Glogg

This recipe for Scandanavian mulled wine, glogg (pronounced GLOOG), is adapted from the Market Cafe, where proprietress Fanny Farkas used to serve a number of holiday specialties from her native Sweden.

Alas, the Market Cafe is not serving glogg this season, since Fanny seems to be traveling, but it's simple to make yourself. (I like making it just so I can say the word "glogg" over and over again.) The only difficult part is finding the cardamom pods, which can be had at Dual Specialty Store on First Avenue between 5th and 6th Streets or at Adriana's Caravan in Grand Central Market.

Don't bother using expensive wine, since you're just going to corrupt it with sugar and vodka. If you can't get your hands on any cardamom pods, don't let that deter you: chances are no one will notice after a couple of glasses of glogg anyway.


Glogg

20 cardamom pods
10 cloves
2 sticks cinnamon
1 orange peel
1 magnum-size bottle Shiraz or Rioja
2 cups vodka
1 pound sugar
1 1/2 cups whole raw almonds
1 1/2 cups raisins
10 dried figs

Make a bouquet garni of the cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, and orange peel. Combine all ingredients in a heavy saucepan and bring to a temperature just below a boil.

Makes about 10 mugs of glogg.