Vin Brulè...A Winter's delight! ~ Korean lovers

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Selasa, 07 Februari 2012

Vin Brulè...A Winter's delight!

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Vin Brulè is a very popular winter drink in Europe, I must say. It has several different names, like Vin Brulè in Italy, Vin Chaud in France, Gluhwein in Germany and Netherlands, Kuhano Vino in Slovenia, or just Mulled Wine, as it is called in English.
This very old drink is a mixture of red wine (though I must say I found it with white wine too, specially in Slovenia), sugar and spices like cinnamon, cloves, star aniseed. It also has a citrus flavour into it, normally orange zest.
The legend says, as I heard, that it all began with people trying to make the wine (not very tasty in old times) more " drinkable", and I believe it. Europe is full of old traditions, almost every costum has an historical root that normally makes sense. Anyway, the Vin Brulè nowadays is really a winter treat for me, although unfortunately they don't make it very often in Florence....
Take a look at this English recipe for Mulled Wine that I found. It dates back to 1961 and seems quite interesting!

1961.-TO MULL WINE.

INGREDIENTS.- To every pint of wine allow 1 large cupful of water, sugar and spice to taste.

Mode.-In making preparations like the above, it is very difficult to give the exact proportions of ingredients like sugar and spice, as what quantity might suit one person would be to another quite distasteful. Boil the spice in the water until the flavour is extracted, then add the wine and sugar, and bring the whole to the boiling-point, when serve with strips of crisp dry toast, or with biscuits. The spices usually used for mulled wine are cloves, gratednutmeg, and cinnamon or mace. Any kind of wine may be mulled, but port and claret are those usually selected for the purpose; and the latter requires a very large proportion of sugar. The vessel that the wine is boiled in must be delicately cleaned, and should be kept exclusively for the purpose. Small tin warmers may be purchased for a trifle, which are more suitable than saucepans, as, if the latter are not scrupulously clean; they spoil the wine, by imparting to it a very disagreeable flavour. These warmers should be used for no other purpose.

Cheers!