slkinsey
-
Posts
11,151 -
Joined
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Store
Help Articles
Posts posted by slkinsey
-
-
IMO All-Clad Stainless is ridiculously overpriced. Better performance may be had for similar money, and similar performance may be had for less money.
At the risk of self promotion, you may find my eGCI class on cookware and accompanying ongoing Q&A thread of some use. All-Clad is discussed and analyzed with some detail.
-
I've been meaning to post about this for several weeks, ever since I had a chance to see a pre-release copy of Killer Cocktails : An Intoxicating Guide to Sophisticated Drinking. Now I finally have a few minutes, so here goes.
When Dave and I first talked about Killer Cocktails, he described it as a "beginner's book." And while this is a great book for the beginner (more on this later), I think that description sells it a little short. It's a good cocktail book period, and the experienced cocktail enthusiast can easily skip over the "how to mix a cocktail" section and find a list of a little more than 70 well-made cocktails, including quite a few Wondrich originals that you won't find elsewhere in print.
In design, the book comes spiral bound at the top with laminated cardboard covers at the front and back, the idea being that you can configure it into a little book stand for easy reading while you mix. Kind of a cute idea, but ultimately a little annoying when you're trying to read it.
The book begins with the "beginner" part. This includes the now ubiquitous advice on assembling a working collection of cocktail hardware, a description of the various families of spirits and modifiers used in cocktails, and recommendations on a basic battery of ingredients for a home bar, including recommendations of specific brands in a chart I wish the editor had titled "Dave's Faves." Following is some of the best advice in print on using basic formulae to create your own cocktails, and step-by-step directions on how to mix a cocktail, from chilling the glasses and cracking the ice to snapping a twist over the finished drink. All of this is accompanied by colorful modern illustrations and narrated in Dave's signature prose -- professorial at one turn and self-consciously hip at the other, always fun and easy to read.
Following the "Getting Started" chapter are twelve chapters consisting of one "master drink" followed by several others loosely related to them. As he explains, "it's not that the Master Drinks are necessarily superior to the others, mind you -- it's just that they're more educational." Included are chapters on "The Daiquiri, or The Song of the Citrus," "Gin Fizz, or Tiny Bubbles in the Booze," The Old-Fashioned, or Old, Short and Mostly On The Rocks" and others in this style. Again, serious education in hip, fun clothing. That's what the book is all about.
As I've talked about this book with various cocktail enthusiasts and professionals who have had a chance to give it a read, everyone seems to think it's probably the best book out there for someone who isn't yet a cocktail connoisseur but would like to become one. The format is fun and approachable, and the list of recipes is just the right length. At just over 70 recipes, it's entirely possible to start with zero knowledge, mix your way through every recipe in the book that sounds appealing (let's say 50 or so, depending on one's tastes), and come out the other end with a true appreciation of a well made cocktail and not a small amount of knowledge as to history and the classics. There aren't any other books about which that can be said.
And what about the recipes? Dave is well known in the cocktails crowd as a historian and antiquarian, so it comes as no surprise that many of the cocktails in this new book are serious old-school classics. Indeed, all the recipes are either true old-school drinks or "new old-school" drinks built on the classic model. You won't find a recipe calling for flavored vodka, Hypnotiq, Pucker and 4 different fruit juices in Killer Cocktails. And, as Martha Stewart would say, "that's a good thing." The education is furthered when he demonstrates how certain new cocktails are related to/derived from old classics, and offers suggestions on how we can twist existing successful formulae into new drinks.
Among the recipes in Killer Cocktails is Dave's Weeski, a drink in regular rotation at the slkinsey household that has been described elsewhere in these forums. Here are a few Wondrich originals from Killer Cocktails I have enjoyed, reproduced here with permission of the author.
Gansevoort Fizz
2 oz : Appleton VX rum (or other medium-bodied, aged rum)
1 oz : Drambuie
1 oz : Lemon juice
2 dash : Peychaud's bitters
Shake well and strain into a chilled highball class. Top with 2-3 ounces fizz water.
Pearlescent
2.5 oz : Vodka
2 tsp : Oregat syrup
1 tsp : Luxardo maraschino liqueur
1 : lemon peel
Shake visciously (with the peel in the shaker) and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
Whitehall
2 oz : Gin
1 oz : Dry sherry
0.5 oz : Ruby port
2 dashes : Angostura bitters
Stir with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Twist lemon peel over the top.
Killer Cocktails also includes quite a few "forgotten classics" deserving of better attention. Here's one that always makes me think of Dave, because I first tried it when he got Audrey to make one at Bemelman's.
San Martín
2 oz : Gin
1 oz : Red vermouth
1 tsp : Yellow Chartreuse
Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Twist lemon peel over the top.
I'm sure others will have more to say once they have read it, so I am going to shut up now. It comes out in print on May 3rd. Click here and pre-order a copy today.
