Even though mulled wine should remind me of being in the church choir as a cherub-faced youngster and singing Christmas carols with frosty breath overlooking a seasonally-decorated nave and a sea of pink-cheeked parishoners, it doesn’t. In spite of this being the way I was introduced to this most famous Yuletide beverage, my abiding memories of it from childhood (before I ever got to drink any, I should mention) are of a warm cinnamon-scented aroma spiked sharply with the acrid tang of disinfectant and the musty odor of old people. And this, perhaps unsurprisingly, had put me off it until comparatively recently.

You see, as part of the church’s annual carol-singing calendar, we choristers had to visit all the hospitals, hospices and senior citizens homes in town, and my sensitive smell-o-memory was scarred for many years by this revolting combination of smells. That was, until I visited a friend in the French city of Lyon around Christmastime a few years back.

As an icy mistral wind blew down the Rhône valley, vin chaud or hot wine was being served out of a deep cauldron to chilled shoppers perusing the seasonal wares of Lyon’s famed Christmas market in Place Carnot. And I found the atmosphere of seasonal bonhomie, red noses, black tobacco, and warm, spicy alcohol irresistible. I’m not sure whether it was the cold, the booze, or the giant cans of duck confit and cassoulet on sale that so moved me, but from that moment on, I have been hooked on mulled wine.

A Brief History of Mulling

In days gone by, wine went bad pretty quickly due to poor bottling techniques, so during the Renaissance period, spices began to be added – as they were to virtually everything else in that time – to both delay spoilage and make spoiled products taste less nasty. And since young wines were commonly bottled during the early fall, mulling (which originally only meant to ruminate or ponder lengthily) was necessary by Yuletide as some were beginning to turn to the dark side, and hence how the consumption of “mulled wine” became a holiday tradition.

The exact combination of spices varies from country to country and person to person, but, on the whole, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and bay are mixed into claret or another Bordeaux to form the basis of flavors. Variations (and there are many) include the addition of mace, juniper, black pepper, dry citrus peel or vanilla, and substitutions include honey or molasses for the sugar, cardamom for the cloves, and brandy, sherry, acquavit, brenivin, fruit wine or vodka for the red wine.

Mulled wine, aka vin chaud, gluhwein, glögg, vin fiert, vin brulé, quentão, is drunk in most European countries in some form or another around Christmas, but it is particularly associated with German and Nordic traditions where so-called “glogg” parties are a holiday season staple. At these shin-digs, the spiced wine is typically drunk with other Yule specialties including gingerbread, blue cheese and, perhaps rather curiously, rice-pudding.

In my house growing up, however, we only ever had mulled wine when we were expecting company because my father, who has something of an intolerant nose for anything strongly perfumed, can’t abide the stuff, and, it being during the early 1980s, it was accompanied by cheese and pineapple cubes on toothpicks, cocktail weenies (chipolatas), factory-made mince pies, and potted shrimp. All of which is perhaps another reason why I didn’t really catch on to the subtle flavors and myriad charms of mulled wine until I’d left home.

But, of course, now that I have, I’m almost obsessed with making it every year, and so impassioned am I about it, that I’ll frequently pour myself a large glass and then go and stand outside in the cold to drink it to try to recreate the Lyonnaise atmosphere of years ago. Of course, it doesn’t work that well, but it beats the shit out of taking my glass and hymn book to a seniors center and evoking older memories…

Happy Boozy Holidays to you all!

Jonny’s Holiday Mulled Wine (serves 6-8)

Ingredients:

• 2 bottles of red wine
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon of cloves
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 star anise
• 4 sticks of cinnamon
• 12 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/3 cup of orange juice
• peel of 1 orange
• peel of 1 lemon
• 1 orange sliced in 1/4 inch rounds

What to do:

1. Optional: Tie all spices in a piece of cheesecloth using kitchen twine. You can skip this if you’d prefer to laugh at guests with cloves stuck in their teeth.
2. Heat wine in pot gently with spices/sachet and peel until aromas fill the room (at least 15 minutes). Do not boil, only simmer very, very gently.
3. Stir in sugar and orange juice. Taste for sweetness and adjust if necessary.
4. Place orange rounds in mugs and ladle in wine.
5. Stir and serve with a cinnamon stick and enjoy!

During our meat-free meal week, we happened to catch an episode of Good Eats where the theme was ‘pouch cookery’. This inspired us to create our own version of a ‘pouch meal’, similar to one made on the show. By sprinkling some anise-flavored liquor such as Ricard, Duval or Pernod, the result is a sweet ’sauce’ that mixes perfectly with the salmon meat. I really hope you try this quick, easy, cheap and nutritious meal. Plus, it’s the easiest cleanup ever!

SWEET ANISE-FLAVORED SALMON AND VEGETABLES IN A POUCH (salmon en papillote – serves 1)

Ingredients

• 1 piece of salmon (cut to serve one person)
• various sliced vegetables (we used carrots sliced in ’sticks’, cherry tomatoes sliced in half and thinly sliced onion – fennel and asparagus would be nice as well)
• 1 tablespoon anise-flavored liquor (Ricard, Duval or Pernod -maybe even Sambuca could work?)
• Slices of Lemon
• Parchment Paper or Tin Foil
• Rock Salt
• Pepper
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil

What to do:

1. Lay your salmon skin side down on the parchment paper. Scatter your veggies around it.
2. Sprinkle some rock salt and freshly ground pepper all over your fish and veggies.
3. Squeeze a bit of lemon on top and drizzle about 1 – 2 tablespoons of your anise-flavored liquor over the salmon and veggies.
4. Drizzle a little bit of olive oil on top of everything.
5. Top your salmon with 2 or 3 thinly slices pieces of lemon
6. Make your pouch by taking the two ends together and fold over a few times until there’s about 1 inch of room on top of the salmon. Pinch the other ends in and then fold towards the center seam to create a closed, tight “pouch”. (SEE PICTURE BELOW).
7. Put in a 375 degree oven for 15 minutes. Remove, open pouch and voila – dinner’s ready! Eat along side some boiled potatoes (boiled long enough that they still have a bit of ‘give’ in them) topped with some rocksalt olive oil and chives.

PLUS PLUS
PLUS
EQUALS

CHECK OUT SOME OF OUR OTHER SUPER QUICK RECIPES:

• GROUND LAMB KABOBS (Lamb Kubideh)
• PASTA WITH LEEKS, ASPARAGUS, MUSHROOMS AND GRUYERE, TOPPED WITH A FRIED EGG
• ORECCHIETTE WITH SAUSAGE AND KALE
• TORTILLA SOUP
• PASTA WITH TUNA (Pasta Con Tonno)
• CHORIZO, CHICKPEA AND POTATO SOUP
• CREAMY LEMON PASTA