2021 has been the year I fulfilled a dream, to work freelance supporting the hospitality industry with advice, ideas, training and front-of-house work, drawing on over 30 years of experience as a cook, host and cocktail specialist. Much this has been demonstrating cocktail-making techniques to bar staff and developing manageable cocktail lists for bars or restaurants, but my favourite part is always creating new cocktails, something unique to each bar. All of us who enjoy making cocktails love this part. It's the flash of artistry that gives us chance to show off a little, the moment we prove our credentials by pulling-off something akin to magic: spinning spirits someone thinks of as antiquated into a radically new drink they love and know will sell well with their customers. Here are the recipes for my favourite creations of this year.
Avezzano
I created this riff on a Manhattan for a customer's birthday and invited him to name it. He chose the name of his home town in Italy, remarking that, like Manhattan itself, the streets of Avezzano are laid out in a grid pattern.
50ml good Bourbon 15ml Sacred Spirit English Amber Vermouth 10ml The King's Ginger liqueur a drop of peach bitters
Stir all the ingredients with ice in a mixing glass. Strain into a coupe or Nick & Nora glass and garnish with a twist of lemon peel.
Ground Control
This was made as the house Espresso Martini for Major Tom's Social in Harrogate. Licor 43 is a Spanish liqueur that is flavoured with vanilla and dried citrus peel, which marry well with the coffee. The chocolate bitters adds a touch of richness.
25ml espresso coffee
a dash of chocolate bitters
25ml Bourbon
25ml Licor 43
Shake the ingredients vigorously in a shaker of ice. Double-strain into a coupe glass and dust with a little ground allspice.
Major Tom's Christmas Flip
Sticking with Major Tom's, I created this Christmas drink for them at a takeover event in December. The manager proclaimed it "glorious," which I was a little pleased about.
1 whole egg
25ml Calvados
20ml The King's Ginger liqueur
a dash of peach bitters
3ml (or so) Gomme syrup, to taste
Put all the ingredients in a shaker without ice. Whisk them together with a fork or bar whisk, then add ice. Shake very hard until your hand can't stand the cold. Strain into a coupe glass and dust with a little nutmeg.
A Lovers' Martini (makes 2)
I made this for a St Valentine's Day event. You don't want to be drinking alone that night, so the recipe is for 2 Martinis. It uses Everleaf Mountain, an alcohol-free aperitif drink that has flavours of cherry blossom and hibiscus and is enhanced with a hint of orange vermouth.
A scant 5ml of Martini Fiero vermouth.
25ml Everleaf Mountain aperitif
100ml London dry gin
Freeze 2 Windsor Martini glasses and rinse or mist the inside of each with a little of the Martini Fiero.
In a mixer glass of ice, stir together the Everleaf Mountain and the gin for about 30 seconds. Strain into the prepared glasses and garnish with a heart-shaped slice of strawberry. You can watch me making a pair of Lovers' Martinis in this video from my YouTube channel.
Deli Sling
This lovely, refreshing drink was created for Cold Bath Deli & Wine Bar in Harrogate. The flavoured ingredients have a tendency to sink below the soda, so it's important to serve it with a straw.
20ml white rum
juice of half a lemon
15ml cherry brandy
15ml Sacred Spirit English Amber Vermouth
5ml Campari
a splash (maybe 30ml) soda water
Shake the lemon juice, spirits and liqueurs in a shaker of ice to ensure they mix. Fill a high-ball glass with ice cubes and strain the cocktail into it. Finish with a splash of soda, a slice of lemon and a maraschino cherry. Serve with a straw.
I was asked by my stepson to write about beer, specifically about drinking beer as an aperitif drink, with a few nibbles in the early evening. He asked me to consider what styles of beer might work best in that context, and to make a couple of specific recommendations. Gueuze Boon with pickled herring Image: GP Mather Especially for those coming new to my blog, it's worth reminding ourselves, very briefly, what aperitif culture is. Coming at the end of the working day, and marking its transition to evening, recreation and dining, the aperitif is a social drink with friends and a few light snacks. The word comes from a Latin root that means "an opening," and the drink is a way of opening up the appetite for dinner. The first thing I did was check to see what had been written before on the subject. Surprisingly little, as it turns out: even the magisterial Pete Brown ( https://www.petebrown.net/ ) hasn't used the word in his blog since 2011. If the beer intern
Image: Everleaf Drinks When I first wrote about alcohol-free drinking in 2018, the range of drinks available was very limited. I updated that post a year later with some additional suggestions. The range of drinks now available is enormous, but you wouldn't know it from the bar of your local Punchspoons Pub Co., or in the aisles of Waitbury's and Aldl. The most recent accurate figures for UK (ONS 2018) show that around 20% of adults do not drink alcohol at all. The figure is higher for the under-25s - 23%. You'd think, then, that one beer in every five would be an alcohol-free one, that pubs would carry more than one alcohol-free wine and that you could choose from several 'spirit' drinks. Smaller, craft breweries seem to be leading the way in the field of low-alcohol beer. Perhaps this is the reason you don't see many in the big chains. The breweries seem to be waking up to this challenge, and we have seen big companies like Guinness and Heineken launch 0% bre
Image: N Markley As a confirmed meat eater with no allergies, I am in the fortunate position of being able to cook whatever I like when I cook for myself. I'm often challenged, though, by needing to cook for others who don't eat meat, are coeliac or have other dietary restrictions. I firmly believe my guests deserve the best of me, and I struggle with diets that are unfamiliar to me. I certainly wouldn't want any dinner guest to be served food that has something missing, taken out or replaced with a lesser substitute. For this reason, I dislike serving ersatz meat and jackfruit masquerading as pulled pork. Far better, in my opinion, to find dishes that make the best use of vegetables and plant protein on their own terms. Discovering Japanese cuisine, a few years ago, has been a Godsend to me. In Japan, tofu and vegetables are cooked to make the most of their natural properties. Soy and tamari, rice wine and vinegar, and salted, fermented or pickled fruit and veg give
Ooh, these sound lovely. I shall seek these out when I'm next out and about.
ReplyDeleteThank you. Take your mobile with you, so you can show the bartender how to make them.
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