Each country has its own idea of a traditional Christmas drink. In England they like to put a large pot with Wassail, a Christmas punch, on the table, in the Scandinavian countries they like glög. And on the other side of the Atlantic, in the USA and Canada, on New Year’s morning they prefer to treat themselves to eggnog – until recently, a classic cocktail.
New Year and Christmas are the holidays that we are used to spending in the circle of relatives and friends at the festive table, bursting with plentiful food and drinks. What this feast will be depends on national preferences. In the countries of the former USSR, New Year’s traditions are slowly evolving: Russian salad, herring under a fur coat and … champagne. But there were times when people were treated to the most delicious sbiten at the Christmas fair, and in narrow aristocratic circles they staged a real fire show, prepared zhzhenka.
In the traditions of the West, such things are treated more reverently. Here, for example, in the USA and Canada, everyone fell in love with creamy eggnogg – a delicious mixture of eggs, milk, spices, and necessarily (but not always) a couple of ounces of good alcohol. Until recently, this drink was on the list with classic IBA cocktails, more precisely, its version with brandy, but then it was no longer there. It is difficult to say why this happened, but the cocktail did not become less popular because of this. By the way, it is very similar to the glorious Tom and Jerry cocktail.
This American Christmas drink comes from XNUMXth-century Britain (it is believed that it was first made in Scotland). Who and when it was first mixed is difficult to say. It is understandable, so much time has passed. But it is believed that Eggnog or Egg Nog appeared due to the tradition of the Anglo-Saxons to add an egg (egg) to a mug of ale (noggin). Well, how is it considered? It is possible that egg nog is just a modified posset, an English drink based on raw chicken eggs, milk and beer or wine.
No one will tell you how it really was centuries ago, but the fact that today Eggnog is more than just a drink will forever remain a fact. This is, in a way, a Christmas symbol, a phenomenon, one of those that is not ashamed to borrow from the “bourgeois”.
Uncle Angelo’s Egg Nog by Dale DeGroff
I chose this recipe as the first one not by chance. Firstly, it is offered to us by DeGroff – a very authoritative source among imbibers. Secondly, the classic eggnog, well, the one in the IBA, with brandy, seemed to me somehow “castrated”. At a minimum, there was a bartender’s imprint – mix everything in a shaker, etc. etc. No, Eggnog is more of a kitchen process than a bar process. Only whisk, only hardcore.
- 6 fresh chicken eggs
- 180 g sugar
- 950 ml of whole milk
- 480 mL of creamy cream
- 240 ml bourbon
- 120 ml spiced rum
- nutmeg (to taste)
Separate the yolks from the whites. In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks and 120 g of sugar (in other words, prepare eggnog). Beat the yolks with a whisk until the mass begins to lighten. Then stir in the milk, cream, bourbon and spiced rum. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites and remaining sugar until stiff. Then both mixtures must be combined and can be served at the table, not forgetting to sprinkle each serving with grated nutmeg. Eggnog is traditionally drunk from small crystal cups. Such a warm lamp cocktail, no worse than a Checkered Plaid.
Video recipe from the master:
But drinking a cocktail right away is not advised. You need to keep it at least overnight in the refrigerator, but in general the most textured, soft and rounded Eggnog will turn out in 5 days, or even 3-4 weeks – such a seasoned Lawyer. You should not be afraid for your health – alcohol will preserve everything you need. Imbiber microbiologists from Rockefeller University (New York, USA) deliberately infected their eggnog with salmonella (and even sown it), but by Christmas the drink became completely sterile.
To cook or not to cook: that is the question!
If you were not impressed by the laboratory pranks of microbiologists from New York and your legs are still trembling at the word “salmonella”, we suggest cooking the so-called cooked eggnog. For convenience, we will call it “custard eggnog” – this is exactly the wording Pavel Yan came up with in his article about this wonderful drink.
Classic Cooked Egg Nog (Classic Custard Egg Nog)
2 large chicken eggs- 75 g sugar
- 250 ml of milk
- 75 ml cream
- 80 ml bourbon/dark or spiced rum
- pinch of salt
- cinnamon (to taste)
- nutmeg (to taste)
- cloves (to taste)
- vanilla or vanilla extract (to taste)
2 large chicken eggs1. Pour milk into a small saucepan, add a pinch of salt and spices to taste. Vanilla extract, if you use it, should be added in step 4. Heat the milk until it starts to steam, but do not boil. Leave it to brew a little, and before further use, it is better to strain the spiced milk through a fine tea sieve.
2. Separate the proteins from the yolks. Hide the whites in the refrigerator, and grind the yolks in a bowl with sugar until a creamy whitish mass. Now warm milk, already strained, should be slowly poured into our eggnog from the yolk, constantly stirring with a whisk.
3. Next, the resulting mixture should be put on medium heat and constantly stirring, heat up for a while. Ideal: 10-15 minutes at around 70 оC. If you don’t have a cooking thermometer, use a spoon test. If you lower a massive metal spoon into our future eggnog for a few seconds, and then take it out, then the hot mixture should run down the spoon, leaving a thin, uniform film on it.
4. After brewing and passing the spoon test, add heavy cream and vanilla extract to the mixture. Wait until Eggnog cools down and pour alcohol into it in a thin stream, constantly stirring with a whisk. Put in the refrigerator for several hours.
5. Before serving the eggnog to the table, the remaining proteins should be whipped until a dense, shiny foam is formed, and then, slowly and intensively stirring, introduce the previously obtained egg-milk mixture into the proteins. It is better to do this immediately in a punch bowl. Now the drink needs to be sprinkled with grated nutmeg and poured into cute crystal cups or small tumblers.
It is advisable to spend one night in the refrigerator before serving the custard eggnog. Unlike the usual, this one does not need to endure for a long time. If you do everything right, you will get a really real American Christmas Eggnog – with a soft, creamy, airy, but at the same time dense texture, as well as a wonderful taste and aroma. A very festive dessert. If desired, it can be made non-alcoholic by excluding all hints of alcohol from the recipe – please your children too.
Bon appetit and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!