Glühwein - Mulled Wine  

A shot of punch helps heat up the parlor

That's why Germany's foremost poet and playwright, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe once wrote to his dear friend and author of equal significance, Friedrich von Schiller. In fact, on long winter nights of the 18th- and 19th centuries, it was fashion to share a few glasses of the hot, spiced drink in the company of good friends. With the exception of wine itself, no other drink of the time has provoked as much literary and poetic praise by these author's contemporaries in Germany.

Spread from the parlor into the street, Glühwein (mulled wine) has since become a tradition at Germany's Christmas markets - a godsend when fingers and toes start getting numb from the cold, yet you are not through all of the booths offering Christmas decorations, handmade toys and gingerbread treats. Warming the spirit, it also helps wash down roasted chestnuts and grilled sausages. And even mundane potato pancakes fresh from the griddle at Cologne's Altermarket Christmas market, near City Hall, get a seasonal lift with the hot, sweet-and-spicy drink on the side. Christmas markets across Germany are generally open from late November to just before Christmas Eve.

There are many ways to prepare hot red wine punch as there are traditions in German families. To stay close to the word's original meaning (punch - from Hindi, meaning made with five ingredients), the following is a recipe that's easy to prepare, always delicious and comforting around the hearth at home.

Ingredients per 750ml of wine:

1 bottle dry red table wine

4-5 tbs. granulated sugar, or to taste

1 cinnamon stick, broken into 4-5 pieces

10-15 whole cloves, or to taste

washed rind of 1 lemon, cut in a continuous spiral strip

Heat all ingredients in heavy-bottomed pan. Simmer for approximately five minutes before serving, be careful not to let it come to a boil. Strain and pour into glasses (insert metal spoon to disperse the heat and prevent the glass from cracking). Top with freshly ground nutmeg, if you like an extra spicy whiff. Keep remaining mulled wine on hot plate, but remove lemon rind, letting it spiral from the lip down into the pot for decoration. (If left in punch, the lemon rind may turn bitter).

Non-alcoholic variation (Kinderglühwein)

Pour 1 liter of red grape-juice into a casserole. Add 150 grams of honey, 1 cinnamon stick, 3 cloves and peels of half a lemon and half an orange. Heat, but do not cook. Strain into preheated glasses.

Sourced from the German Embassy of Ottawa
http://www.ottawa.diplo.de/en/06/Kulturelles__Leben__in__Deutschland/egh__Mulled__Wine.html