It's Christmas Eve! When my daughter wakes up, we'll light the fireplace, magically there'll be a bag of presents at the door, and mom and dad will start drinking mulled wine. I'm looking forward to it!
As soon as the temperature approaches zero, the mulled wine appear. Or in Dutch, bishop's wine . And there are a few more variations to name; this is how they drink it mulled wine in Great Britain, hot wine in France, izvar in Romania and glögg in Scandinavia. Basically all the same drink that makes you nice and warm and gives you red cheeks, but with small - regional - differences.
In general, red wine is used, with sugar, spices such as cinnamon, cloves and citrus fruits. In bishop's wine, you will only find orange in addition to the spices, while in mulled wine and glühwein other citrus fruits are also used, such as lemon. In glögg, in addition to the above-mentioned spices, they add ginger and of course cardamom (try to find something Scandinavian without it). And before serving, raisins and almonds are added. In France, among other places, the mulled wine is sweetened with honey and in Romania black pepper is added. In all cases, the winter drink is often topped off with a little cognac, amaretto or other spirit, for an extra kick.
The custom of drinking mulled wine with spices certainly dates back to the Middle Ages, when they drank hippocras . Legend has it that this drink was invented by the Greek doctor Hippocrates in the 5th century BC, but in reality the name only appears from the 14th century. Besides being drunk at banquets as an aperitif, it was prescribed by doctors as a medicine.
You can find bottles of ready-made mulled wine at almost every supermarket (and IKEA!). Heat it in a pan and do not let it boil because then the alcohol will evaporate. But you can also take a little longer and brew it yourself. You can add star anise, a little pepper or some ginger to the spices.
In the webshop you will find a double card of this recipe with a cinnamon stick and some cloves, so the recipient can get started with the recipe. And of course there are also a lots of nice (enamel) mugs ready for you to serve the mulled wine. Nice as a gift for later under the tree!
Have a nice evening!