In Alsace, spices are an important part of traditional sweets and desserts. They might flavour the Christmas cookies or enrich spice cakes, intensify the taste of the mulled wine or spice up the Christmas table in other ways. Spices are the backbone of Alsatian Christmas flavour. Sweet or savoury, these Alsatian gourmet elements enhance the wondrous experience for the holiday palate.
• Anise flavours two types of typically Alsatian cookies, the Anisbredele and the Springerle.
• Star Anise gives its flavour to mulled wine and its fragrance to the Advent wreaths.
• Cinnamon, one of the oldest known spices, is used in ground form for spice cakes and Lebkuchen. It is also used dried and in its original form of rolled sticks for mulled wine.
• Cloves are used in spice cakes and mulled wine, but also for meat marinades (in the dish called baeckeoffe, for example), as well as in sauerkraut. At Christmastime, they are pierced into oranges that decorate the Christmas tree.
• Grated nutmeg gives its scent to spice cakes and mulled wine and also flavours the famous Flammecküeche (a flambéed tart), Spätzle (a pasta specialty), soups, onion tarts, potatoes au gratin, liver or fish quenelles…
