 
 "Eating, drinking and carrying on..." -- Adelaide Brennan
There goes another year ... Damn. That was fast. I'm reminded of the quote someone attributed to Bea Arthur: "When you get to my age, it seems as if every 15 minutes it's breakfast again." It hasn't gotten quite that bad for me yet (I'm not a Golden Girl, after all), but ... damn. Thanks for all the reads, and thanks for all the participation in the comments section. We hardly got any wingnuts this year, which is a pleasant and welcome surprise, and we seem to have picked up some new regulars. Let's have more of that! I'll leave you with a few cocktail ideas, and catch up on more food and drink porn in the new year. Undoubtedly there'll be plenty, despite the fact that I'm gonna need to hit Weight Watchers again, pretty hard, as of January 2. Have a happy and safe New Year's Eve, y'all! A midnight kiss. This wonderful, lyrical article on The Champagne Cocktail (and on New Orleans too, and how she still loves you) was written by Ryan D. Mayer, and appeared in the January 2008 issue of Where Y'At, "New Orleans' Monthly Entertainment Magazine," a freebie you can pick up all over town. I had been on my way back to the Northshore to my folks' place, from visiting my sisters and nephew on the West Bank, and was hungry. It was fairly late on Boxing Day, and I knew Ye Olde College Inn would still be open. As I dined on Oysters en Brochette and Grilled Drum smothered with Crawfish Étouffée atop Crisp Sautéed Vegetables, I read this article and it damn near brought a tear to my eye. It also told me what I'd be drinking at the stroke of midnight tonight, and what I'll suggest you drink as well. Ryan begins waxing poetic on the joys and pleasures of Champagne, then goes on (links and emphases mine):
I've actually never tried a Champagne Cocktail with Peychaud's Bitters, oddly enough. We will tonight. And by sheer coinkydink, we have a bottle of Veuve Cliquot chilling in the fridge already. I must also thank Ryan for the neologism "ungoogleable," perhaps my new favorite. (The hell with all this ridiculous "w00t" stuff; despite all this "word of the year" hype I'm convinced it's something no thinking human being ever actually says aloud.) Here's where Ryan got me dripping salt water into my oysters:
Amen, my brother. Happy New Year. Cocktail of the Other Day. We're drinking Champagne Cocktails tonight at midnight, people, but there's no reason you can't have one of these first, making a nod to the previous century while we attempt to hold out hope in our hearts that somehow someone can manage to pull the current one out of the toilet (Election Day could go a long way toward that lofty goal). I spent the early part of Christmas Eve at The Swizzle Stick Bar at Café Adelaide, being attended to by the Queen of New Orleans Cocktails, Lu Brow, along with her excellent bartenders Mike, Kevin and Tommy. I began the evening with a most excellent Sazerac, continued with a most excellent Pegu Club (in which the teaspoon of lime juice came from two muddled lime half-wedges, which was a neat idea) and finally this one, which I was very pleasantly surprised to see on The Swizzle Stick's spectacular cocktail menu (even better than the last time I was in, unsurprisingly, given that Lu is the Queen and Ti and Lally, proprietors of the restaurant, are The Cocktail Chicks). It's a lovely, lovely drink, created in 1939 to commemorate Henry Dreyfus' gorgeously designed locomotive that pulled the 20th Century Limited between New York and Chicago.
Is it too early to create a Twenty-First Century Cocktail? Oh, speaking of The Cocktail Chicks ...
I slept through NPR's "Morning Edition" this morning (we were up late last night with friends, sipping
[ Link to today's entries ]
Sinatra was swinging, all the drunks they were singing ... Not only is it Christmas today (and a merry one to all!), but guess who turned FIFTY today! 
