European Recipes :German Recipes: Feuerzangenbowle

Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.02

       Title: FEUERZANGENBOWLE
Categories: Beverages, Alcohol, German
       Yield: 8 servings

       3    Bottles of red wine
       1    Piece of orange peel
       1    Piece of lemon peel
       5    Cloves
       1    Small sugar hat
       1    Bottle of golden rum
            -at least 108 proof

   Put orange peel, lemon peel and cloves into a tea filter bag, tie shut with
   white yarn. Hang into a copper kettle, pour in wine. Heat up close to
   boiling point, but make sure it never gets to boil. Put the kettle in the
   middle of your table so all your guests can watch the ceremony :-). You
   normally use a "Feuerzange", but as I supect this might be hard to get
   outside Europe I guess you can also use a grid from your barbecue set -
   especially the ones you normally use to barbecue herrings in should work
   pretty well. The point is that you should be able to put the sugar hat on
   it (lying on its side) and place the whole thing safely over the kettle.
   Once you've got that far, you're ready for the ceremony. First, dim your
   lights. Then pour some rum onto the sugar hat, best using a ladle, and
   light it (this is why the rum has to be at least 108 proof). Keep the
   flames burning by ladeling more rum on the sugar hat, until the sugar has
   completely melted and dripped into the wine. Remove the "Feuerzange" and
   the bag with the spices. Serve in heat-proof glasses.

   Variation: Many people like to add sugar and/or a little orange juice
   (preferably freshly pressed).