-
I've been leafing through a copy of William L. Hamilton's Shaken and Stirred : Through the Martini Glass and Other Drinking Adventures that came in a package of literature I got at a recent gin tasting. It's a collection of his "Shaken and Stirred" columns in the NY Times, and there is a chapter on the Vesper as served at Pravda, a Russian-themed bar in NYC. Pravda turns the Bond formula on its head, as it might have been mixed by Bond's cold war counterparts on the other side of the Iron Curtain. It's 3 ounces of Stolichnaya Gold vodka, 1 ounce Beefeater gin, 1/4 ounce Lillet Blanc and a lemon twist.
What was really interesting, though, is what Hamilton had to say about Bond's supposedly preferred "vodka martini."
Bond was originally a gin drinker, appropriately for an English agent, and the Vesper was a gin drink. The now familiar Bond martini, with its strict instruction to be shaken, not stirred, and its large vodka measure, is the love child of an early deal with Smirnoff vodka when the Bond movies became popular.It's interesting, isn't it, how every time the popularity of vodka comes up the words "Smirnoff" and "marketing campaign" are soon to be heard.
-
This from The Martini Companion: A Connoisseur's Guide by Gary Regan and Mardee Haidin Regan:
In the late 1950s, Alen Subin, an American entrepreneur, decided that the United States had enough room to accommodate one more premium imported gin. Accordingly, he contacted all of the gin distilleries in England and requested samples of their finest products. After testing and tasting, he finally selected a brand that had reportedly been made in England since 1761. Subin dubbed the gin "Bombay," put a portrait of Queen Victoria on the label . . . and started to market the product in the United States.This, I think, gives the lie to the rumor that the botanicals were selected during the Raj to remind Englishmen of Indian cooking. First, even a cursory taste of Bombay gin reveals that there is no such relationship of flavor. More important is the fact that this idea undoubtedly arose due to the name "Bombay," which brand name was apparently not used until some time in the late 1950s. Also, if the formula for Bombay does, in fact, substantially date from the mid 18th century, it predated the British Raj by some hundred years (the Raj generally supposed to date from from 1858, when the rule of the British East India Company was transferred to the Crown, until independence in 1947).
-
I believe Gary Regan said at a recent DISCUS gin tasting event that Bombay was developed at the request or under the direction of an American and relatively recently. Can't remember exactly, though, so I might be wrong.
-
Sounds like you're talking about this stuff here (here is another brand). As you have observed, it is a sweet thyme-flavored liqueur. I'd suggest using it in very small quantities in a cocktail. What do you think might go with Thyme?
You might try pairing herbal with herbal, something like 2 ounces of rye, 1 ounce of white vermouth and a teaspoon of farigoule liqueur (the 2 oz strong, 1 oz herbal wine, 1 teaspoon sweet liqueur is a great formula I got from Dave Wondrich).
Or... thyne goes well with lemon flavors. You might try making a gin sour and adding a dash of farigoule liqueur.
-
Her mom is Sicilian (surname Pugliese) and I think the recipe is actually hers.
Er... with that name, are you sure she isn't from Puglia?
A Sicilian with the last name "Pugliese" is like a New Yorker named "Bostonian." -
This shape is called "candele" (candles). You can cook them as you would any long strand pasta, in a reasonably tall stock pot. Even though they are taller than your pot, the part in the water will soften relatively quickly so you can push them down until they are completely submerged.
You can use just about any sauce you like for strand pasta.
-
I started a thread for Tehuitzingo-specific (which is to say, non comparitive) discussion here.
-
That's too bad to hear that the kaffir lime leaf infusion was too bitter. Do you think you over-infused it?
-
Hector, how do you mean that "the bubbles of the carbonated liquid never got mixed up with the other liquid." Do you mean that there were no bubbles forming in the body of the drink? Or that a persistent foam formed on the surface of the drink?
If you mean that there was only a small layer on the top of the drink that was actively bubbling, and that there were no bubbles forming in the lower part of the drink, then WHT has the right idea. As long as the liquor of the drink had a specific gravity higher than the specific gravity of the fizz water, it should be possible to carefully layer the fizz water on to the top of the drink without having it mix in.
If the drink was not actively bubbling but had a persistent foam on the top, it was probably shaken with raw egg white.
-
. . . Additionally, do not put too many filets in the pan at a time (just a reminder). . .
This is an important point, and not only for the reason that overcrowding lowers the heat in the pan.
One important feature of a true frypan is that it has low, sloping sides. This geometry allows steam created at the interface between the cooking surface and the food to evaporate quickly and thoroughly to keep the food "dry," which is an important part of achieving a crispy texture. If there is not sufficent room around your fish fillet for the steam to escape quickly and thoroughly, it is impossible to achieve optimal crispness. For similar reasons, I would not recommend a straight-sided pan such as a saute pan or cast iron skillet unless the pan is large enough to leave a substantial border of empty space around the fillet.