Shane's one of the greatest songwriters ever (and "Fairytale of New York," co-written with Jem Finer, is my favorite Christmas song EVER), but given his longtime level of self-abuse who knew he'd last this long? Let's raise a glass to his (relative) indestructability, if not that of his teeth. Let's hear it again, shall we ... and watch, particularly after the ridiculous hoo-hah the other day: I turned my face away, and dreamed about you ... [ Link to today's entries ]
Merry Christmas, y'all. Sorry for the lack of posting -- holiday frenzy means lots of extra work, shopping and travel -- but presumably y'all have been busy yourselves. Here's a little holiday greeting and a jingle-jangle-jingle from my most favoritest Christmas tree ornament. Have a wonderful holiday! 
Merry Christmas, Joyeux Noël, Felíz Navidad, Nollaig shona dhaoibh ... A holiday card from New Orleans. If you care about New Orleans, and especially if you lost anything, you need to watch this six-minute video by Matt Faust, hosted by Levees.org. The specific images are from a home in Chalmette (presumably the filmmaker's family home), but it'll hit home for any New Orleanian. Caution -- lumps in your throat and/or weeping may ensue. Cocktail of the day. If you haven't made aged eggnog, there's only really one choice for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, the venerable Tom & Jerry. Professor Jerry Thomas famously claimed to have invented the drink and named it for himself, but as the great man was prone to tall tales, we can take that with a grain of salt -- well, a salt mine, actually, as his claim has been gently and fondly debunked of late, notably by both Dave Wondrich and Eric Felten in their recent tomes. There's no reason we can't toast the Professor along with the holiday season, though as we quaff. The Tom & Jerry was once a staple of bars and homes for decades, although it's fallen out of favor in the last 40 or 50 years. It's a pity, because it's a terrific drink. I've posted this drink before, but there ain't no reason not to do it again. Here's libation goddess Audrey Saunders' version:
By the way, speaking of which ... if you STILL haven't finished your Christmas shopping yet, hie thee to a bookstore and get Dave Wondrich's Imbibe!, which'll be the best present you could possibly give you your cocktailian (or even merely drinking) friends and family. Add to that the aforementioned Eric Felten's new How's Your Drink?, as well as two more that I'll review further a bit later on, Ti Martin and Lally Brennan's In the Land of Cocktails, and Philip Collier's Mixing New Orleans. Pork Porn. "I have a pork emergency!" Mary called week before last. She had been presented with a Christmas gift of a big box full of salumi (Italian cured meats) from Armandino Batali's shop in Seattle. (That's Mario's dad. He makes the best this side of Italy.) 
Guanciale! (Hog jowl bacon from Lazio, the area around Rome.) Coppa! (Traditional Italian dry-cured pork shoulder.) Agrumi! (A new product, a salami cured with citrus and cardamom.) "What am I gonna do with all this stuff?!" Don't panic! Call the Fat Pack. We'll all come over and help you eat it. I'll make bucatini all'Amatriciana, and we'll just eat the rest of the salumi. Done! We ended up assembling seven people in less than 48 hours, and I got to cookin'. 
Isn't that gorgeous? But you ain't seen nothin' yet ... 
My ... God. I sliced this pound-and-a-half slab of guanciale by hand, and the aroma of the truly porky pork and that silky, unctuous fat ... Oh my, I do believe I'm gettin' the vapuhs ... quick, find me a fainting couch! 
Piles and piles of hand-sliced guanciale ... looka dat. I may swoon. It's ready to go on a sheet pan to render the fat with which I'll sauté the thick-sliced red onions, big chunks of garlic and crushed red pepper that goes in Bucatini all'Amatriciana (hollow spaghetti garnished in the style of the town of Amatrice), perhaps my favorite pasta dish and one of the all-time greats. It can be made with pancetta or even regular American bacon, but it's at its most authentic (and at its best) with the deep, intensely porky flavor of guanciale. 
Here's the rendered guanciale, ready to go back into the pot after the red onions, garlic and crushed red pepper are sauced with the basic tomato sauce. 
Mary lovingly displays the dry-cured pork shoulder and \ citrus-cardamom salami from Armandino Batali's Salumi Artisan Cured Meats in Seattle. 
