What a disaster!
Yesterday was my last class of 2009 at the university and I thought to surprise my students with a little Christmas party. I bought a large Pain de Noel (Stollen) -- enough for a generous slice for each student, and brought out all the wonderful Christmas spices -- nutmeg, star aniseed, cinnamon, ginger, cardomum and handfuls of cloves -- and stirred up a huge pot of red wine -- with a little water added, a few oranges sliced up and some sugar. The delicious aromas wafted through the chateau and, as if on cue, it started to snow outside and the little fairy lights on the tree twinkled like a thousand miniature stars.
It was sheer magic.
And then the disaster! I had packed my basket with a lovely cloth, a few handmade Christmas decorations, a beautiful scented candle, my little 'portable' Christmas tree that travels with me, napkins, glasses and some holly -- and the cake. All that remained for me to do was pour the mulled wine into the flasks that were standing at the ready. First I poured the wine from the pot into a large jug -- and then it happened: CLICK! I froze. Too late I realized the mistake I had made. The wine was too hot for the glass jug. The entire bottom, a perfect round, had cracked away from the body of the jug. As if in slow motion -- like some low-budget horror movie -- the dark red wine started oozing out of the bottom of the jug. The next thing there was dark red sticky wine all over --- all over the work bench, the tiles, running down the cupboard doors, into the drawers, onto the floor, and in less than five seconds I was standing in a pool of mulled wine!
Well -- suffice to say, the second batch that was hurriedly made was well received and much enjoyed by my students, the kitchen floor will probably stay sticky for a long time (no amount of scrubbing seems to be able to get rid of it -- WARNING: warm wine is absorbed by terracotta tiles!) -- but the smell that lingers is delicious! -- and the red streaks on my all my kitchen cupboard doors will always be a reminder of the Class of 2009's Christmas party!
Glühwein is popular in German-speaking countries and the region of Alsace in France. It is the traditional beverage offered and drunk on Weihnachtsmärkten. It is usually prepared from red wine, heated and spiced with cinnamon sticks, vanilla pods, cloves, citrus and sugar. Fruit wines such as blueberry wine and cherry wine are rarely used instead of grape wine in Germany. Glühwein is drank pure or "mit Schuss", which means there is rum or liqueur added. The french name is vin chaud (hot wine).In Romania it is called vin fiert ("boiled wine"), and can be made using either red or white wine, sometimes adding peppercorn.
In Moldova the izvar is made from red wine with black pepper and honey.
In Italy, mulled wine is typical in the northern part of the country and is called vin brulè.
In Latvia it is called karstvīns ("hot wine"). When out of wine, it is prepared using grape (or currant) juice and Riga Black Balsam.
[edit] Glögg
Warm mulled pear juice, alcohol-free drink.
Glögg is the term for mulled wine in the Nordic countries (sometimes misspelled as glog or glug); in (Swedish and Icelandic: Glögg, Norwegian and Danish: Gløgg, Finnish and Estonian: Glögi). Non-alcoholic glögg can be bought ready-made or prepared with fruit juices instead of wine. The main classic ingredients are (usually) red wine, sugar or syrup, spices such as cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, cloves and bitter orange, and optionally also stronger
spirits such as vodka, akvavit or brandy. In Sweden, glögg spice extract can be purchased at the chemist. To prepare glögg, spices and/or spice extract are mixed into the wine, which is then heated to 60°-70° Celsius (140°-158° Fahrenheit). The temperature should not be allowed to rise above 78.4° Celsius (173.12° Fahrenheit) in order to avoid evaporation of the alcohol. When preparing home-made glögg using spices, the hot mixture is allowed to infuse for at least an hour, often longer, and then reheated before serving. In Sweden ready-made wine glögg is normally sold ready to heat and serve and not in concentrate or extract form. Glögg is generally served with raisins, blanched almonds and gingerbread, and is a popular hot drink during the Christmas season.All over Scandinavia 'glögg parties' are often held during the month before Christmas.[2]. In Sweden, ginger bread and lussebullar (also called lussekatter), a type of sweet bun with saffron and raisins, are typically served. It is also traditionally served at Julbord, the Christmas buffet. In Denmark, gløgg parties or Julefrokoster typically include æbleskiver sprinkled with powdered sugar and accompanied with strawberry marmalade. In Norway gløgg parties with gløgg and rice pudding (Norwegian: risengrynsgraut (nynorsk)/ risengrynsgrøt (bokmål)) are common. In such cases the word graut-/grøtfest is more precise, taking the name from the rice pudding which is served as a course. Typically, the gløgg is drunk before eating the rice pudding, which is often served with cold, red cordial (saus).
Glögg recipes vary widely; variations with white wine or sweet wines such as madeira, or spirits such as brandy are also popular. Glögg can also be made alcohol-free by replacing the wine with fruit or berry juices (often blackcurrant) or by boiling the glögg for a few minutes to evaporate the alcohol. Glögg is very similar in taste to modern Wassail or mulled cider.
If there is such a thing as "traditional English" mulled wine, then an authoritative recipe might be found in Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management at paragraph 1961 on page 929 to 930 of the revised edition dated 1869:
1961.-TO MULL WINE.
INGREDIENTS.- To every pint of wine allow 1 large cupful of water, sugar and spice to taste.
Mode.-In making preparations like the above, it is very difficult to give the exact proportions of ingredients like sugar and spice, as what quantity might suit one person would be to another quite distasteful. Boil the spice in the water until the flavour is extracted, then add the wine and sugar, and bring the whole to the boiling-point, when serve with strips of crisp dry toast, or with biscuits. The spices usually used for mulled wine are cloves, grated nutmeg, and cinnamon or mace. Any kind of wine may be mulled, but port and claret are those usually selected for the purpose; and the latter requires a very large proportion of sugar. The vessel that the wine is boiled in must be delicately cleaned, and should be kept exclusively for the purpose. Small tin warmers may be purchased for a trifle, which are more suitable than saucepans, as, if the latter are not scrupulously clean, they spoil the wine, by imparting to it a very disagreeable flavour. These warmers should be used for no other purpose.
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