Warm Up With Something Hot Hagar

 The ABC’S of Health

By Dr. Jo Gjelsten

Warm Up With Something Hot Hagar

I hate to be cold. But, Norwegian that I am, I love to get out into the great outdoors, in any season, especially this one, where I get to go downhill at 70 mph on two flat boards, a wing and a prayer. Why we Scandahoovians like to do this may, or may not have had something to do with how much glogg got passed around at Yule, Yul. Now, especially when I ski, I wear a helmet which I wish came with horns so I’d look the part whizzing past all trees. Glogg, pronounced glug, (ugh) is the guttural sound one makes when drunk and asking for Smmmore Ghrer ghahgg?

Winter drinks, designed to keep us warm, well most of them, is what I’ll talk about this month since I can’t think of anything else at the moment. Your might want to try these at home in case you’d like to get rid of your company earlier than they expected, or not. Gluhwein, made from glue, or something that sounds like glue in English, is a German favorite mulled wine with cinnamon and cloves, and is drunk on Weihnachtsmärkten, a street “Christmas Market” with singing and dancing and carrying on.

My ancestors, in fact all of Scandinavia, also made a mulled wine, variously spelled versions of what sounds like the above, “Glogg”, each with their own mark above or through the “o” in that word, which made them feel very important, indeed. It’s made with wine, cinnamon, cardamom, raisins, almonds, cloves, ginger, bitter orange, aquavit, vodka, more aquavit, brandy, and more aquavit, in that order or it’s just not right. Ok you can skip any or all of the above and no one would notice. Bolivians and their ancestors are reported to make Api Morado a thick purple corn drink, made by boiling blue corn flour, pineapple, spices, cinnamon, cloves, orange peel, and a white version made with sugar, cinnamon, white bread and milk, a sweet hot beverage which keeps them warm on cold nights. You can eat or drink it; it’s that thick.

The Acacia tree of Australia yields seeds (like coffee beans) that are used in a drink called Wattelcino named after a bartender in a casino who asks wattle ‘ya have Mate? Ok I lied. Grind them like coffee and enjoy a beverage that tastes like hazelnut coffee with chocolate, from Australia. A drink without caffeine, , Wattelcino, Mate! Speaking of Mate, mate, there’s even a Mate! Yerba Mate, a VERY popular drink since ancient times, that people of the same Andes region mentioned above, is actually a tea that some people carry with them throughout the day for energy and according to, someone, tastes like "a combination of lightly smoked wood, weak coffee and flavored hay." (hay?) A mix of "green tea and coffee, with hints of tobacco and oak". This sounds like my friend JoAnn describing her wine at her wine class in the Nyack Library, except for the hay. Even Darwin mentioned it as ‘Paraguay Tea” in his Voyage of the Beagle, about a dog who discovered Evolution. This may not keep you warm, but it could give you a lot of energy to get out with the dog sled! (What dog sled?)

Sahlab, poured from a Russian Samovar like the ones we see at the Russian Festival each year in Nyack, is made from Cassava starch, milk, and cinnamon. If you dribble your Sahlab you’re a sahlob.

You guys in the Netherlands, should you be reading this, unlikely as that may seem, may get your day’s cumin in the form of Kumenkafe which may also have caraway seeds and potato flavored brenivininin.. inin,.. in, which is a liquor that can help to further heat things up, and so you won’t even gag, no, not once.

If you really want to get into trouble make coco tea outside your home in the Andes, if you happen to get Rivertown there, as it’s banned, (the drink, not Rivertown, which they absolutely LOVE, or would, if they read it) back to my sentence, it’s banned for some reason that makes me want to go there and get some. It’s described as a “wonder drug that cures altitude sickness” among a laundry list other claims, and it must do something because who would drink this greenish yellow bitter stuff unless it did somebody some good. While I have your attention, I wonder what DO you put on a laundry list anyway; anyone know? Back to the article. Other Norse peeps drink ‘da Glogg, eat gravlox, (oh those crazy Norse) and rakfisk, (gag) fermented to the point you can spread it on a cracker, (but would you?). I don’t think so. Skip the fisk, pass the glogg. (Glug). Www.GoDrJo.com Yaya! Reprinted with my permission as I laugh at myself all over again, with a hot beverage of course..The information provided in this article and all articles by Joanne Gjelsten, Doctor of Chiropractor, is for informational purposes only. You should consult with a healthcare professional, your Doctor, before starting any diet, exercise or supplementation program, before taking any or stopping any medication, or if you have or suspect you might have a health problem. 845 358 2687. Offices in Nyack and Chestnut Ridge. By Appt. www.godrjo.com . For more articles .Face to face in office visit is necessary  for nutritional advice for specific problems and concerns will be addressed to patients and not over the phone or by text or email. Www.godrjo.com. 845 358 2687.

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