Red onions + garlic + crushed red pepper + pork fat + guanciale + basic tomato sauce + Italian parsley + salt 'n pepper + grated pecorino Romano = bucatini all'Amatriciana. (The guanciale just went back into the pot at this point.) 
Enough for about sixteen people, yum! (That's a really big pasta bowl, in case you can't tell from the scale of the photo.) 
Add some crusty Italian bread and a salad, and you've got one hell of a meal. Buon appetito! [ Link to today's entries ]
Give the gift of bacon. There are always, of course, myriad bacon and bacon-related gifts from our friends at The Grateful Palate, home of the Bacon of the Month Club. They have many wonderful artisanal bacons, but they don't have my recent favorite ... Via Chef John Besh's Restaurant August in New Orleans, I've become a huge fan of Allan Benton's Smoked Country Bacon, which is one of the best I've ever had. It's only $20 for a four-pound order (deal!), and worth every penny. And if, for some bizarre reason, you don't think you can eat four pounds of bacon before it goes bad, they assure us that kept sealed and refrigerated the bacon will keep for "months." Today's quote of the day comes from Dave Williams of the Asbury Park Press (thanks, Dave!), who found this quote in a gift roundup at Mighty Goods, pointing to Benton's bacon:
I dunno, would I kill an angel for bacon? Yes. Yes I would. Of course. Guest photos of the day. These shots were very kindly sent along by Chris Hannah, bartender at Arnaud's French 75 Bar in New Orleans, who's been serving the Réveillon Cocktail and photographed them in action:  
By the way, we covet those monkey lamps greatly, and would love to have one on our bar at home. But they're expensive! We might just have to break down and splurge. New Orleans' best cocktails: Hot Buttered Rum. Master bartender Chris McMillian shows us how to make one of the season's best drinks, perfect for snappy wintry weather. And no, you don't just plonk a pat of butter into a glass of hot rum -- there's a lot more to it. I wouldn't mind a drop of pimento dram in that, too. :-) The Cocktail Spirit, with Robert Hess. Robert's been in high gear this week, getting out two new videos:
Indeed invented in Ireland, although perhaps not where you might think; in his new book How's Your Drink?, Eric Felten debunks the story we've all heard about how Irish Coffee was invented by a bartender at Shannon Airport. Oh, and don't forget all your absinthe accessories and regalia from Cary Bonnecaze at La Maison d'Absinthe on Royal Street. [ Link to today's entries ]
They say you better do as you are told ... or maybe not. Thirty years ago tonight, Elvis Costello and The Attractions were scheduled as the musical guest on the hottest new show on TV at the time, NBC's Saturday Night Live. They wanted to play their new song "Radio Radio," but were told by someone from the network that they couldn't; apparently the song was perceived as being "anti-media." They said okay, they'd do something else ... and during the live broadcast, eight seconds into the song "Less Than Zero," Elvis stopped the band and said, "I'm sorry, ladies and gentlemen, but there's no reason to do this song here," turned to the band, called out "OK, Radio Radio ... one two three four," and proceeded not to do as he was told. I was watching that night, 16 at the time, a huge fan of the show already and a nascent Elvis Costello fan. I had no idea what was going on, but it was an electrifying moment, and a fantastic performance. As the story went, SNL producer Lorne Michaels went "apoplectic" back in the control room, and Elvis was told afterwards, amidst shriek and spittle, that his career was finished and he'd never play the show again. In fact, Elvis and the Attractions were not invited back for 12 years, and spend those ensuing years and the subsequent 18 years in a rather glorious career, for the most part (we'll just cringe and not think about the Ray Charles incident, as all was forgiven later). Way to you'll-never-eat-lunch-in-this-town-again, Lorne. I can't remember the last time I had any desire to watch SNL; with a few exceptions, it has for the most part sucked since the departure of the Harry Shearer-Christopher Guest cast way back when. (Oh, and ... 30 years ago?! Jesus Gawd, I'm old.) [ Link to today's entries ]
Cocktail of the day. Courtesy of Gary Regan, via his book The Joy of Mixology. Someone gave us a big bag of oranges the other day, and Wes decided on this use to get things started. We're unsure as to whether this drink is pronounced "mor-REESE" or "MOR-ris;" we chose the latter, in a nod to E. M. Forster.
