Gløgg

The story

Norway's take on spiced mulled wine, gløgg, shares its name and basic recipe with Swedish glögg, but in Norwegian homes the nonalcoholic “barnegløgg” (children's gløgg) is just as common. It is simmered from berry juice and the same spices (cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, and orange peel), so the whole family, from the youngest to the oldest, can take part in the same ritual of warming a cup in their hands beside a window strung with lights. Gløgg is often served with almonds and raisins at the bottom of the cup, to be eaten with a small spoon once the drink is gone. In recent years many Norwegian bakeries and restaurants have begun competing over whose gløgg is best, each with its own secret ratio of spices, and gløgg tasting has become almost a seasonal social activity in its own right, separate from the homemade version. For the diaspora, simmering gløgg at home, filling the house with the scent of orange and cloves before a single guest has arrived, is one of the cheapest and most effective ways to make a room smell instantly like a Scandinavian Christmas.