The Christkindl and the Punsch
End November, beginning December is the time when the Christkindlmarkt (Christmas markets) open all over the city of Vienna. The history of Christmas markets goes back to the Late Middle Ages in the German speaking part of Europe. The Budyšin Christmas market was first being mentioned in records in 1384. (Budyšin is a hill-top town in eastern Saxony, Germany, on the border to the Check Republic. But the Vienna “December market” was a kind of forerunner of the Christmas market and dates back to 1294.
So, there we have it. Vienna has the oldest tradition of Christmas Markets …. sort of ….
Now, here I was, November just about to finish, cold, and just off the plane. What do you do? You do as the romans … in my case as the Viennese do, and head down to the Christkindlmarkt. Just in time for evening twilight.
The “Wiener Christkindlmarkt” is right in front of City Hall. It is a pretty sight. Not christmasy enough for my taste yet, but who cares. Every year it seem these markets start a bit earlier. It almost seems we are about to miss Christmas. Not that we still have almost four weeks to get into the spirit of things.
And just to make sure, the next day I headed down to the Freyung, to the “Alt Wiener Christkindlmarket”. During day light, these markets are not a particular pretty sight. Just a few tourist trying to “do” as many as they can, during their stay. Almost like me ….
A different market was the “Fescn’n markt” at the Ottakringer Beer brewery, which gave artists an outlet to sell their wares. Very retro but cute and vibrant.
Schloss Schönbrunn, the most visited site in Vienna, has one of the nicest Christkindl market. It is spacious, and located right in front of the castle. It is this backdrop, which gives it this majestic flair. It is this location, which makes it probably also one of the coldest location in Vienna for a market. It has a constant breeze, and at this time of the year makes it pretty cold.
This is where Glühwein and Punsh ….
mulled wine, vin brulé, Gløgg, Glögg, greyano vino, kuhano vino,svařené víno, forralt bor, karstvīns, izvar, grzane wino, grzane piwo, vin fiert, Глинтвейн, Sıcak Şarap
…. comes in. Fortunately it warms you up. But this is where the pleasure stops for me. I have tasted a few last week, and the ALL TASTE THE SAME. Now, how boring is that. It is almost like there is only one recipe, and just a handful of deviations of that. Needless to say after day tree I had enough and stopped drinking it. NO, NO, NO, I did not stop drinking it, I just stopped buying it and made my own.
And what goes better with Glühwein than Lebkuchen. The Egyptians, Greek and Romans already made Honey Cake. It is heaven on earth. I am in the fortunate position, that I know how to make this incredibly delicious bread. And I do not talk about commercial Ginger bread, nor do I talk about those over spiced cookies you find in all sorts of convenient stores. What I am talking about is this soft and almost buttery spiced cake, only a very few can make ….
Elisenlebkuchen, Honiglebkuchen, Früchtelebkuchen, Baseler Lebkuchen, Nusslebkuchen, Gefüllte Lebkuchen, Florentiner Lebkuchen, ….
…. and the list goes on. So, if you find yourself in Vienna, just before Christmas, DO NOT forget to pick up some Lebkuchen. And do not forget …. Lebkuchen is meant to be shared. In the meantime enjoy some
Wiener Glühwein
Ingredients
500 ml Water
2 b- 3 tblsp Ceylon tea
½ Orange
½ Lemon
1 bot good Red wine (Zweigelt )
100 g Sugar
3 whole cinnamon stick
10 cloves
1 vanilla pod
1 star anise
1 pod cardamom
125 m l fresh orange juice
40 ml Apricot schnaps
80 ml Amaretto
60 ml Rum (30 %)
4 Sugar cubes
4 Slices of orange
60 ml Rum (80 %)
Instructions
Bring water and Ceylon tea to a boil
Slice the orange and lemon and add to the tea
Add the spices an let simmer for a few seconds
Add the red wine and sugar, and bring back to almost a simmer
Pour in Schnaps, Amaretto und Rum
Heat until foam forms on the top but do not boil
Taste, and add spice if needed
Pour into mugs
On each mug place one slice of orange
Drip 80% Rum onto the sugar cubes and place them onto the orange slices
Ignite the rum and let the sugar melt into the Glühwein