Orange juice -- it's not just for breakfast anymore. The Cocktail Spirit, with Robert Hess. Ordinarily I'd raise an eyebrow at a drink that's basically a Tequila Alexander, but Robert sure does make this one look good.
We'll give this one a try, as soon as I'm finished messing around with all these Réveillon variations that are being bandied about ... Carpano Antica, Punt E Mes, Dubonnet, pear liqueurs, who knew it was so flexible?! Ike Turner, RIP. His personal life notwithstanding, the man was a musical giant, and one of the architects of soul music. Here's a classic performance: [ Link to today's entries ]
Cocktail of the day. We got the lights on the tree last night, but got lazy and decided to save the ornamenting for tonight. We listened to Christmas music by Michael Doucet and The Blind Boys of Alabama, and sipped a cocktail. Yep, I'm flogging an original concoction again, but I really like this one and I hope you will too. It was published in the July/August 2007 issue of Imbible Magazine, although there was a difference between their published recipe and mine -- my original recipe called for Carpano Antica Formula, the spiciest and most full-flavored sweet vermouth, while Imbibe called for Punt E Mes, which isn't how I usually make it. Vya sweet would also work if you don't have Carpano, but I think Punt E Mes adds a bitter edge that, to me, doesn't work quite as well in this cocktail. (See the comments for Paul's quite cogent reasoning for employing Punt E Mes as a substitute, though ... he's right, of course.) If it's too dry for your taste, you can substitute a pear liqueur (Belle de Brillet, Marie Brizard Poire Williams or Rothman & Winter Orchard Pear) for the pear eau-de-vie. It's full of holiday flavor, and, I think, perfect for the season. You'll need a rare ingredient, though, but if you've been experimenting with making pimento dram, or Jamaican allspice liqueur you'll already have some on hand. Rick and I have both had good luck mail-ordering the commercially-made stuff, Berry Hill Allspice Liqueur, from Reggae Treats. Homemade or shipped from Jamaica, if you're a serious cocktailian, you need this in your bar. Also, I just heard from Chris Hannah, bartender at Arnaud's French 75 Bar in the French Quarter in New Orleans -- he's started serving this at the bar, although he's been using Dubonnet Rouge instead of the Carpano sweet vermouth, which I think is a great idea. (I can't wait to try it tonight!) Please do head over to the French 75 Bar, adjacent to Arnaud's Restaurant at 813 Bienville St. Tell him I said hi, and I'll see him in a couple of weeks.
Chris, thanks a million -- I'm honored and thrilled that this drink is being served not only in New Orleans, but also at an establishment as venerable as Arnaud's. A Tom Waits Christmas. From a few years back (to say the least), Tom performs "Silent Night" as an intro to "Christmas Card From a Hooker in Minneapolis" ... A heartwarming tale for Christmas. Recipe of the day. Because everything tastes better with You-Know-What ... it's Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies with Maple Cinnamon Glaze. Ho ho ho! [ Link to today's entries ]
Cocktail of the day. A trip to Target to buy new Christmas tree lights (an experience potentially just this side of Hell, but relatively painless except for our indecision as to what kind to get), putting the icicle lights up around the eaves of the house, getting the tree up (but not decorated or lit yet), and we were ready for a drink. What kind? "The kind I can make without having to get into the bar, 'cause I don't wanna move all those Christmas ornament boxes that are piled up on front of it," Wes said. Good enough reason for a cocktail choice. One bottle was already out, the other two were in the fridge. Easy peasy. And damn good.
