The Ritual Master Mulled wine is a staple for Christmas in many cultures, but the Scandinavians have perfected its tradition ! And it’s no wonder, seeing how many months of the year are in desperate need of some warming up in their part of the world. The research seems to concur, the Scandinavian versions of mulled wine derive more or less from the Swedish one, called Glögg, which appeared somewhere in the XVIth century as a solution to drink really poor wine. King Gustav Vasa was the first famous person to have proclaimed “glögg” their favourite drink, and so, the tradition began.
I’m making my Swedish glögg tonight with a bottle of medium quality wine from the Rhône valley, just to make sure I’m not turning the feast into a headache tomorrow. Cinnamon, green cardamom pods and cloves are my weapon of choice, along with some clementine peel and sugar. Swedes also include dried Seville orange peel and a piece of dried ginger, but I didn’t have any at hand. I’m heating everything on low heat, making sure it doesn’t come to a boil, for about 15 minutes. Then I turn off the heat, put the lid back on and let it infuse. What makes it undeniably Scandinavian is serving it with raisins and almonds in your cup, along with a teaspoon to scoop up the solid goodies every other sip.
Glögg is a delight for winter evenings. You can strain it and pop it in the fridge, then when you feel like it, just heat up a cup and make yourself comfortable with a good book. It doesn’t take much to recreate a Swedish evening in December. And it certainly is worth the trouble.
The non alcoholic version usually makes the best out of apple juice, and you can skip the sugar, but otherwise it is delicious as well. I haven’t tried it but I imagine one cup of cranberry juice mixed in should give it a nice kick as well.
And of course, for days that need a little extra encouragement, you can start with a shot of cognac or nice aquavit in your cup, before filling it up with glögg. All with good measure and common sense, of course.
Until tomorrow, Skål ! Cheers !
