By Ippolita Douglas Scotti:
Vin brulé warms your heart and soul during the cold winter nights, and it is a glorious end to the perfect holiday dinner.
A tasty drink made with hot wine and spices, it is rich in flavor, typical of Northern Italian areas and continental Europe.
This hot drink dates back to Ancient Greece and the Romans who called it conditum paradoxum. In his De re Coquinaria, Apicius writes about a wine heated and flavored with spices such as pepper and cloves and sweetened with honey. It was poured for guests as a digestive after-meal drink.
Sending you warm mulled wishes for the holiday season!
Vin brulé
(Mulled Wine)
1 bottle hearty red wine
2 Tbs of honey
1 pinch of nutmeg
1 whole star anise
5 black peppercorns
2 cloves
Rind of 1 orange and his juice
1 cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf
Place all ingredients in a pot and heat the mixture over medium-high heat for 5 minutes. Be careful not to let the wine boil!
Ladle through a fine-mesh strainer into mugs or heat-resistant glasses to serve. You can garnish each mug with an orange slice or stick of cinnamon. Serve steaming hot.
Contessa Ippolita Douglas Scotti di Vigileno is a true Italian—born in Florence, Italy, from a long line of eccentric Italian aristocrats, she has traveled the world in search of adventure, romance, and magical, mouth-watering recipes. "Ippo" loves Italian history, especially as it relates to food. Author of There's a Beatle in My Soup, Curcuma e Zenzero (Ginger & Tumeric), 101 Perche Sulla Storia di Firenze (101 questions on Florence History),The Grimore, The Magic of the Moon, and Magic Herbs (all published by Newton Compton Publishers).