Mullet Wine II

[rudjarl]

Mulled wine with a Scandinavian fling (phun intended)

This is a variation of a Scandinavian flavour of a Germanic type of Glühwine.

The end result leaves you with a kind of syrup that can be mixed with red wine (my favourite), vodka or just water for kids and drivers. Just heat the mix until it starts steaming/fuming/smoking/fogging/hot water vapour rising...

• Water, two three pints or a litre and possibly a half
• Sugar 2 or 3 tablespoons
• Honey 3 or 4 large tablespoons

Boil water, sugar and honey.
Then add in no particular order:

• Star Anise 4 to 6
• fresh peeled ginger, about an inch, cut in 4ish
• Whole black pepper, a (small) fistful
• whole allspice, a (small) fistful
• cinnamon stick 2 or 3, break in two
• nutmeg, cut off half of whole nut
• cloves, a (small) fistful
• ... Chrismasie/ Winterie spices at will

Let simmer for a while. Take away foam if you like, but there is no big point as it will never be clear anyway. (Unless you leave it in a jar until next day. In which case it has separated with the clear stuff on top and the tasty bits on the bottom.)
And for no more than 4 minutes, simmer with:

• orange peel of 1/2 (or thereabouts) orange (or lemon)... (peel of any old citrus fruit actually)

Take out peel and continue until you can't be bothered no more. If you keep total simmering time to around 15 minutes, the spices can be used again with only a few fresh ones to top them off.

And that leaves a smell of proper yule (jul in the Scandinavian languages) in the kitchen.

[kevgermany]

Sounds wonderful. Is this glog?

Just a word on the citrus peels - many contain preservative to stop them going mouldy, so get bio fruits or ones marked free of preservatives.

[rudjarl]

Sounds wonderful. Is this glog?

Just a word on the citrus peels - many contain preservative to stop them going mouldy, so get bio fruits or ones marked free of preservatives.

Yes, this is gløgg

[kevgermany]

Thanks Rune. Bought a bottle of it last year, and prefer it to Gluehwein. But looking throught the recipe, yours is going to taste very different to the shop stuff (and a lot better..).

btw 'mullet' is a fish, also a rather terrible hair style from a few years back... So you're punting fish wine.... Shades of cod-liver oil Viking fare, I guess.

[Stephen Howard]

Here's a little something equally festive to go with your beverage.

It's called Gingered Bread. I sampled some of this last year at the Weald & Downland Museum's 'Sussex Christmas' event (well worth a visit if you're in the area).
I was that impressed with it that I wrote in and asked for the recipe, which I have pasted vebatim:
_____

The recipe is actually very simple - fresh white breadcrumbs, honey,
ginger, black pepper, cloves and cinnamon. The tasters you tried were made
authentically in that we did not weigh the ingredients, therefore there is
always a slight difference between different batches. Basically, it is one
pound of breadcrumbs to a pound of runny honey. The original recipe does
not give quantities for the spices either. Modern transcriptions usually
suggest 2 teaspoons each of ground cinnamon and ginger and half a teaspoon
each of ground cloves and ground black pepper but you can adjust this to
your preferred taste - personally, I am heavier on the ginger!

Mix the breadcrumbs and spices in a bowl. Warm the honey to below boiling
point. Add to breadcrumbs and mix well till the honey has been absorbed by
the breadcrumbs. Line a shallow baking tin or similar container with cling
film (or a linen cloth if being authentic) and press the mixture down
firmly.Cover the top and leave to firm up in a fridge (overnight is best)
and then cut into cubes to serve.

Versions of this recipe appear in many compilations of Medieval and Tudor
cookery books such as 'Pleyn Delit'.

Enjoy!

Lesley Parker
domestic Life Interpretator

____

[cherrybyte]

A large helping of Kenny G with a dash of Kevin keegan..

[tenorviol]

I've got most of the ingredients for this, so I might have a go instead of the mulled wine for Christmas day.

[aldevis]

Mullet wine? I actually prefer the Herringcello™, a herring based liquor.
A good alternative can be the Cod Vodka; a piece of cod kept infusing in Vodka a dark place for two weeks.
Smoked Haddock Vodka is for connoisseurs only.

[Stephen Howard]

Speaking of Crimbo beverages, I made some Sloe Gin back in September. Never made any before, so wasn't sure what the results would be like.
Cracked open one of the two bottles earlier this week...I'm on the second now.

Had to dash out and find the few remaining sloes to make another bottle for next year.

Highly recommended, and as easy to make as changing a reed!

Regards,

[aldevis]

Speaking of Crimbo beverages, I made some Sloe Gin back in September. Never made any before, so wasn't sure what the results would be like.
Cracked open one of the two bottles earlier this week...I'm on the second now.

Had to dash out and find the few remaining sloes to make another bottle for next year.

Highly recommended, and as easy to make as changing a reed!

Regards,

Are sloes commercially available? And just added to gin and kept in a dark place?

[Stephen Howard]

Sometimes, yes. I've heard that branches of Waitrose in large cities sometimes sell them in the season (Sept - Oct), but they're £5 a pound...as opposed to being as free as blackberries if you live in the countryside.

The basic recipe is half a bottle of sloes, 150grams sugar, top up with gin...shake well from time to time, leave for 3 months minimum.

This site is well worth a look:

http://www.sloe.biz/

Regards,

[Filton]

Can't go wrong with Sloe Gin... Sloe Vodka is also good.

[kevgermany]

We cpllect them from the hedgerows, used to do that in the UK as well.

Recipe we use is 1 part sugar, 2 parts sloes, 3 parts gin - by volume. If you pierce the sloes with a needle, or, even better, nick them with a sharp knife/old fashioned razor blade, it goes a little quicker. But.... It's much better left for over a year before drinking. Mellows nicely. I've got some 5 year old here that my wife and I are about to give a good talking to....