That's a 2:1 Martini, and there's no reason to fear it, especially with this vermouth. Wes chose Beefeater not only because it was already out, but because he wanted a robust enough gin to stand up to the assertive vermouth, and no orange bitters, also because he wanted no competition with the vermouth. Mighty, mighty fine. [ Link to today's entries ]
Make it right. They're starting to call Brad Pitt "St. Brad" in New Orleans. For good reason. He's spearheaded Make It Right New Orleans, spending millions of his own dollars and coordinating efforts among architects and builders, to build 150 new homes in the Lower Ninth Ward, environmentally green and architecturally and culturally consistent, to help displaced residents come home and live in their old neighborhoods again. In the meantime, on the site will be a huge drive-through art installation called "The Pink Project," both as an ephemeral art installation/memorial to the victims of the levee failures and as a means of raising awareness of the rebuilding project:
I think this is stupendous. My hat's off to Brad, a new New Orleanian who's actually doing something valuable with his money and his celebrity. Not that I wasn't already a big fan anyway; as Oyster said, "Hell, I can't even begrudge him his decision not to do any more nude scenes in films." (D'oh.) Check out the web site -- any and all contributions are welcomed, and you can adopt any part of the construction process from an entire house (for $150K) all the way down to a gallon of paint. The Good Doctor on NPR. This weekend, Christie's auction house in New York will be holding the first auction of liquor since Prohibition, featuring some extremely rare whiskies and brandies. Our friend Ted "Dr. Cocktail" Haigh talks to NPR's "Talk of the Nation" about what makes a bottle of hooch worth up to thirty grand (some of which are kind of ovepriced). Hey, the 1811 Napoleon Cognac is, he says, "a pretty good deal at just several thousand dollars." Who wants to go in on it? Music video of the day. Here's a blast to my high school / early college past, and one of my favorite groups of musicians -- Rockpile. (AKA Nick Lowe, Dave Edmunds, Terry Williams and Billy Bremner.) Here's a live performance from circa 1978. And Yep Roc is re-releasing Jesus of Cool next year, woo! Barnum was right. One born every minute. Thomas Tussler was right too, and has been for 500 years -- "A fool and his money are soon parted." Diana sent the latest method of parting silly people from their value-declining dollars: Celebrity Cellars. They sell wine with labels featuring the Rolling Stones logo, the KISS logo, Barbra Streisand, Madonna and Celine Dion. And the wines themselves? Well, I have no idea. It seems to be all about the labels, with barely a word about the origin of the wine, who the winemaker is, even where they get them. All it says is, "Wine varieties are carefully selected for you, and will differ for each club shipment (varieties include Cabernet, Chardonnay, Syrah and more)." They could carefully select a tanker car load of Two Buck Chuck, for all we know. But even if the wines are decent, you're paying for a lot more than just the wine. Their wines go for $30-40 a bottle for paper lablels, $70-90 a bottle for "etched labels." It's also a wine club, which costs $60 to join (plus the cost of the wine) and you get two bottles every other month. Tell you what. You want to join a wine of the month club? Try the real one. It's cheaper, no signup fee and you get a lot more bang for your buck. We liked them a lot, and only quit because we were accumulating too much wine (we tend to drink far more cocktails, and we're still living off our WotMC stash). Better yet, find an independenly-owned wine store in your area (we like The Colorado Wine Company and Silverlake Wine) and patronize them, especially if they offer regular tastings. Diana says, "I'm holding out for some vintage Tom Waits." Perhaps they could relabel some of these. "Celebrity Cellars" ... sheesh. *eyeroll* [ Link to today's entries ]
Tinctura Auranti Amari! I've found a source for dried bitter orange peel! It's not the exact same species as Seville, from what I can tell -- this stuff is Aurantium amarae pericarpium rather than Citrus aurantium, which would be the Curaçao orange instead of Seville, but they're apparently quite similar. The source is Northern Brewer, a homebrew supply company; it seems that a number of beers, especially Belgian-stype white ales, employ bitter orange peel in one stage of the brewing process. As this stuff is being sold specifically for its flavor and not for any kind of medicinal qualities, I'm hoping to avoid the problem Mike had using the dark, aged peels from the Chinese herbalist. My tincture of A. amarae pericarpium in 100-proof Stolichnaya is steeping away. I hope to have a batch of Amer Boudreau / Picon replica ready by the New Year. Absinthe