Of all the smells and tastes, well-cooked wine is the one that best evokes festive feelings. Jamie Oliver called this drink "Christmas in a cup".
And rightly so Jamie has one interesting, and above all simple (which is important these days) recipe for a fragrant drink that has very little in common with the classic usually diluted and usually too sweet cookbook in different locations of the cores.
We need:
2 clementines or oranges (can be both), 1 lemon and 1 lime; 250 grams of sugar; cinnamon stick; 2 fresh bay leaves; nutmeg; vanilla bean; 2 star anise; 6 cloves; 2 bottles of red wine.
Preparation is simple. First, we peel all the citrus fruits (since the peels are part of the cooking, it is good that they are organic). Put the sugar in a bowl and put it on the stove at a medium temperature, add the citrus peels and squeeze the clementine (orange) juice inside. Add cloves, bay leaf, cinnamon and a little nutmeg (knife tip). Add the vanilla and pour over the wine, just enough to cover the sugar. Allow the sugar to melt slowly, then heat until it boils and boil for 4 to 5 minutes - it will be enough when a thick syrup forms in the bowl. Lower the temperature and add the remaining wine and star anise. Gently heat the mulled wine for another 5 minutes and serve.
What's more – Jamie first makes the syrup as a base for the mulled wine because, otherwise, a lot of alcohol evaporates during cooking, and also because it's the only way to get such a strong aroma from the sugar and spices.
More information at:
http://www.jamieoliver.com