorite wines are Côte-Rôtie, including the 1990 E. Guigal La Turque Côte-Rôtie in his own wine cellar. It is a chewy, meaty wine that tastes of bacon and coffee, with lighter notes of raspberry and even floral accents—the perfect wine for a vampire’s palate!

  Diana served Matthew a Côte-Rôtie at the first meal she made for him, to his immense delight. He could identify the wine by its scent because he recognized the aroma of the land—indeed, he knew the exact vineyard—where its grapes had grown. This wine comes from the South of France, near enough to Sept-Tours that both Matthew and Côte-Rôtie hail from the same region.

  Côte-Rôtie is a red wine pressed from Syrah grapes grown on extremely steep, south-facing, rocky hillsides along the Rhône River. Many of these vineyards are planted in narrow terraces because the slopes are too steep to plant directly, making the vines particularly challenging and laborious to grow, tend, and harvest. These slopes give the wine its name: côte rôtie translates as “roasted coast” in English. The sun-warmed rocky hills allow the grapes to ripen despite the rela
tive cold of the area, and the minerals from the stony soil give the wine its unique character.

  Grapes have been grown on the slopes of the Rhône for thousands of years. During the sixth century, Romans and Greeks lauded the wines grown here, and between the thirteen and nineteenth centuries, Côte-Rôtie was immensely popular among the nobility of Europe and Russia. Unfortunately, many of these vineyards fell into disrepair after the world wars of the twentieth century. But they are slowly being revived, and it is again possible for Matthew to obtain a wine bottled from the grapes of a steeply pitched, rock-ribbed vineyard he has known for centuries.

  All Souls Trilogy Wine Tasting

  Casa Belfi NV Prosecco “ColFondo”

  Where? Vento, northeast Italy (DOC Prosecco)

  What? A sparkling wine produced using the grape variety Glera in the “col fondo” method—primary fermentation finishes in the bottle

  Who? Casa Belfi is an organic estate that works very naturally in the cellar to produce a Prosecco with fantastic personality and thirst-quenching ability

  Tasting notes Citrus, flowers, bakery—hunger inducing

  Les Champs Libres 2013 Lard des Choix Blanc

  Where? Ardéche, Rhône Valley, France

  What? A vin de table, or good basic food wine, made by two natural wine legends using 100 percent Grenache Blanc

  Who? René Jean Dard and Hervé Souhaut buy organic fruit and craft humble, natural wines using a very simple method.

  Tasting notes Flora, soft melon fruit, well structured (good balance)

  Domaine Bruno Lupin 2013 Fousette de Savoie Frangy

  Where? Savoie, eastern France

  What? Fresh, clean white wine made from Rousette (altesse) in the cru Frangy. Alpine wine

  Who? Made by Bruno Lupin in the hills of the Savoie with a relatively natural approach

  Tasting notes Clean lines, pear fruits and soft mouthfeel

  Domaine Jean Maupertuis 2013 Les Pierres Noires

  Where? Auvergne, central France

  What? A no-sulfur Gamay D’Auvergne made from grapes grown on volcanic basalt—supernatural wine!

  Who? Jean Maupertuis makes incredible natural wine from biodynamic fruit with no additives

  Tasting notes Smells of the farm: wild herbs, organic soil; sour cherries and gravel texture

  Domaine Jean-Baptiste Senat 2012 Minervois La Nine

  Where? Minervois, Languedoc-Rousillon, southern France

  What? A blend of sunshine grapes (Grenache, Carignan, Cinsault, Mouvedre, Syrah)

  Who? Jean-Baptiste Sénat grows organic grapes in the Minervois on limestone and clay soils and practices minimal-intervention winemaking

  Tasting notes Power and warmth (from ripe grapes!), berries gently stewed in spices

  Tea

  Diana’s Favorite Tea

  Tea is a central part of Diana’s life. For her it is a breakfast necessity, a treat at the end of a long day, a calming agent, a cherished weekend ritual—and on one memorable occasion, a means to wash the taste of witchwater out of her mouth. She loves the traditional black English and Scottish breakfast teas that are high in caffeine and designed to accompany a hearty meal. Diana prepares such tea with “precisely half a teaspoon of sugar and half a cup of milk . . . black as tar, a hint of sugar to cut the edge off the bitterness, then enough milk to make it look less like stew.”

  Diana’s favorite tea, however, is a green variety from Mariage Frères, the French gourmet-tea company founded by the brothers Henri and Edouard Mariage in 1854. Green tea comes from the same leaves as black tea but is not fermented, which preserves its antioxidant powers. After Diana fends Matthew off with witchwind for the first time, he brews a cup of her favorite, Thé des Impressionnistes. According to Mariage Frères, “In the wild, rocky, maritime region of Provence in southern France, nature’s shimmering colors create rare and intense harmonies that delighted Impressionist artists. This green tea, scented with mild spices and white flowers, is also dotted with mauve flowers as a visual echo of the dazzling and powerful fragrance that fills the mouth.” It has a lovely scent of vanilla and flowers. And for a tea that smells like Matthew, try Alexandra David-Néel Tea by Mariage Frères.

