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In the Nordic countries, dark comes early in winter. In even southernmost Finland, before and after the winter solstice on December 21, the light at midday is weak, the sun so low in the sky, that it never really becomes light. No wonder that Swedes, Danes, Finns and Norwegians are especially adept at getting through long and dark winters, helped, in part by traditional mulled wine, called glögg and glöggi. What is mulled wine?
Mulled wine is hot wine -- usually but not always, red wine -- sweetened with sugar and spike with spices like cinnamon and star anise. It's served not in wine glasses but in mugs, usually clear glass so the claret color is eye-pleasing. These days, mulled wine is everywhere it seems so let's check some recipes, starting with two food blogs from Scandinavia, where glögg is traditional during the holidays, often on offer for carolers.
Be careful - this stuff is potent!
Illustration by Johanna Kindvall
Kokblog ~ Glögg (Mulled Wine)
Food & Thoughts ~ White Glögg, made with white wine. Zarah Maria says, "One of the good things about glögg is that you can make the extract well in advance, and then all you have to do is heat it up before you serve it. That does mean you need to make sure you have a heat-source of some kind available."
Other food bloggers are taking big glugs of hot mulled wine too.
A Year of Crockpotting ~ Crockpot Mulled Wine
Appetite for China ~ Mulled Wine or How to Survive the Winter
YUM-OH ~ Non-Alcoholic Mulled Wine
Not Quite Nigella ~ Black Currant Mulled Wine
BlogHer food editor Alanna Kellogg uses Scandinavian Pea Soup to get through cold Midwestern winters.
