Step-by-step recipe with photos and videos. Sometimes I think how they serve gleg
In search of the best Christmas glögi (mulled wine) that perfectly sets the festive mood, we head to architect Eliel Saarinen's villa Hvitträsk, located in Kirkkonummi, half an hour west of Helsinki.
The fabulous-looking mansion, built on the top of a wooded hill, rises majestically above the lake. Steps lead down to the shore, where, if you look closely, you can make out prehistoric rock paintings. The first person to notice the images was the composer and sybarite Jean Sibelius. A hundred years ago, he, like many famous artists of that time, was a frequent guest at the villa.
Eliel Saarinen and two other talented architects, Hermann Gesellius and Armas Lindgren, originally planned Vitträsk as a joint home. Among the Finnish elite of the turn of the century, the villa became famous for its exquisite feasts and wild parties - it is not surprising that one of the architects soon had to move out due to a family scandal.
The mansion, built in the National Romanticism style in 1903, later became a museum. The guest wing, where Sibelius, Maxim Gorky and other celebrities once stayed, has been converted into a restaurant, now run by Tiya and Ville Dillemuth. [Editor's note: Since this article was published, Tiya and Ville have moved on to other projects. However, their clever words about glögi are not at all outdated, so we decided to leave them here.] The establishment now has a more restrained atmosphere, but it is still filled with the spirit of the holiday. As the owners say, the best way to create a festive mood for visitors coming in from the cold is to offer them a glass of hot glögi.
Forest inspired
A fairy-tale mansion: snow only adds to the charm of “Vittresque”. Photo: Sinimaaria Kangas
Glögi ( glogi) is the Finnish version of mulled wine, known in Scandinavia as glögg, and in German-speaking areas Glühwein. The Dillemuts came up with a special version of this drink, which at Vittresk is made from local blueberries.
“The inspiration came from the blueberry-filled forests surrounding the house. In addition, the Saarinens were known to be very fond of blueberry pie on Christmas Eve,” explains Tiya. Usually in Finnish houses they drink glögi with gingerbread, but at Vittresk they serve blueberry oatmeal cookies with the drink.
Jars of spices for preparing this glögi can be purchased at Vittresk at the traditional Christmas market. An annual handicraft fair has been held in the villa's courtyard for several decades. “Some grandmothers have been selling their woolen products here since 1975,” Tiya says with a smile.
Light, berry or bloody
In recent years, light glögi has become popular. Photo: Sinimaaria Kangas
Most Finns buy ready-made glögi in regular supermarkets or state-owned Alco liquor stores. Most often, raisins and peeled almonds are added to the drink. It is worth noting that many modern Finns prefer to celebrate Christmas simply at home - this applies to both home-cooked drinks and festive dishes, as well as cards and gifts made with their own hands.
The Finnish blogosphere is literally teeming with the most exotic recipes for glögi, for example, with blood-red grapefruit juice, cherries and almond liqueur. In recent years, light glögi has become popular. Cookbook author Marianne Kiskola suggests strawberry juice flavored with cinnamon, vanilla and ginger as the main ingredient. Sami Malila in the “Moomin Recipe Book”, in turn, gives preference to blackcurrant juice.
Variations on the theme of Glögi from "Wittresk"Glögi "Wittresk"
Cook over low heat for 20-30 minutes; strain. This makes about 1.5 liters of glögi. Blueberry puree
Boil for five minutes; puree using a blender. Put 1 tbsp. l. puree into a glass, add dried blueberries and almonds (whole or petals). The alcohol evaporates during the cooking process. If desired, the glögi can be “fortified” by adding 20 g of Koskenkorva vanilla vodka or Becherovka tincture to each serving. Royal Glögi "Wittresk"Wet the rims of wine glasses and dip them into the gingerbread crumbs.
Add 1 tablespoon of glögi concentrate (cook according to the first recipe above until semi-thick or use a ready-made mixture) per glass. |
Text: Vif Stenger
In Finland, Gleg is traditionally drunk at Christmas, before and after this holiday by the whole family, at work and in shops. Why give alcohol to children and non-drinkers? So the answer to the question why non-alcoholic gleg is sold and made in Finland is obvious. And whoever needs alcohol can buy or prepare an alcoholic one or, which is easier, add alcohol to a non-alcoholic drink. 
