Eggnog: what’s the story behind this holiday drink? 🥚
As festive times fall upon us, the term ‘eggnog’ starts to come up after having been on the low for the rest of the year. Since the first known record of the existence of eggnog, it has been a drink tied to the holiday season.
Eggnog is a drink made with eggs, cream, milk and spices, and as an optional addition, alcohol. It’s very similar to custard and is usually served warm. Store-bought eggnog is pasteurised and so always safe to drink. If you’re making your own eggnog, it’s advised to heat the base up to a temperature of at least 70 degrees Celsius for safety. 🐣
Egg-celent History
While the drink originated in Britain, the word eggnog originated in America in the late 1700s. It is debated whether the ‘nog’ in eggnog is referring to a kind of strong ale popular during the time, or ‘noggin’ - the mug in which bartenders served it. The first recorded mention of the word eggnog was in a poem written all the way back in 1775 - so the drink has been around for quite a while. 🍺
The creation of eggnog was most probably influenced by an even older medieval British drink called posset - made with hot milk, wine or ale, and spices. A 17th-century recipe for posset has been noted to contain eggs, and so this addition would have later resulted in the development of eggnog.
The drink was originally one for the wealthy, and was most commonly mixed with sherry or brandy. In the 18th century, the drink became popular in America when it crossed the Atlantic to British colonies. At that time, rum was popular in eggnog, and as the years went on whiskey or bourbon became the preferred alcoholic addition. Today, it’s not just a drink for old men on barstools, but one for all the family. 👨👩👧👦
The local context
If you haven’t had eggnog before, you may be more familiar with egg flip, or as our Maltese grandparents call it, ‘flip’. This word comes from the technique used to make it: rapidly flipping the mixture between two pitchers. This was a common drink in Maltese households during the holiday season due to influence from the British, and it’s basically the same idea was eggnog - eggs mixed with spirits - but without any dairy. Nowadays we aren’t as keen about sending our kids off to bed with warm eggs and whiskey, but the drink remains a part of our culture and of many others too. 🥃
Make it yourself
Nowadays it isn’t at all difficult to find commercially prepared eggnog that you can buy off grocery store shelves. But it’s really nothing like the homemade version, which isn’t difficult to do at all. All you need to make eggnog is egg yolks, sugar, whipping cream, milk, vanilla extract, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. If you want to add alcohol (which you definitely should, unless there are kids in your crowd) go for bourbon, whiskey, rum or brandy.
Find recipe here: 🥛
Once you master eggnog, you could even get to baking eggnog flavoured desserts and treats.
What do you think of this strange but widely loved Christmas beverage?
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