suppertime! » drinks

Red Snapper

headchef — Sun, 28 Dec 2014 19:20:05 +0000

Not, I must admit, the fish. The drink.

I have long held it an unassailable truth that the greatest drink in the world is the Bloody Mary. I have strong views on how it should be made (chiefly: no horseradish, no stick of celery).

But after reading The MEATLiquor Chronicles, that has all changed. I discovered the unholy / holy marriage that occurs when you swap the vodka for gin and add a dash of absinthe. This drink is just indescribably, insanely great. It’s as different from a Bloody Mary as Dr Pepper is from vintage champagne.

They are quite firm in the MEATLiquor book on not over-spicing. Now I agree, but I think even their recipe is a bit over-generous on the Tabasco. So here’s my take. Serves 1 (rather than the 8 given in the book. Though I could probably drink 8).

12 cm high glass
ice
5 ml absinthe (or more – I think more)
tomato juice (unspiced)
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 scant tsp Tabasco sauce (or less)
1 tsp dill pickle juice
1 tbsp orange juice
2 tsp lemon juice
shake of celery salt
shake of cayenne pepper
squeeze of lime juice
shake of smoked paprika
half a teaspoon icing sugar
freshly-ground black pepper
GIN!

Fill your glass with ice cubes. Pour in and swill round the absinthe. Three-quarter fill the glass with tomato juice. Add all the other ingredients and stir/shake vigorously. DRINK.

Hot shots, part deux

headchef — Sat, 12 May 2012 08:37:27 +0000

The hipster coffee maker in the previous post really divided opinion, but it’s a nicely made film and it, plus the Guardian article and associated comments, really got me thinking about coffee. I love coffee, but I’m not a snob about it. I make drip coffee at home with pre-packed ground red label Lavazza in a cup-top filter cone (it takes 1×2 size filters) and my favourite regular coffee shop is Ravellos on Dean Bradley Street in Westminster. They can make a black Americano that is so smooth you’d swear it had cream in it. I’ve dabbled with Dark Fluid coffee from Brockley Market and the With Jam & Bread Café but I’m not totally convinced yet.

I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at the comments on the Guardian article on coffee, but a few useful common themes seem to emerge:

There’s not much point having an espresso machine at home. Making espresso well is indeed an art and you really do need to spend silly money for a good machine. If you love espresso, find a shop that makes it well and frequent it.
Finding a coffee shop in Britain that really makes good espresso is still surprisingly hard.
If you want to make coffee at home, make drip coffee in a cone, caffetiere or consider an Aeropress or similar (I’ve not checked the price of one of those mind) – or if you want something more like espresso, try a stove-top Bialetti Moka pot.
If you have a Moka pot, the first few cups will taste disgusting, you must never clean/scrub it with soap (rinse it with water) and cheaper Lavazza works better than expensive Illy.

Coffee porn

headchef — Thu, 10 May 2012 08:45:19 +0000

Ok, not exactly food, but I do like a nice cup of black coffee, and this is mesmerising:

via http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/may/09/how-to-make-the-perfect-espresso