Negus: Grandma Lipshitz Secret Mulled Wine Recipe

Classification: mulled wine

Source: John H. Grant (74444.3034@compuserve.com), HBD Issue #1596, 12/5/94

This festive recipe comes from Eric at Defalco's in Ottawa. Eric writes: "One of my fondest childhood memories was of the sleigh rides we would take at Christmas time. Family and friends would all go out for hours on a horse drawn sleigh. My grandmother would stay at home and prepare a secret recipe of Negus (mulled wine) which had been in the family for generations. We would all come home and thaw ourselves by her fire while the grown ups would proceed to get 'weird' on grandma's special brew. That spicy aroma which permeated my grandma's house will always be the smell of Christmas to me. Now that I'm an adult, a Christmas party wouldn't be complete without my Grandma's Negus. To make a long story short, on a recent visit to my grandmother's house I found the recipe and took it. It was discovered missing and I have since been disowned by my family. I thought I'd pass on the recipe to you in hopes of being invited over this Christmas."

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups water
2 1/2 cups sugar
4 dozen whole cloves
6 sticks of cinnamon
3 crushed nutmeg
peel of 3 lemons and 2 oranges
4 cups hot lemon or lime juice
4 bottles of red wine

Procedure:

Add to the water the sugar, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, and citrus peels. Boil for 5 minutes. Strain the syrup into a large pot, and add the citrus juice. Heat well. Add the 4 bottles of wine (this is goping to be a good recipe isn't it!). Keep covered on lowest heat. Serve with lemon slice and/or cinnamon stick.