h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

found here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A655562

Since it's describing something that is very closely associated with Christmas, I would hope to see it edited before Christmas if possible - and if it's found worthy of being edited...

this doesn't sound that dissimilar to the old sailor's drink grog.

any relation?

No relation whatsoever, with the possible exception that both drinks' names may have been slightly influenced along onomatopoeic lines (i.e. they sound a bit like glug). As the entry implies, glogg is derived from glödgat vin - literally mulled wine - whereas grog takes its name from the nickname of its inventor, English Vice-Admiral Edward "Old Grog" Vernon, so-called because he was rarely seen on deck without his grogram cloak (grogram being a corruption of the French grosgrain, meaning a coarsely woven taffeta). However, glogg is closely related to gold.

A couple of queries.

How easily available is dried Seville orange peel and how much is a 'dl' (demilitre, surely not) - oh, just clicked - it's probably a typo for 'cl'. If you can't get dried Seville Orange peel, would ordinary orange peel do at a pinch?

Hi, Titania!

This entry looks great - I'm definitely going to try the recipe for Christmas.

There was one small point I found confusing:you say 'More commonly known in Continental Europe as mulled wine, glögg or, without the diacritical, glogg, was the same beverage as the Central European glühwein. Known in Sweden as glödgat vin...'

What's your definition of the difference between Continental Europe and Central Europe? I think you might be better to give it by language - gluhwein in German, glodgat vin in Swedish, glogg in ???

I think that in English it's better not to call it mulled wine if there is vodka in it - people expect mulled wine to have at most the alcohol content of wine (12% or so). If it has a higher alcohol content, it's safer to warn people and call it punch. While modern punch is more commonly a cold mixture, punch was traditionally often made with hot water and could have almost any alcohol level depending on the spirits added.

Azara

Thanks for all the input!

I've changed the description of Seville orange a little, trying to make it clearer

Then I thought I'd convert some more of the measures (I know how to), but I'm not sure into what - fluid ounce, pint or gallon?:
- 37 centilitres of Vodka
- 6 decilitres of sugar

Could someone tell me which measures are usually used in recipes?

Azara, I'll check with my co-writer... but as for the comparison with mulled wine, glögg did not originally contain vodka - that's why today's glögg doesn't have much in common with that or Glühwein...

Titania, there's a problem with the way h2g2 displays letters with accents on the Front Page. When your entry makes it to the front page, they won't be able to display that ö letter. But Glogg looks wrong. Is it possible in Swedish to use oe and spell it Gloegg? I know that is acceptable in German.

The article itself is good.

-> You seem to have forgotten to put sugar in the list of ingredients, although you mention it in the detailed instructions. You should give the amount of sugar in grams rather than in dl.

-> You should say "Dried skin of 1½ Seville Oranges" rather than the way you did.

-> "big teaspoons" should be "heaped teaspoons"

-> "My advice is ..." You're not supposed to have first person references in your entry. Change this.

-> It sounds like you pour the spices into the bottle of vodka. You should say something like "Pour the vodka into a glass jar with an airtight lid, add the spices and seal."

The quantity of Vodka should be given in centilitres. All alcohol is sold in cl throughout Europe, even in the UK. If you want to also give it in American Pints, for the Americans, make sure you label them as American Pints, as UK pints are different.

Thanks Gnomon!

Hmmm... a pity the 'ö' won't work - but I'll leave it up for now - but that's only in the title of the entry, right?

I'll use cl for the vodka, but I would prefer to use dl for the sugar, because most of the recipes (at least in Sweden) use it, so I and many with me don't even own a scale(?) with which to weigh it... I wonder how it is in other countries?

In the UK and Ireland, solids such as sugar, flour etc are always given by weight, not volume. In America, they are usually given by volume, in cups. If you decide to use volume for your recipe, give it in cl rather than dl. dl are almost totally unknown in the UK.

Yes, it's only in the title that you can't use the ö. This is due to a fault in h2g2 which they hope to fix eventually, but your entry will no doubt be Edited long before then.

Did some searching, and it seems that 6 dl of sugar = 2½ cups = 20 oz

If I put it in like that, most researchers would know what I mean, wouldn't they?

Also tried a quick search for either 'Glogg' or 'Gloegg' but both expressions seem quite common on the net... hmmmm...

You should perhaps mention its connection with Christmas and the pre-christmas season. In Germany, Glühwein (with a capital 'G') is to be found wherever a 'Weihnachtsmarkt' (literally: Xmas market, kind of a street market) is being held. It's a good thing to warm yourself up from the inside on a cold Winter's day

Measurement - American style:

Sugar - in cups
other solids - in 'heaping' teaspoons
Alcohol - currently labelled with both fluid ounces and litres. Bottle size now set for litre standard; 0.75 litre, which works out to a not at all even number of fluid ounces.

Of course, since guide entries are to be in British English, units of measure probably should be, as well.

Maybe every recipe in the guide should include a link to http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A471476

NBY

Thanks again, everyone!

I've adjusted the sugar amount slightly, seems 6 dl are closer to 19 oz than 20 - still quite a lot of sugar...

...and I've added a paragraph just before the recipe about glögg being part of Swedish Christmas traditions

There was a question about the difference between Continental Europe and Central Europe...

Continental Europe is Europe except UK and Ireland

Central Europe is basically the central parts of Europe, excluding the most northern, southern, western and eastern parts, leaving mainly the German-speaking countries

...or that's the definition I know anyway...

...and the word 'glögg' is the Swedish name for the beverage originally known as 'glödgat vin' but quite different in ingredients

Should I add these explanations to the entry?

This sounds like a really good entry. You might want to include some of the other recipes in the entry as well.

Editorial Note: This conversation has been moved from 'Peer Review' to 'Glögg'.

This thread has been moved out of the Peer Review Forum because your entry has now been recommended for the Edited Guide.

You can find out what will happen to your entry here: http://www.h2g2.com/SubEditors-Process

Congratulations!

Whoppieeeee!!! That was fast!

I don't *want* to add other recipes - this one's my favourite!
Of course I don't know that many recipes... hmm...

I think I'll create a conversation to the entry once it's up and running, asking for more recipes, and add a banner in my user name once I know the URL - how's that?

Well, Titania, I pride myself on being fast and efficient .


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