-
Just, to quote Peter Benchley, "Quick! get me out of these wet clothes and in to a dry martini!"
Er... I believe it was Robert Benchley who said, "let’s get out of these wet clothes and into a dry martini." Peter Benchley, his son, is more famously known for things like, "the great fish moved silently through the night water, propelled by short sweeps of its crescent tail" and "aaaaaaaaugh! A shark just bit my freakin' leg off!"
Every one knew exactly what he wanted.At that time... probably something that would hardly be considered "dry" by today's standards -- and better for it, too.
-
It's definitely the case that unimaginitive bartenders have a tendency to call drinks a "[something] Martini. But I don't think it's entirely fair to attribute all this to a lack of imagination. It's also definitely the case that this practice tends to be a good business choice in most bars in the country. It is a simple fact that it's easier to sell a drink named "Apple Martini" than it is to sell the same drink named "Apple Core" -- never mind something more whimsical like "Fall in New England."
I think that most of America has caught on to the idea that cocktails are cool, but most of America also doesn't know much about cocktails or appreciate the flavors of liquor. Chef Shogun nails it on the head, I think, when he suggests that many people want the image of sophistication that goes along with drinking a "martini," but don't actually want to drink a Martini. An unkind person might suggest that such people would like to appear to have a sophistication they largely lack. When a customer reads "Apple Martini" they know they are getting an apple-flavored sweet drink in a V-shaped glass. To a certain extent, the V-shaped glass makes it easy to pretend it's not a girl drink.
I actually don't have too much of a problem with a drink using the word "martini" (or "sidecar" or "manhattan" and so on) when it is a drink that is clearly riffing on the martini concept or is reasonably related to the idea of a martini. A dry, clear drink that focuses clearly on the flavor of the spirit... go ahead and call it a "Somethingorother Martini" if no other inspiration strikes. You're mixing gin with dry sherry instead of vermouth and want to call it a "Spanish Martini?" Okay with me. You're cleverly twisting the cognac, Cointreau and lemon juice in a classic Sidecar formula and want to call it a "Tantris Sidecar?" Good, I say -- it tells me something about the drink I might not have otherwise known. But I do draw the line at a drink made with Godiva liqueur, vanilla vodka and cream being called a "Chocolate Martini."
It should also be pointed out that there are plenty of cocktail categories one can easily and correctly adapt. Okay... to be correct, they weren't originally considered "cocktails," per se, but rather distinct categoriess of libation unto themselves. I speak of things such as the Fizz, Daisy, Mule, Punch, Crusta, Julep, Sling, etc. -- even the Cocktail. If you come up with a drink involving a base liquor, a little liqueur and a splash of sour fruit juice that's shaken, poured into a cocktail glass and dosed with a bit of seltzer water, there's no reason not to call it a Somethingorother Daisy. That would be entirely correct. In fact, although a true cocktail historian like Dave might protest the renaming of the odious Sour Apple Martini as the Sour Apple Cocktail, I would find this a much more appropriate name. But that, of course, would necessitate having bartenders and beverage directors (not to mention customers) who knew about and cared about these things. Unfortunately, although there are many exciting things going on with cocktails right now, it's still a fact that the cocktail enthusiast is much more likely to be served a well-prepared drink in someone's home than over a bar.
-
Stinging review of Per Se by Jancis Robinson in the Financial Times, titled "Per Se - a case of emperor's new clothes?"
For the sake of clarity, this is not a review by Jancis Robinson. It is a review by her husband, Nicholas Lander that is reproduced (presumably with permission) on Ms. Robinson's web site.
-
Hmm. Interesting switch. Plymouth and Tanqueray Malacca couldn't be more different. Of course, nothing it like Malacca. But I would have figured they'd go with a more assertive gin than Plymouth.
-
Rob Walsh's Houston Press article on cocktails, which has been discussed in these forums, mentions Gramercy Tavern's take on the G&T:
Behind the polished wood bar at the Gramercy Tavern in New York, there's a blackboard listing daily drink specials. Three years ago, I ordered an odd-sounding drink there called a ginger gin and tonic. It turned out to be one of the most refreshing and unusual cocktails I've ever had.To make it, Gramercy Tavern's bartenders slice up fresh ginger root and combine it in a sealed jar with a bottle of gin. This ginger-infused gin is then used to make the spicy ginger gin and tonics, which are garnished with chunks of sugarcoated crystallized ginger.
