Kuhano Vino

The story

Wine simmered with spices is served at Croatian winter holiday gatherings as a simpler, homier answer to Central European versions such as German Glühwein or Hungarian forralt bor — wine heated with cinnamon, cloves, and orange, often with sugar or honey to each household's taste. In Croatian cities, kuhano vino is now a fixture of the Advent markets, served in cups that warm the hands, beside stalls selling medenjaci and licitar hearts, much as it is at the markets across Central Europe from which the practice was borrowed in recent times. At home it is often made in large quantities for the guests who come and go through the holidays, and hosts leave it on the stove to be warmed as needed. Many families have their own “secret” addition — a sprig of rosemary, a little homemade šljivovica — that makes the drink recognizably theirs. For the diaspora, simmering wine at home is one of the simplest ways to make a room smell instantly like a Croatian Christmas.