Vinho Quente

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy 3-liter pot
• •Vegetable peeler
• •Wooden spoon
• •Ladle
• •Heatproof cups or mugs

Instructions

1. 1

   Prep the fruit

   Peel the orange in wide strips, leaving as much white pith behind as you can, then juice the orange. Dice the apple and pear, if using, into small spoonable pieces. The wide peel gives perfume without too much bitterness, and the small fruit pieces soften quickly enough to eat from the cup.

2. 2

   Wake the spices

   Put the cinnamon, cloves, star anise, and ginger, if using, in a heavy pot over medium heat for about 1 minute, shaking the pot once or twice. Stop when you can smell the spices clearly. Don't let them scorch, because burnt clove tastes medicinal and bossy in the worst way.

3. 3

   Make the syrup

   Add the water, sugar, orange peel, orange juice, apple, and pear. Stir until the sugar dissolves, then simmer for 5 minutes, until the fruit starts to look glossy and the syrup smells like orange and cinnamon. Dissolving the sugar here means the drink sweetens evenly instead of leaving grit at the bottom of the pot.

4. 4

   Add the wine

   Pour in the wine and lower the heat. Warm it gently for 10 to 12 minutes, until the surface trembles at the edges but does not boil. This matters. Boil the wine and you bully the flavor out of it, drive off the aroma, and make the whole pot taste sharp.

5. 5

   Taste and adjust

   Taste a spoonful carefully. Add more sugar 1 tablespoon at a time if the wine is very dry, stirring until it dissolves before tasting again. Sweetness should round the spice and fruit, not turn the drink into syrup. If you want the cachaça, add it now, off the heat, so it stays bright instead of harsh.

6. 6

   Serve it warm

   Ladle into heatproof cups, letting a few pieces of fruit fall into each one, and leave the whole spices in the pot. Serve while warm and ruby-colored, with the fruit soft but still holding its shape. That's the ponto: fragrant, rounded, and easy to drink slowly.

Chef Tips

• •Use a dry red wine you would drink, but don't use your precious bottle. Heat and spice flatten delicate wine. A simple, inexpensive bottle is exactly right here.
• •This is not the place for powdered drink mix or artificial spice sachets. Cloves, cinnamon, orange, apple. Comida de verdade is not complicated. It just asks you to show up.
• •If your oranges are out of season where you live, use one that smells good when you scratch the peel. If it smells like nothing, it will give you nothing. The recipe isn't magic, minha gente.
• •The honest shortcut: use bottled orange juice if Tuesday has you by the collar. It works, but you lose the perfume from the fresh peel, and perfume is half the charm here.
• •Keep it warm on the lowest heat, covered, for up to 1 hour. Don't let it boil while people serve themselves. A quiet pot is your friend.

Advance Preparation

• •You can prep the orange peel, juice, and diced fruit up to 4 hours ahead. Keep the fruit covered in the orange juice so it doesn't brown.
• •You can simmer the syrup with the fruit and spices up to 1 day ahead, then refrigerate it. Add the wine and warm gently when you're ready to serve.
• •Leftover vinho quente keeps 2 days in the fridge. Rewarm gently over low heat and stop before it boils.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 170g)