I’ll tell you further how to prepare store-bought non-alcoholic gleg (Finnish: Glögi) and how you can cook it yourself. 
Gleg comes in red, pink and yellow. 
Before serving, put cloves and cinnamon sticks into the pan, or you don’t have to put them in, since they were present in the purchased gley during cooking. Heat, but do not boil. 
But it’s better to put raisins and almonds in a cup.
Of course, special glasses are sold for gleg, but I don’t see the point in buying them for a few days a year. 
You can serve the gleg on the table and wait for the guests: after all, not a single Christmas visit is complete without a gleg.
My mother-in-law cooks gleg something like this:
nutmeg (whole) – 1-2
tangerine or orange zest – 1
raisins - to taste
cloves – 5-6 stars
half a glass of water
red grape juice – 500 ml (for yellow gleg, you can take light grape or apple juice or mix in half)
cinnamon – 2-4 sticks
sugar - to taste
Method for preparing Glögi:
Bring spices and sugar to a boil in water.
Reduce heat and add juice.
Let the gleg brew.
Reheat before serving.
Why does my mother-in-law cook gleg like this? Because sometimes she prepares it with currant or raspberry juice.
And to prepare an alcoholic gleg, you can replace the juice with wine or add vodka or wine to a non-alcoholic one.
The drink has been known since the 17th century, and you can read about the history of gleg on Wikipedia: it couldn’t have happened without the Slavs!
But I think that the idea of heating wine in the cold season and adding spices to it has been around since ancient times among different peoples.
Very soon there will be no less Russian tourists in Finnish border and resort towns than there are Finns themselves. Since Finns have very specific traditions for celebrating New Year and Christmas, and holiday and seasonal food and drinks are a good way to get into the holiday spirit, we wanted to talk about what Finns eat and drink in winter. This time we’ll talk about hot glögi or just glög. Despite the similar name, glög is not exactly mulled wine or grog, since glög does not always contain alcohol, although in other respects all these drinks are very similar. Finnish glög from the supermarket is usually juice (grape, blackcurrant or apple) flavored with spices - most often cloves, cinnamon and ginger. Preparing glögi is simple - heat the juice with spices over a fire and add almonds and raisins.
Manteli almonds and rusina raisins are added to the glögi when the drink is heated.
They drink a hot drink from small mugs, often made of transparent glass. It’s good to take glögi for a walk in the winter in a thermos - hot and sweet, children will definitely like it. The “adult” version of glögi involves adding strong alcohol, such as rum or vodka, to the finished drink.
There is a very large selection of glöga in stores, especially in winter. Click on the photo to enlarge the image.
In stores we saw many different versions of ready-made glögi - from juice concentrate with spices, which must be diluted with water before cooking, to glögi prepared with the addition of dry red wine. In any case, it would be a good idea to make sure that the pack or bottle states that the product does not contain alcohol. Similarly in bars and cafes - check with the waiter what kind of glögi you will order. Non-alcoholic in Finnish alkoholiton, alkoholiton.
Glögi is inexpensive - from 2-3 euros per liter of ready-made juice with spices and about 1.5 euros for a bag of almonds with raisins. Traditionally, glög is drunk with ginger cookies piparkakku, piiparit piparkakku, which we will talk about later.
The fact that not every Finnish glög contains alcohol is probably good, since by purchasing such non-alcoholic glög in a store, you can treat it to everyone, including children, who will know that New Year's holiday drinks do not necessarily have to be alcoholic. Probably, Finnish non-alcoholic mulled wine is the result of the Finnish government's policy to combat drunkenness. no less than ours, and the Finnish government is fighting against excessive alcohol consumption, not without success, by introducing restrictive measures on the sale of alcohol. For example, in Finland, alcoholic beverages above 5% alcohol cannot be bought in regular supermarkets, but only in specialized government stores whose opening hours are:
Another advantage of non-alcoholic glögg is that you can take it across the border as much as you want and mix “normal” mulled wine at home :)
Below you can watch a program about Finnish stores selling strong alcohol "Alko".