Sounds to me like it's as simple as that: infuse gin with some ginger (a great way to prepare ginger for infusing is to "mulch" it in a food processor) and then use the ginger-infused gin to make a Gin & Tonic. I don't think I agree with ChicagoBartender about the length of infusion, however (although this does depend on how the ginger is prepared). With relatively finely chopped ginger, I think it's a matter of hours rather than days before the gin will be ready. Another option is simply to muddle several thin slices of ginger in a mixing glass with the gin and lime, shake with a little ice and then double strain into your ice filled glass before topping with tonic water. That way you don't have to use up a whole bottle of gin for the infusion, and you can vary the amount of ginger flavoring on a drink-to-drink basis until you find the intensity you like.
Edited to add: I did a little more poking around and have come to learn that Gramercy Tavern makes (or used to make) their Ginger G&T by heating up a 1:2 (sugar:water) simple syrup with plenty of fresh ginger to infuse, then adding that syrup to Tanqueray Malacca* at around 1:2 (syrup:gin) along with some lime juice. This mixture was stored for a while to "meld" and then poured over ice and topped with tonic water. This is clearly a process for a restaurant that expects to be serving a lot of these drinks, and not particularly well adapted for home use. I still think it's probably better to make the drink by muddling. That said, ginger infused into warm sugar syrup will not have the same flavor profile as ginger infused into room temperature alcohol. Most notably, I would expect the sugar-infused ginger to to have less "bite" (especially if the mixture is "aged" for a few days) than the alcohol-infused or muddled ginger, and perhaps a slightly more full flavor.
* Tanqueray Malacca is no longer produced. I don't know what they use now.
-
Some interesting answers here. But I'd like to hear why we think certain places have such great pasta.
-
I've had a chance to browse through a copy. It's definitely must-have reading for the cocktail enthusiast.
-
I think it all depends on what you're making. For G&Ts, and especially for gimlets, I don't think it makes much sense to use a subtle, high priced gin.
More often than not, my gin of preference for this kind of thing is Gordon's. It has a nicely up-front juniper presence that cuts through things like tonic water and preserved lime juice -- and it goes for around 12 bucks a liter. Another versatile gin with a strong juniper presence, and smooth enough for martinis, is Tanqueray. Tanqueray is probably my favorite all-purpose gin, but it's almost twice the price of Gordon's at 22 bucks a liter.
-
Apparently, Zabb, a new Thai place (Northestern style) up the road from Sripraphai, is all the rage among Thai people. This is what I’m hearing from the folks at the Bangkok Grocery and a Thai friend. Has anyone tried this place yet?
I'm dying to. Here's Robert Sietsema's review.
Here's a quote for posterity:
Zabb is a newcomer to the long, dark ribbon of Roosevelt Avenue under the No. 7 tracks on the western frontier of Jackson Heights. The plain facade sports a pair of crossed red chiles and the word Esan, referring to northeastern Thailand. More often transliterated as Isaan, this region is the country's poorest, composed mainly of an arid sandstone plateau incapable of sustaining much agriculture. Paradoxically, Isaan is also the holy grail of Thai cuisine. It's what Los Angeles foodies could righteously claim they had and we didn't. But gradually, Isaan cooking has been creeping into Queens.Ask a dozen experts what Isaan is, and you'll get 12 different answers. All agree that the food is more fiery and less fussy, favoring ground-meat salads, Chinese-leaning noodles, Mekong River catfish, grilled chicken, and dishes showing Laotian and Cambodian influences.
-
cdh: the "ham" Varmint is talking about is, at first anyway, a "fresh ham" (which is to say, the thigh and buttock of a pig) rather than a "cured ham."
"Corning," when it really comes down to it, is nothing more than a mild salt-and-spices cure -- although I am given to understand that "corning" involves curing in brine (aka "pickling") rather than dry salting such as Varmint describes, if you want to get technical.
-
Here's a link to the story:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/chi...1,5324199.story
Charlie Trotter now says that using the words "dumb," "idiot" and "not the smartest guy on the block" to describe a rival chef -- before suggesting that the chef's liver be served up "as a little treat" -- is not generally his "M.O." when it comes to collegial disagreements."I'm not trying to hurt anybody, whether it's Chef [Rick] Tramonto or a foie gras farm or anybody else," Trotter said.
Nonetheless, Trotter isn't apologizing for his harsh statements made to support his opinion that the production of foie gras -- the enlarged liver of a duck or goose -- is too cruel for the dish to be served.
"You know what? If I hear something that I don't like, I will say whatever it takes, and I'll send a message," Trotter said. "If I have to use some sarcasm or open a can of whup-ass or do whatever, I'll do what I have to do."
There are also some letters to another Tribune writer available today:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/services/new...,4371872.column
-
Dude. The taco truck at 103rd and Broadway is better.
Absinthe: The Topic
in Spirits & Cocktails
Posted
I have had the pleasure of tasting a bit of American-produced absinthe distilled as an experiment by a boutique distiller whose name for obvious reasons I will not reveal. Needless to say, it is not for sale.
It was delicious.