Last weeks post mentioned how important meatballs are for us Swedes when we celebrate Christmas. Something that is almost as important here in Sweden during Christmas is mulled wine, or glögg as we prefer to call it. It comes in different strength and shapes. The traditional glögg is made of red wine, but varieties made of white wine is quite popular as well.
It was probably the Romans who introduced the beverage in northern Europe. The herbs that were used to flavor the wine were considered to be a cure. But I suspect it was also an excuse for drinking more wine. And they probably needed that. Even the most battle-hardened badass roman legionary probably found it hard to stand the gruesome winter weather in the north. Not to mention all the hostile barbarians who did their best to make their life miserable. Anyone can have homesickness in such circumstances.
The Roman legions never reached Sweden, but the mulled wine found it’s way up here anyhow. Mulled wine was popular throughout the middle ages, but it was not until the 18th century that it became a Christmas drink. And its popularity has only increased.
1.3 million gallons of mulled wine is sold in Sweden every Christmas. That means, with 10 million inhabitants, every Swede has to drink about 2 cups of mulled wine every Christmas. Infants included. I suppose you don’t have to be a Roman legionary to feel depressed here up in the north sometimes.
Making glögg is easy. You may, in fact, have some of the ingredients in your pantry already. Let’s start with the wine. For this recipe, you can use one bottle of any type of red wine. Don’t look for anything expensive. A budget wine works fine.
Avoid using a sweet dessert wine for this recipe. You will add sugar, and a glögg overloaded with sugar is just disgusting.
Now it’s time to make an inventory of your spices. You need cinnamon sticks, cloves, cardamom, star anise, and ginger. In Sweden, we also use the dried peel from Seville orange. I’m not sure how available it is outside Sweden, so as an alternative you can use peel from an orange. Just be sure to avoid the whites parts of the peel.
You can make a quick variant by adding all the spices to the wine and heat it gently and let it simmer for 20 to 30 minutes. Don’t let it boil. Add the sugar at the end. Remove the spices by pouring the wine through a strainer. Serve the glögg hot with raisins and flaked or minced almonds in small glasses. It doesn’t have to be more complicated than that.
The glögg will taste a lot better, however, if you let the wine and spices steep overnight. That’s what I use to do, and I encourage you to try it if there is enough time. Besides, it’s worth waiting for.
Glögg, Swedish mulled wine.
Ingredients
- 1 bottle red wine
- 9 cloves
- 2 cinnamon stick
- 1 small piece fresh ginger
- 2 star anise
- 1/4 teaspoon cardamom seeds
- 1/2 orange only use the outer peel.
- 5 tablespoon muscovado sugar
- 1 1/2 oz vodka, cognac or whisky Optional
Instructions
- Combine wine and the spices except for the sugar in a pot. Heat it up to 170ºF / 80ºC and remove the pot from the stove. Place a lid on the pot and let wine and spices steep for 24 hours.
- Remove the spices by pouring the wine through a strainer. Add sugar and liquor and heat it up gently. Don't let it boil.
- Serve in small glasses with raisins and flaked or minced almonds.