Glög... Wonderful drink, warms, warms and perfectly lifts the mood. This Christmas drink has been sold since the beginning of December.
Both tourists and locals They drink it right on the street. In Copenhagen, you pay 20-30 kroons for a plastic cup of hot glöck – about 100-150 rubles.
They sell it at the market in Newshaven, on Strøget and in Tivoli, in restaurants at the doors throughout the Danish capital there are advertisements with the price of this hot Christmas drink.
In Copenhagen in December It doesn't always snow, but it's always cold and windy. N and in street markets glög is poured from thermoses and large saucepans. You can barely hold a plastic cup bought right on the street - it’s so hot! You sit down at the table, hide your wind-reddened hands in woolen mittens and inhale the spicy aroma. A couple of minutes - and the glög no longer burns your lips.
But it's worth moving further away from Copenhagen, somewhere near Arhus or Esbjerg, this Christmas drink is not so easy for a tourist to find - catering is oriented towards local residents, who prefer beer even on Christmas, and they brew glög at home or drink it in restaurants at traditional Christmas get-togethers.
In Denmark, like in Norway it is called gløgg, in Sweden - glögg, in Estonia and Finland - glögi. And all these glögs are relatives of German and Russian glühwein, Moldavian izvar, French vin chaud and Italian vin brulé. There are prototypes in the Czech Republic, Romania and even Turkey.
Glög is good and just like that and with ginger cookies, and you don’t feel tired again, it becomes fun (albeit for a short time) to wander around the markets in search of either inexpensive gifts or a Christmas miracle. The main thing is not to overdo it - one or two glasses a day are enough, but it’s better to switch to non-alcoholic - it’s made from spices and red berry juice, but without wine.
Spices for glögg They sell them at Christmas markets, in stores, but it’s better to pick them yourself, it will be even tastier. You need cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, cloves, tangerine peels, sugar, raisins and almonds, and if you're in the mood, fresh grated ginger. For strength, add vodka, brandy or activite.
In Copenhagen to the glög served with gingerbread cookies, raisins and toasted almonds. In Stockholm - lussebullar - buns with saffron and raisins, as well as almonds. Traditionally, glög is served before rice pudding.
How to make a glög
Recipe for 6 servings
1 liter of red juice (lingonberries, cranberries, grapes, black currants),
1 bottle of red wine,
1 glass of water,
1 machine of yellow raisins,
0.5 kg tangerines,
200 ml sugar,
a little cinnamon
5 pieces. carnations,
1 tsp cardamom,
3 tablespoons honey,
nuts.
Raisins, nuts and tangerines Place in glasses or mugs. Bring water to a boil, add spices and cook for 3 minutes, strain. Pour juice and wine into it and heat to 80 °C. You can add mint, thyme, lemon balm, and strawberry leaves to the water.
Glög cannot be brought to an end to a boil. When boiled, it instantly loses its taste and a large proportion of its alcohol content. As soon as the white foam has disappeared from the surface of the wine, it is necessary to remove the container from the heat.
Lingonberry glög in Finnish
200 g lingonberries,
1 liter of water,
200 ml sugar,
1 cinnamon stick,
6-8 pcs. carnations,
1 tsp cardamom,
100 ml wine without additives,
raisins and whole peeled almonds.
Juice and all seasonings place in a pan, preferably stainless steel. Bring to a boil, cover and leave on low heat for 10-15 minutes. Then strain the drink through a colander. Place some raisins and almonds in glasses, pour hot drink and serve.
Blackcurrant glög
0.5 l blackcurrant juice with sugar,
3 cinnamon sticks,
6-8 pcs. cloves,
1 tsp cardamom seeds,
0.75 l red wine,
sugar or 100-200 ml lemon liqueur,
grated almonds and raisins.