Américain? Is it a craze yet? Maybe so, with the announcement that St. George Spirits of Alameda, California will be the first American producer of absinthe, now that it's once again legal in the United States. Any jumping-on-the-bandwagon skepticism that I might otherwise have is instantly dispelled by the fact that St. George makes really good stuff all around, and I'm excited to try this. Lance Winters, who makes the absinthe at St. George, is also profiled in the New York Times, which also includes a tasting of St. George Absinthe Verte along with the two other currently available absinthes on the market, Kübler and Lucid, and finds it "the most layered" of the three. (There's apparently an absinthe from Brazil (!) that's been approved for sale in the U.S., and I do retain my skepticism about that one. I'm not saying it's bad -- I don't know, I haven't tried it or talked to anyone who has -- but given how far Brazil is removed from the absinthe-making and -consuming tradition, I'll wait and let someone else taste that one first.) Whoo, our absinthe fountain's gonna get a workout! Cocktail of the day. Nothin' special, just nice. After flipping through Wayne Curtis' excellent And a Bottle of Rum: A History of the New World in Ten Cocktails again, I took Wayne's suggestion for a nice, simple way to enjoy the new bottle of Rhum Clément VSOP that a friend was kind enough to give us. It's a little twist on my oldest old favorite.
As we sipped these last night, thoroughly enjoying them, Wes said, "Y'know ... I still like 'em better with whiskey." Y'know ... I do too; it's hard to beat the drink you grew up with. I do still like this a lot, though, and recommend it heartily if you're trying a new rum and want to try it in a cocktail where its own qualities will still shine through. [ Link to today's entries ]
Happy Repeal Day!! As of December 5, 1933, the 21st Amendment to the Consitution of the United States was ratified, to wit:
 Logo by Jeff Morgenthaler Wouldn't mind being at Vessel in Seattle tonight, as Jamie has huge plans to celebrate the day. To show that after all these years there are no hard feelings (I guess), I'll take another cue from Jamie and offer as today's cocktail his slightly rejiggered version of a drink named after the infamous sponsor in the U.S. Senate of the Act that bears his name, which ushered in 14 bummer years of Prohibition. It has a special ingredient, so pay close attention:
Unfortunately, bottled Swedish punsch (the best brands being Gronstedt and Carlshamn's) is no longer available in the U.S., but thanks to Eric Seed of Haus Alpenz, you can obtain its key ingredent and make it yourself. That ingredient is Batavia arrack, a smoky-sweet rumlike liqueur made from distilled sugar cane juice and fermented Indonesian red rice. It's very gradually starting to appear in the U.S. now, and if it doesn't turn up locally you can get it via mail order from Hi-Time Wine and Spirits in Costa Mesa, CA. Swedish punsch (or punch) is an ingredient in several classic cocktails, but you can always drink it on its own; it's quite delightful. (Dr. Cocktail also points out its alchemical properties -- you can add a splash of Swedish punsch to a cheap, bottom-shelf rum and it'll make it taste like an expensive, 20-year aged rum, as if by magic.) Here's a recipe that's enough for 2 cocktails, or other uses:
There ya go, two recipes for the price of one. A Repeal Day bounty! Mmmmmm, makin' bacon on the beach ... Okay, well, not on the beach, but certainly in my kitchen. I have finally bought Michael Ruhlman's book Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing, and was immediately drawn to the pages on making one's own pancetta and bacon. I was further inspired by this weblog post by Danielle that shows you how easy it really is, and you'll end up with something forty-seven million times better than anything Mr. Meyer provides to your supermarket. As she said, "it is easily the best bacon I have ever eaten." In her post, Danielle was wondering what she'd do with all that bacon. (I never wonder about such things; I've got a million things I can do with bacon.) Ruhlman himself says, "You asked for a bacon idea? Finely chop your bacon, saute it, make maple ice cream and fold in the bacon, serve as a dessert on waffles or French toast. Idea from the excellent pastry chef Cory Barrett--just ate it last night so it's on my mind." Oh my, there's an idea. I'm not sure if I'll have time during the frenzy of the holidays, but my first New Year's resolution will be ... "I shall make bacon today." (So much for the "I shall lose weight" kinda resolution.) Mmmmmmm, makin' bacon in my kitchen ... Oh, and if you're going to make bacon ... even if it's not homemade, you'll need a flow chart.  Click to enlarge (By Miss Fipi Lele, via Accordion Guy.) Hooray for bacon! The Cocktail Spirit, with Robert Hess. This week, Robert stumbles across a Bum.
