flipMulled wine with cinnamon
Mulled wine with cinnamon
Why this dish? 'Paris is cold' wrote Éluard during the war winters. Mulled wine, sweet and spiced, is the drink that warms hands and heart when coal is scarce — the one shared among watchmen and resistants to hold out against the night.
Table wine gently heated with sugar, cinnamon and orange peel. A comforting drink against the cold of the Parisian winter.
Bring your hands close to the pot, the Paris cold is unforgiving. Table wine, nothing precious, a stick of cinnamon, a little sugar when there was any, and the peel of an orange kept like a treasure. Above all, don't let it boil, or it turns sour and loses its soul. We drank it in small sips, speaking low, because walls had ears. The warmth of a glass, sometimes, is already an act of resistance.
- •Red table wine — one liter (base)
- •Sugar — whatever you have (sweetness)
- •Cinnamon stick — 1 (spice)
- •Dried orange peel — a few pieces (flavor)
- •Clove — 1 or 2 (spice)
Mulled wine with cinnamon
Table wine gently heated with sugar, cinnamon and orange peel. A comforting drink against the cold of the Parisian winter.
Why this dish? 'Paris is cold' wrote Éluard during the war winters. Mulled wine, sweet and spiced, is the drink that warms hands and heart when coal is scarce — the one shared among watchmen and resistants to hold out against the night.
Bring your hands close to the pot, the Paris cold is unforgiving. Table wine, nothing precious, a stick of cinnamon, a little sugar when there was any, and the peel of an orange kept like a treasure. Above all, don't let it boil, or it turns sour and loses its soul. We drank it in small sips, speaking low, because walls had ears. The warmth of a glass, sometimes, is already an act of resistance.
Ingredients (period version)
- Red table wine — one liter (base)
- Sugar — whatever you have (sweetness)
- Cinnamon stick — 1 (spice)
- Dried orange peel — a few pieces (flavor)
- Clove — 1 or 2 (spice)
Ingredients
- Red wine — 75 cl (base)
- Sugar — 60 g (sweetness)
- Cinnamon stick — 1 (spice)
- Orange — 1 (sliced) (flavor)
- Cloves — 2 (spice)
- Star anise — 1 (optional) (spice)
Method
- Pour the wine into a saucepan with the sugar.
- Add the cinnamon, cloves, orange slices and star anise.
- Heat gently without ever boiling, for 10 to 15 minutes to infuse the spices.
- Taste, adjust sugar, strain and serve hot in glasses or cups.
How it was made : Spiced mulled wine is an ancient winter tradition, popular throughout Europe. In wartime, it was adapted to scarcity: less sugar, carefully dried and preserved citrus peels, an ordinary wine as the only luxury.
The contemporary twist : Served in a handled glass with a dried orange slice and a cinnamon stick as a stirrer, Christmas market style.
Paul Éluard · Charactorium
