Comments on: Britta’s Glogg

By: Aebleskivers—Danish Cakes | Michael Ruhlman

Aebleskivers—Danish Cakes | Michael Ruhlman — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 15:32:28 +0000

[...] cakes I’ve had. In Denmark, it’s tradition to have æbleskivers before Christmas with gløgg. What a lovely idea. They’re also a great cake for a Sunday morning treat with coffee and [...]

By: Steve-Anna

Steve-Anna — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 16:48:33 +0000

Hi Michael and Donna~Happy Holidays!

You’re right, these recipes are everywhere. There was a show on NPR’s “All Things Considered” with a very similar recipe to Russell’s ( http://tinyurl.com/7hbprqn ). That recipe also calls for ginger.

Just listening to the story on the radio evoked the aromatics! The woman interviewed was from Norway, and listening to her really makes you inhale the spices and feel warmer from the cold (even if you’re not cold!).

Sending warm wishes from sunny Tucson~SAS

By: Russell

Russell — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 22:56:31 +0000

Bah, weak-sauce. How I make glogg:

- 2 bottles (750 ml) cheap red
- 2 bottles cheap port
- 1 pint cheap brandy
- three cinnamon sticks
- peel of an orange
- cup of slivered almonds
- good handful of raisins
- dozen or so cloves
- dozen or so cardamom pods (smacked with a pan)
- 1 1/2 – 2 cups sugar. Two cups is sweet, a little less tastes more acidic but I think it’s more grown up. Not that this is a kid’s drink. Unless you want them to sleep through Christmas night of course. I figure it clocks in around 18% ABV.

Steep the raisins, almonds, and spices in the wine and port at around 130 for an hour. Strain. (I use a huge, like softball-sized, spice ball.) In a separate pan caramelize the sugar with a splash of the brandy. Boil a few minutes till it’s a simple syrup, then combine it and the rest of the brandy with the wine. Done!

Pour a glass and nuke it for 30 seconds in the microwave, or serve warm out of a thermos. I can vouch for it as an awesome pick-me-up after a chilly round of razor clamming out on the WA coast yesterday evening!

You can re-bottle it and save it for later. We’re opening a bottle of last year’s on Sunday.

By: Deanna B.

Deanna B. — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 18:41:46 +0000

I have a pot of water going with cinnamon and cloves, but later today that will be replaced by glogg. It will be perfect while looking at Christmas light.

By: Tags

Tags — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 18:28:49 +0000

Mark Kurlansky, who wrote some great books about cod, salt, oysters, and many more subjects (and also translated Emile Zola’s “Belly of the Beast”) wrote a book in 2009 called “The Food of a Younger Land” including and commenting on government-subsidized essays on regional foods that were gathered under the auspices of the Depression-era Works Progress Administration.

One that caught my eye was under the heading “The Mint Julep Controversy,” even though it had nothing to do with either Kentucky or Mint Juleps. Rather, it told of how Arkansas slaves waited until their masters were oblivious to their half-full bottles of whiskey and filled up the remainder of the bottles with just-picked cherries, letting the whole thing steep until Christmas. I’d heard the term “cherry bounce” before, but didn’t really know exactly what it was.

By: Ron Sober

Ron Sober — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 15:51:23 +0000

We make a Holiday drink that we love. You soak steel cut oats in water overnight. Then in the morning you drain the water into a crock pot and mix with heavy cream and honey. After that warms for an hour or so, you mix it 50/50 with scotch.

By: Vickie McCorkendale

Vickie McCorkendale — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 15:42:15 +0000

Glogg or Mulled wine, same thing… and each family and country has their own twist. I smelled the aromas as a child when it was called Mulled Wine and served at Halloween off our front porch. Didn’t drink any until I was adult and Glogg was served each year at a the the company party. In Sweden at Christmas time 10 years ago… had the pleasure of sipping it the traditional way – while strolling through the cold streets and shopping for gifts in a winter wonderland.

Great minds think alike:
http://cvixen.blogspot.com/2011/10/mulled-wine-our-familys-holloween-treat.html

By: Richard Scholtz

Richard Scholtz — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 15:20:33 +0000

My wife’s family is Swedish, and the making of glogg has been passed to the German-Czech guy (me) for some reason. The recipe we use has a gallon of cheap port, a fifth of brandy, and a cup of everclear, along with the mulling spices, raisins, and almonds. Once it’s done, you light it on fire to “burn off the harshness.” Based on how I calculated it, I think it’s close to 27% alcohol. If it’s really cold and nasty outside, people with consume a lot of it, and it 2-3 hours, it looks like Jonestown, the morning after, in the living room. It sure is good though.

Merry Christmas to you and your family Michael.

By: Christine Wolfe

Christine Wolfe — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 15:20:07 +0000

Just remembered, it had aquavit instead of vodka.

By: Christine Wolfe

Christine Wolfe — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 15:13:52 +0000

Michael, I couldn’t agree more about the power of smells to trigger memories. My dad made glögg every Christmas Eve, with the raisins and almonds simmering in the spicy concoction of gallon jugs of “wine”. Incredible aroma. I couldn’t wait till I was old enough to partake. If I was home right now, I would post his recipe, which included several spirits, including port, but no vodka or rum.

I don’t drink anymore, but since I lost my father earlier this year, I have considered making his glögg just for the memories. I still haven’t decided. But his Swedish meatballs and pecan crescent cookies will have a prominent place on my buffet table.

Merry Christmas, Michael. Blessings to you and yours in 2012.