  Matthew makes sure that wherever she is, Diana has the tea she needs. As we know, wine rather than tea is Matthew’s drink. His passion and Diana’s are related, however. Tea is like wine in that its taste is greatly affected by the climate, the altitude of the plants, and the soil, not to mention the practices of the tea maker, who decides when to harvest the crop and how to process and blend it. Both drinks carry within them a history, which is important to vampires and historians.

  All Souls Herbal Teas

  Strictly speaking, tea refers to a drink made from the Camellia sinensis plant, which thrives in the high mountain regions of central China and Japan. The English did not really begin drinking tea until the seventeenth century, so in the sixteenth century Diana had to make do with so-called herbal tea, also known as tisane. This is not made of tea leaves at all but of dried herbs, flowers, seeds, roots, and/or fruits steeped in boiling water.

  The most notable tisane that Diana drank was a contraceptive brew introduced to her by Marthe on Diana’s first visit to Sept-Tours. Marthe instinctively felt that Diana and Matthew were capable of having children and was worried about possible repercussions from the Congregation. Marthe’s tea (not to be re-created at home!) contains parsley, ginger, feverfew, rosemary, sage, Queen Anne’s lace seeds, mugwort, pennyroyal, angelica, rue, tansy, and juniper root. Many of these plants have been used since ancient times to prevent pregnancy; Hippocrates described the use of Queen Anne’s lace seeds over two thousand years ago. Some of the ingredients are intended to stimulate menstrual flow; others are supposed to prevent implantation of the egg; while others are abortifacients. Diana had to learn to identify these substances by smell as well as by appearance, presumably because similar-looking plants can be toxic! Marthe instructed Diana to fill the tea bags one at a time with a pinch of each ingredient, to make sure each bag contained all twelve. “Normally I didn’t like herbal tea, but this one was fresh and slightly bitter.” As Sarah pointed out, this is not a contraceptive method you’d want to rely on.

  Among the tisanes that Diana drank in the sixteenth century were a warm brew made from mint and lemon balm, as well as Susanna Norman’s tisane of mint, chamomile, angelica, and some stiff, glossy leaves that Diana can’t identify. Back in the present but avoiding caffeine because of her pregnancy, Diana drank peppermint tea at the New Haven Lawn Club.

  If you want to try preparing your own herbal tea, WebMD offers some suggestions: www.webmd.com/food-recipes/homemade-herbal-tea.

  Here is an unbelievably delicious tea that Diana does not drink but I do: Turkish apple tea. You can find it online or follow this easy recipe: www.food.com/recipe/turkish-apple-tea-382701.

  Also, while on tour for The Book of Life, I developed a disastrous case of laryngitis. I saw a doctor and rested my voice as much as possible, but the most helpful recommendation was from a Moroccan friend who supplied me with pots and pots of this stuff in Philadelphia so that I could whisper my hellos to you. Thank you, Hachim!

  Hachim’s Mother’s Sore-Throat Tea

  Fill a muslin tea bag with equal parts of fresh lemon verbena leaves and chamomile flowers.

  Slice or cube about an inch of peeled fresh ginger.

  Add 8 green cardamom pods, 8 cloves, 2 black peppercorns, 1 star anise.

  Steep in 12 ounces hot water for about 3 minutes.

  Add honey to taste.

  Herbs and Medicinals

  Marthe’s and Sarah’s Herbs

  Marthe and Sarah each has a stillroom—short for “distillery room”—filled with pots and jars of herbs. Though Marthe is not a witch, she has been a cook for centuries, and she performs the role of family healer just as any wife or cook
in a large medieval household would. Both vampire and witch have a stillroom, which could be found in most castles and great houses in Europe beginning in medieval times. This is where herbs and flowers from the kitchen garden were dried and stored, where soap and other household cleaning products were made, and herbal medicines were concocted. In the sixteenth century, Marthe’s stillroom contained earthenware pots in neat rows on shelves, with drying herbs hanging from the rafters. Long before she met Diana, Marthe stored ingredients for contraceptive tea in a simple wooden box. The stillroom is women’s territory; men are strictly forbidden.

  Marthe’s knowledge of herbs is surprisingly similar to Sarah’s. When Diana drank her “very own herbal tea” from Marthe, Sarah immediately recognized that it was actually a collection of contraceptive agents. Sarah’s own stillroom was once the farmhouse’s kitchen. Unlike Marthe, who as a vampire is slow to take up new ways, Sarah makes concessions to the twentieth century by using a seventies-era avocado-green slow cooker, a coffeemaker, an electric coffee grinder, and a blender to create her potions. As in Marthe’s stillroom, dried herbs and flowers hang between the exposed rafters: nigella pods, milk thistle, long-stemmed mullein, stalks of fennel, rue, feverfew. Though Sarah is untidy everywhere else, in the stillroom she keeps her Mason jars in neat rows on shelves and she labels wooden drawers with their contents. The herbs are not labeled alphabetically, but Diana feels sure that their placement is governed by some “witchy principle.”

  Sarah also has a small teaching garden where she instructs the children of the Madison coven on the elemental associations of various flowers, plants, and herbs.