drink Archives - Naked Plate

A beloved child has many names is Finnish saying. It means; the more loved one is the more names one has. Kahvi, kaffa, boon, mocha, coffee, café….I loved the Ethiopian coffee roasting and brewing demo at Taste of Dubai by Boon Coffee. In Ethiopia, the tree, the coffee bean and the drink made from it are all called “Boon”.

I am from country where coffee consumption per capita is world’s top, 12 kg, according statistics from International Coffee Organization. Norway, Iceland, Denmark and Netherlands follow closely. I guess it has something to do our long, cold and dark winters, we need to keep ourselves awake, right?!

My first coffee memory goes back to times when I was 7 years and spending holidays with my granny Kerttu mummo.
We got to drink coffee with milk and sugar, and the best part was when we dunk plain brioche or pulla into it. That was called “Pullamössö” in Finnish. Oh how good that was we spooned our cups empty with no time, part of the goodness was the fact that normally kids did not get to drink coffee. It was kind of treat…err…really, it was.
It took while after that to be average Finnish and consume 12 kg or so per year. I love the smell of freshly brewed coffee specially on the mornings. Don’t You?!

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Learn more about Ethiopian Coffee via LINK at Epicurean.com

and here Boon Coffee Dubai

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“Buna dabo naw” which means “Coffee is our bread!”

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The amazing smell of cinnamon and spices is surrounding my house inside out. It’s time to warm up with nice cup of glögg, a traditional Finnish winter drink called glögi in Finnish.

When weather starts to get cooler, on November in Finland, this spicy drink is just so lovely warmer. The most popular glögg is traditionally made by heating up blackcurrant juice with spices like cinnamon, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, mace, cardamom, orange peel, ginger.

I am making it to get the wonderful smell of festive spices into my house. I miss the snow and coldness of Finnish winter, this drink brings me back to my homeland whenever where ever I smell or drink it.

Glögg is available everywhere in Finland from November to January. You can get the readymade mixture and tune it for your liking with some almonds and raisins, which you have to spoon after or during drinking of it.

Modern winter drink glögg has its roots in the ancient Swedish mulled wine punch called glödgat vin, which literally means “glow wine”. My version is non-alcoholic, but in mainstream Finnish families, part of the juice is replaced with red wine, and a dash of stronger spirit, like vodka, punsch, brandy, calvados or gin may be added to it. I have made white glögg from apple juice. Nowadays this white version has become popular, made with white wine or cider, or fruit juices like apple, pear or white grape juice.

On Christmas dinner, glögg can be served first as a welcome drink or last with the dessert, or instead of coffee and tea.

White glögg recipe