Recipes Gone Wild: Glögg and Pepparkakor

Glugg? Gloog? Glerg? “Ö” is a difficult letter for me to pronounce, so when it comes to asking for this sweetly-spiced, Scandanavian mulled wine, I sometimes simplify my request to “I’ll have some of what’s simmering in that crockpot.” While spending the winter in Stockholm a few years ago, I regularly indulged in 3 pm glögg-fikas (glögg-themed coffee breaks), 5 pm jul-glöggs (glögg-themed Christmas parties?), after-work mugs-o’-glögg (i.e. happy hour)…and so on. It seemed that my Swedish friends were exceptionally good at coming up with reasons to drink glögg— reasons bound in traditions which were justified by statements like “Because. That’s just what we do.” Hard to argue with that when you can’t even pronounce an “ö” . And in the interest of keeping with tradition, you could always count on there being a plate of crispy, crunchy pepparkakor (gingerbread cookies) at the table to nibble on as you sipped your beverage.  Let’s just say is was a gluttony of glögg.  Continue reading →