Cook seasonings in blackcurrant juice for 10 minutes. Strain the drink, add wine and bring to a boil again, but do not boil. Remove from heat. Add sugar or liqueur to taste, grated almonds and raisins.
In Nyhaven in Copenhagen, several stalls sell glög.
Glög in Copenhagen is poured from 10-liter pots that sit right on the street.
In Stockholm, glög is sold on a pedestrian street between the Royal Palace and Parliament.
I must say that I did glög or glegg for the first time. And last.
I did it according to the books, as expected, but this did not solve a number of questions for me regarding the technology of its production.
Why do I need to prepare caramel with spices two days before preparing the actual hot drink? To enhance its aroma?
So maybe it would be easier to add a little more spices to mulled wine if you really need them?
And using cognac with so many cloves and cardamom simply makes no sense - its delicate aroma will be completely overwhelmed by these “incense”.
With this composition, for the strength of glög, you can easily get by with cheap vodka. Everything will still “stink” of ginger. And this is not for everybody.
But, I did it - I’m showing that maybe someone will make hot drinks this way. Me not.
I finally settled on mulled wine. Which is both simpler and tastier, in my opinion.
True, glög has one small advantage - having brewed the aromatic “concentrate” once, this drink can then be prepared at any time, regardless of the presence of fruits and spices.
This is probably good when you prepare it regularly, but in my case, when “hot food” is required two or three times a year, it’s a waste of time, in my opinion.
By the way, I describe the recipe as it should be - “aspirated”, in the style of enthusiastic cooks. Nobless type lick.
But, first things first...
Glög
Hot and unusually aromatic, tasty and invigorating, glög is good not only for holidays, but also on cloudy days.
Unlike mulled wine, the Scandinavian drink requires much more time to reach its proper condition. Therefore, if you want to surprise your guests with a pleasant and original drink, you should have at least one day left before you decide to serve it.
Choose only high-quality alcohol for preparing hot “hot drinks”, then everything will turn out as planned. For glög we need:
And the bouquet of the drink will reveal itself in full force, and you will receive incredible pleasure, not only while absorbing it, but also during the entire preparation process.
If smells represent one of the sources of pleasure in this life for you, of course.
***
- orange zest - from half a citrus fruit;
- dry red wine – 375 ml;
- water – 50 ml + two tbsp. l.;
- cloves and cardamom - four boxes (buds);
- raisins – 15 pcs.;
- ginger – a quarter of a large root;
- cognac – 100 ml;
- cinnamon – one stick;
- almonds – nine pcs.;
- sugar – 100 g.
Ingredients for our glegg.
Recipe
Mix water (50 ml) with sugar in a thick-bottomed bowl.
Cook the caramel, stirring occasionally, over low heat (about 20 minutes).
It seemed such an easy and simple process, but what divine aromas will soar through your kitchen thanks to it!
You will have time to prepare other products:
Remove the zest from the orange (do not forget to wash and dry it thoroughly before this procedure).
Is the caramel ready? Pour the remaining water into it. Wait and let the mixture cool slightly.
Then put in it orange zest, clove buds and cardamom boxes, chopped ginger and a cinnamon stick. You will need the almonds and raisins much later.
Leave the whole mass alone for one or two days so that it absorbs all the tasty notes and turns into a harmonious whole.
The caramel will harden, but that’s okay - when you start heating it with cognac and wine, all the crystals will dissolve in the alcohol.
Without bringing to a boil, bring the drink to a hot state over low heat. Approximately 75-80 degrees.
Place some nuts and raisins in glasses. Rinse the raisins well first.
If you want it to steam a little, under no circumstances pour boiling water over it.
It is enough to keep the raisins in warm water (about 10 minutes).
Drink the glög slowly, enjoying every drop!
The aromatic drink perfectly warms you up during the cold season...
Few degrees? Add some more “caramel concentrate” and add vodka.
Bon appetit!
P.S. Pay attention to the glasses - they are quite thick-walled and with handles - special dishes for mulled wine and other hot drinks.And some online chefs pour glög into crystal wine glasses or whiskey glasses - it’s hilarious.