Socker glögg
Glögg—the Swedish mulled wine served at Christmas
It is the 13th of December, the day of Lucia, in The cream of the crop of the pharmacological institution has gathered to celebrate the Nobel prize winner and pharmacology professor Daniel Bovet. Professor Liljestrand is in the midst of his tribute to the guest of honor, who sits just a few meters away together with his wife. Can you imagine the probably both grand and drawn-out stream of words?
Suddenly, Liljestrand is interrupted by a loud bang—an explosion in the room, just next to Bovet. Glass shatters and flies over the floor. Yes, you guessed it—glögg. For increased security, the mulled wine for the party had been heated in a fume cupboard.
Unfortunately, someone had forgotten to turn on the fan, and the gas flame ignited the evaporated alcohol fumes, causing the explosion. Jan-Öjvind Swahn claims that already the ancient Greeks spiced their wine.
Glögg med mindre socker
Apparently the doctor Hippocrates mixed honey and cinnamon into wine as a medicine. Swahn finds it natural that the Swedes would have wanted to spice the wine to hide that the wine quality had been lowered during its long transportation to Sweden. The Swedish glögg is related to the German Glühwein and French brûlot. Ads from the year and onwards tempt with waffles and glögg at Skansen during the entire wintertime.
In , an article mentions that glögg normally appears in Stockholm cafés days before Christmas. Apparently, one of the reasons why glögg was popular was that it was excellent to have as a pre-noon beverage! In the older newspaper, two versions of glögg turn up, both with their own fan clubs.
Glögg Swedish Mulled Wine: Perfect Glogg Recipe
Instead, the writer prefers glögg from the wine dealer, made of wine. Firstly, a recipe for mulled wine consisting of wine, sugar, cinnamon, cardamom, and maybe some port. Secondly, brylå or bruleau , consisting of cognac, cinnamon, cardamom, and raisins. This beverage is made of schnapps spiced with cardamom, bitter orange peel, cloves, raisins, and fennel seeds. Both the brulot and the schnapps drink are made the same way, with a sugar cone that melts into the heated alcohol that is put on fire when serving.
In , Mathilda Langlet adds cardamom, cinnamon, bitter orange peel, and ginger to a sugar syrup and lets it boil.
Glöggmingel
She then combines it with port mixed with fried apples. A bit of kirschwasser could be added to improve the taste. In Svenska Dagbladet in , Aug. The combination of cognac and port in glögg appears several times. Wine-based glögg has become synonymous with the word glögg in modern times and seems to be the most common if we look at old sources. Maybe the schnapps-based glögg was a 19th-century trend?
To summarize, it seems that the name glögg has been used for several beverages that are:. Her book consists of Christmas recipes for hard times, which shows—most recipes use far more spices. Others also recommend bitter orange peel, bitter almonds removed before serving , and fennel seeds. If we look at some of the more strange ingredients, then the Christmas celebrators in Sko in Uppland must be taking the lead by miles.
Nils Keyland mentions that in Kvistbro in Närke, glögg should be served at once when people returned from mass at church on Christmas day, preferably even before they got out of the sled. The Christmas custom of letting the animals taste everything meant that the creatures in for example Näshult in Södermanland not only got some Christmas food but also schnapps and glögg.
Hopefully not in large quantities….