Hmm, maybe I'll make Wes and me a Scorpion when I get home ... [ Link to today's entries ]
Cocktail of the day. There's a lovely new book I'm in the middle of at the moment, called How's Your Drink? Cocktails, Culture and the Art of Drinking Well, by Eric Felten, author of the "How's Your Drink?" column in the Wall Street Journal. I came across this one in a passage on Dubonnet, and thought of our lonely bottle of Dubonnet in the back of the fridge, and how I'd better remember it and use it before it goes off. Eric thoughtfully provided a recipe that I hadn't tried before, and it was fantastic. I would normally stir a cocktail like this, which contains only spirits, liqueur and wine, but the action of the shaking releases oils from the lemon and orange peels. If you're a stickler about stirring clear cocktails, muddle the peels briefly before adding the ingredients and ice.
This cocktail is delightfully wintry, with the spices of the Dubonnet and the bitters playing nicely together. I might even flame an orange peel over this one. New Orleans' Best Cocktails: The Caipirinha. Master bartender Chris McMillian demonstrates how to make one of my very favorite summer drinks. Well, now that it's winter. That's okay, though ... there's no law that says you can't have a Caipirinha in December. Besides, it's summer in Brazil, anyway! I'm sure many of you already know this one by heart, but if you're new to it, watch Chris: Make sure you get yourself a decent muddler, by the way ... hard wood, and not one of those cheapie ones you get that are painted red and then lacquered. Do you really want paint chips and lacquer flakes in your drinks? I thought not. The best ones I've ever seen are from Mister Mojito, made from solid cherry, maple or walnut. They're gorgeous, too! [ Link to today's entries ]
MxMo XXII: Mixology Monday's Repeal Day Celebration!
Repeal Day is starting to become the national holiday of
cocktailians, celebrating the anniversary of the day that Prohibition was repealed, on December 5, 1933.
