Ouzo!

[rubyred]

So I had my annual Chrismukkah cocktail party on Saturday, and one of my guests brought a bottle of Ouzo. I was slightly baffled by the offering, but thought, I guess this is what he likes to drink. Or maybe not. It's now Monday and I have an unopened bottle sitting on my kitchen counter that keeps asking me, 'what are you going to do with me?'. Sadly, I have no witty reply for the lonely bottle. (Well, how lonely can he be with his friends gin and Scotch nearby, anyway???)

Surely my egullet friends can help, right?

Cheers, mates!

(I hope those aren't crickets I'm hearing...)

[MikeInSacto]

I'd probably have to re-gift it to a friend who is a big Ouzo fan.

(Disclaimer: Ouzo and I had a rather violent falling-out some years ago. It was all Ouzo's fault and Ouzo has yet to apologize.)

[The Old Foodie]

add a splash to anything that lends itself to the aniseedy or liquorice-y flavour?

- seafood marinades or sauces (Pernod is the standard, but why not ouzo?)

- sorbets?

- fruit salad, poached fruit?

Emeril Lagasse suggests this - Shrimp with Tomatoes, Feta, and Ouzo.

Edited December 16, 2008 by The Old Foodie (log)

[Lindacakes]

Invite some Greeks over and ask them to teach you to dance.

[slschnur]

Pour some in a glass, add ice cubes & water to taste, drink while imagining you're sitting on a terrace overlooking the caldera in Santorini! Ouzo's great as an aperitif.

[brinza]

I think it's mostly treated the same as aquavit or vodka--ice cold and straight. Also, you can use it to thin out your sambuca if you find that liqueur to be too sweet.

[lamington]

Pour some in a glass, add ice cubes & water to taste, drink while imagining you're sitting on a terrace overlooking the caldera in Santorini!  Ouzo's great as an aperitif.

←

I echo "Pour some in a glass, add ice cubes & water to taste" but would then hand the glass to a companion, as the stuff makes me want to be violently ill!

[rubyred]

Thanks to everyone who replied! I had a (well-deserved!) good chuckle reading all of the replies!

MikeInSacto: That was my first thought! While I've managed to make it almost 31 years without forming such an adverse relationship with any liquor, I've heard too many bad ouzo stories!

The Old Foodie: I'll probably try some of that. At last year's Chrismukkah party, I did Prosciutto and Sambuca-marinated melon, which was a huge hit!

To Lindacakes: I think it behooves all of us to take your advice. Talk about a good candidate for a '100 Things To Do Before You Die' list! Do they have a thread like that on egullet? I'm going to check...

And to slschnur, brinza, and lamington: Revel in your victory! It might not have worked out this way, only we got home late last night from a disappointing meal in a restaurant we'd been wanting to try for a while. Also, it was minus 17 celcius yesterday and I was too lazy to get anything else.

The moral of the story? Fear not myth, savour alcohol!

[Steamtrain]

i would be very happy to be gifted ouzo--or regifted ouzo

it will get cloudy when cold such as on the rocks

great cooking great drinking liquor

[EvergreenDan]

Back from the thread graveyard, I'm attending a quarterly dinner get-together this weekend and the theme is Greek. I was thinking of bringing some sort of cocktail, perhaps ouzo-based. Other than drinking it on the rocks, does anyone have cocktails featuring ouzo? Or perhaps should I be thinking of Metaxa (which I've never had, but I was wondering about a Sidecar with it)? I'm open to all ideas! I could even bring 2 cocktails if I can find two good ideas.

[tino27]

I had a similar problem during my freshman year at college. I needed the label from a bottle of ouzo (it was for a fraternity thing ... don't ask) and once I had steamed off the label, we were still left with an entire bottle of ouzo. As any resourceful college freshman would be, just dumping it out or throwing it away would have amounted to heresy, so we decided to drink it.

First we tried it as a shot and discovered, um, it's "unique" flavor. Then we had the bright idea of using it with some type of mixer. We tried everything we could get our hands on, but surprisingly, anise flavor (or as I liked to think of it at the time, "black jelly bean") does not mix well with many flavors. In the end, we manage to choke it down when mixed with root beer. I think what was successful about the ouzo/root beer combination was that you really couldn't taste the ouzo as much.

I shudder just thinking about it today.

[EvergreenDan]

Just had a thought inspired by the comments about the cost of absinthe: how about a "Greek 2 to 2"?

2 to 2 by Stephan Cole, The Violet Hour

1 1/2 oz Aperol

1 oz Absinthe (or ouzo, in this case)

1 oz Lemon juice

1/4 oz Simple syrup

1 ds Orange bitters

1 twst Orange peel (flamed, as garnish)

Shake, strain, straight up, cocktail glass, garnish

It is a very, very good cocktail, at least to my taste. It seems like it would go with Greek nibblies as well as a glass of ouzo would.

I for one like ouzo, although I don't think to drink it much. But then I like Retsina with Greek food, too, so there's no accounting for someone who imbibes turpentine. ;-)

Edited March 21, 2011 by EvergreenDan (log)

[scubadoo97]

Pour some in a glass, add ice cubes & water to taste, drink while imagining you're sitting on a terrace overlooking the caldera in Santorini! Ouzo's great as an aperitif.

I have not found too many spirits that didn't bring something good to the table. I would enjoy either neat or with a few ice cubes or a splash of cold water. It's not my spirit of choice and I would hate to have a hangover from it but a few ounces now and again are wonderful.