Christmas 2021 Robin's Birthday!

Did You Know? Die Feuerzangenbowle (The Fire Tongs Bowl, The Punch Bowl) is a German novel, later adapted into several films, which tells the story of a famous writer going undercover as a pupil at a small town gymnasium after his friends tell him that he missed out on the best part of growing up by being educated at home. The story in the book takes place during the Weimar Republic in Germany. The novel by Heinrich Spoerl was published in 1933 and was adapted to film three times. The 1944 movie of the same name directed by Helmut Weiss is the most notable adaptation of the material. This German comedy classic was one of the last big movie productions in Germany before the start of the Nazi era and since the 1980s has gained cult status at German universities.

Did You Know? It's been more than a few hundred years since mulled wine was invented but since inception, all of its ingredients have remained the same. When immigrants from European countries arrived in North America they bought mulled wine with them. Even after all these years, the staple ingredients for mulled wine have always been red wine and cinnamon sticks. These are widely used even to this day.

Mulled wine is a traditional beverage that has been on offer for the past few centuries. The oldest documented Glühwein (a type of mulled wine) mug is attributed to Count John IV of Katzenelnbogen, a German nobleman who was the first grower of Riesling grapes. This gold-plated lockable silver mug dates back to 1420.

Did You Know? - Feuerzangenbowle is prepared in a bowl, similar to a fondue set, which usually is suspended over a small burner (rechaud). The bowl is filled with heated dry red wine spiced with cinnamon sticks, cloves, star anise and orange peel, similar to mulled wine.

The Feuerzange was originally a pair of tongs, but nowadays it is common for a purpose-designed metal grate mounted on top of the bowl to hold the Zuckerhut (sugarloaf or literally "sugar hat"), a sugar cone around seven inches long.

The sugar is soaked with rum and set alight, melting and caramelizing. The rum should have at least 54% alcohol per volume and be at room temperature in order to burn properly.

More rum is poured with a ladle until all the sugar has melted and mixed with the wine. The resulting punch is served in mugs while the burner keeps the bowl warm. For some the ceremony is more important than the drink itself, celebrating the gathering of friends and conveying a notion of Gemütlichkeit.

Did You Know? - Blue flames are due to incandescence of very fine soot particles that are produced in the flame. With increasing oxygen supply, less black body-radiating soot is produced due to a more complete combustion and the reaction creates enough energy to excite and ionize gas molecules in the flame, leading to a blue appearance. Color also tells us about the temperature of a candle flame. The inner core of the candle flame is light blue, with a temperature of around 1800 K (1500 °C). That is the hottest part of the flame.

The spices usually used for mulled wine are cloves, grated nutmeg, and cinnamon or mace. Any kind of wine may be mulled, but port and claret are those usually selected for the purpose; and the latter requires a very large proportion of sugar.