December’s Word for Wednesday theme is festive food and drink. So far we’ve looked at mulled wine, mince pies, eggnog, and Brussels sprouts. Our final festive drink of the month is sherry. Sherry is a dry to sweet amber wine from the Jerez region of southern Spain. It is usually drunk as an aperitif. The word dates to around 1600 when it was used as a mistaken singular form of the word 'sherris' (which dates to the 1530s). 'Sherris' comes from the Spanish ‘vino de Xeres’ meaning ‘wine from Xeres’. Today, this Andalusian town where sherry is made is known as Jerez. You can lea...
December’s Word for Wednesday theme is festive food and drink. So far we’ve looked at mulled wine, mince pies, and eggnog. Today’s festive food is the Brussels sprout. This Christmas dinner vegetable is often debated – some people love Brussels sprouts, others can’t stand them. A Brussels sprout is a small green cabbage-like bud that grows on a stalk. The word dates to 1740, though the first written description of this type of vegetable dates to the 1580s. Brussels sprouts have long been associated with Flanders, specifically Brussels, in Belgium. The name Brussels is of Germanic origin and comes from ‘brocca&r...
December’s Word for Wednesday theme is festive food and drink. So far we’ve looked at mulled wine and mince pies. The festive drink we have chosen to look at today is eggnog. Traditionally served in North America during the Christmas season, eggnog is a punch made of an alcoholic liquor mixed with egg and sweetened milk or cream. Sometimes it is flavoured with spices such as cinnamon or nutmeg. Other historic names of this drink include ‘egg milk punch’ and ‘milk punch’. Eggnog has been used in American English since around 1775. The word ‘egg’ dates to the mid-fourteenth century and comes from Old Norse. The word ...
December’s Word for Wednesday theme is festive food and drink. Last week we looked at mulled wine and today’s chosen treat is mince pies. Whether you love them or hate them, there’s no doubt that the mince pie is a Christmas staple here in the UK. A mince pie is a round sweet pie that is filled with mincemeat (a mixture of dried fruits, fat, and spices). Originally mince pies would have contained meat, but today they are usually made without. Although early versions of this pie often went by other names – 'mutton pie', 'Christmas pie', 'shrid pie' – the name mince pie dates to around 1600. The word mincemea...
Happy December! This month’s Word for Wednesday theme is festive food and drink. Our first choice of the month is a seasonal favourite—mulled wine. Mulled wine is wine that is heated with sugar, spices, and often citrus fruit. Other popular mulled drinks include mulled cider, mulled apple juice, and hot toddy. The word ‘mull’ has been used to describe the process of heating a drink with sweeteners and spices since the 1600s. While the origin of this word is unknown, there may be a link with the Dutch word ‘mol’ which was used to describe a sweet beer. ‘Mull’ has also been used in English to mean ‘...
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