I wanted a source from right smack in the middle of Prohibition (well, a little more toward the end, in this case), and I wanted a more obscure source than something like The Savoy Cocktail Book. My cocktail book shelf obliged with one of my favorites from the collection. It's called The Saloon in the Home, or A Garden of Rumblossoms, by Ridgely Hunt and George S. Chappell, illustrated by John Held Jr., published in 1930. It's in decent shape for a 77-year-old book, although it's stained and missing the dust jacket. The pages are in great shape, though, and the deficiencies in the condition of the cover are made up for by the fact that I'm lucky enough to have a copy that's autographed by both authors:
Oh right ... what is it? It's a collection of both temperance and Prohibitionist anecdotes, tales, songs, poems, nursery rhymes (!) and sermons, all advocating the banning of alcoholic beverages ... along with 66 cocktail recipes. The authors attempt to dispel the incongruity:
Riiiiight. Methinks Mr. Chappell's sentiments lie squarely in the latter expression, and the rantings of the former are there for the amusement of us Wet tipplers. I myself find the juxtaposition highly entertaining (although there are a few that put a lump in the throat, like the little boy carrying a banner that says, "All's right when Daddy's sober." Okay, I may be a drinker but I'm a sentimental softie.) Amazingly, the review of the book in the December 29, 1930 issue of TIME magazine is online, and unsurprisingly they see right through the authors' claims of impartiality:
It's amusing to see them pay more attention to the temperance preaching than to the drink recipes, and then to refer to the Ramos Fizz as a drink from "antiquity!" The "Kümmel Ye Faithful," by the way, consists of 1/3 gin, 1/3 kümmel, and 1/3 cream. Um. I dunno, but what the heck, I'd try it. Some of the drink recipes therein are nothing to write home about, but there are many drinks in the book that are still quite familiar to those of us who are of the cocktailian set -- the aforementioned Ramos Gin Fizz, plus the Bronx and Brooklyn, the Martini (1:1, with a twist), the "Dacqueri" (sic), the Gin Daisy, the Horse's Neck, the good ol' Old Fashioned, the bathtub gin-hiding Orange Blossom, Rickey, Rob Roy, Scoff-Law and more. Oddly enough, no Manhattan (although we get the other two big New York borough cocktails, and its Scotch-based cousin), but one that caught my eye was a Manhattan variation that I tried for the first time a while back and rather liked. It was one of those "Why didn't I think of that?" cocktails (well, primarily because someone else already did), and while it might be quite simple it's also quite tasty, and I'll bet you've never had one. The original recipe called for applejack, which at the time would likely have been Laird's. Problem is, up until about 1970 Laird's applejack was all apple brandy; now it's a mixture of 35% apple brandy and 65% "grain neutral spirits;" i.e. vodka. In the interest of authenticity, I'll alter the recipe slightly to call for Laird's superior product, their bonded (100 proof) straight apple brandy, which is a far better product anyway. If you're feeling extravagant, you can also use Calvados. We also opted for a slightly spicier vermouth, using Carpano Antica Formula; it would still be lovely with your everyday Cinzano Rosso. A dash of Fee's Whiskey Barrel-Aged Bitters wouldn't be bad if it joined its friend Angostura. So, here's my official Prohibition-era contribution for this Mixology Monday:
This is quite tasty. Incidentally, the radio in the background of the shot is a Crosley Fiver, model 5M3, from 1934 -- not exactly a Prohibition-era radio, but it was as close as I could come in my collection. It sold for the rather princely sum of $19.95 back then, a considerable chunk of change for the Depression. In 2006 currency (close as the web site could figure), that's $293.52. Oh, we couldn't let you go without some more Prohibitionist drivel from the book ... OH YEAH? Right, in the interest of fairness we couldn't let those quotes go without including the little cocktail recipe that appears below them (we'd have tried this one, but we were out of sherry). Here's to Mr. Bryan and Dr. Monroe ... drink up, boys! The temperance folks liked to get 'em when they're young, too:
Yeah, if I heard a little girl recite that to me I'd need a big tall drink too. (The "pledge card" mentioned throughout the book, as well as "taking the pledge," meant pledging to eschew alcohol.) Apparently the dangers of our love for drink were more than we realized, if you listened to the the horseshit of the Temperance crowd:
Only bones and a few blood vessels left, yet alive for 13 days! Ewww! (Hey, I wanna see that effect in a horror movie sometime.) The editors of the book, after this tale, appended this:
(Actually, it probably is as bad as it sounds.) Well. Let's continue our early celebrations, shall we? How 'bout another one?! I swear to God ... I didn't do it. Honestly, I have an alibi. I wasn't anywhere near Australia! November Looka! entries have been permanently archived. [ Link to today's entries ]
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Réveillons and a couple of different absinthes, and eating chicken and chaurice sausage jambalaya) but thanks to a tip from Nate we
enjoyed listening to 
The big day is Wednesday, but as the monthly Mixology Monday event -- this month hosted by 
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