TOASTING FOR THE

FOURTH OF JULY

FRENCH CANADIAN KISS

From the bar in Panache restaurant at the Auberge Saint-Antoine, Quebec City, Canada

Combine in a cocktail shaker:

1-1/2 ounce pineapple juice

1 ounce vanilla Smirnoff vodka

1/2 ounce Ricaneux Framboise or raspberry liqueur

Add ice. Shake. Pour into a martini glass.

Garnish with fresh raspberries and cherries.

SOURSOP MARTINI

From Rosewood Little Dix Bay, Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands

Combine in a cocktail shaker:

1-1/2 ounces Kettle One Vodka

2 ounces soursop juice (see note)

Ice

Shake and strain into a chilled martini glass.

Note: Soursop (also know as guanabana) is a fruit native to the Caribbean and parts of South America. Wikipedia says, “Its flavor is described as a combination of strawberry and pineapple with sour citrus flavor notes contrasting with an underlying creamy flavor reminiscent of coconut or banana.” Soursop juice may be available in canned form from a specialized supermarket.

SIAM@SIAM COCKTAIL

From Siam @ Siam Design Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand

Combine in a tall glass:

1-1/2  ounces Bacardi rum

1 ounce Blue Curacao liqueur

1-1/2 ounces fresh coconut juice

1-1/2 ounces pineapple juice

1/2 ounce sweet and sour mix

Add ice and stir.

Garnish with a slice of lemon.

Before long Persephone, Hades wife, learned of the affair. Unlike contemporary wives who might put on a good-wife face in the same situation, Persephone flew into a jealous rage and stomped her rival into the ground.

Poor Hades. What a dilemma. On one hand was his angry wife; he couldn’t risk restoring Mintha to her original form. On the other hand he couldn’t let Mintha be lost and gone forever.

So what did he do?

Hades raised Mintha from the ground in the form of the herb we call mint. He gave mint a charming sweetness and exciting flavor that adds spirit to any dish. He made the herb strong, able to withstand much abuse. And (some say to annoy his wife) he gave the herb an enchanting fragrance that fills the air with seductive scent whenever the plant is stepped upon.

TWO FAVORITE MINT RECIPES

Mojito

Put 10 fresh mint leaves and 2 lime wedges in a tall glass. Smash with a muddler for 10 to 20 seconds. Add 2 ounces rum, 1/2 ounce fresh lime juice and 1/2 ounce simple syrup. Stir. Fill glass with ice and top off with club soda. Gently stir again. Garnish with a lime wheel, a sugar cane stick (optional) and additional mint.

Makes 1  serving.

Cucumber and Mint Salad

Peel 4 slender cucumbers. Cut off ends of each cucumber, cutting to beginning of seeds. Halve cucumber lengthwise and with a spoon, scrape out and discard seeds. Cut cucumbers, crosswise, into 1/4 inch-thick pieces. Put pieces in a large bowl. Add 1 small peeled and thinly sliced red onion, 1/3 cup chopped fresh mint leaves, 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves and 2 to 4 whole, dried red chilies. Combine 1-1/2 cups cold water, 1-1/2 cups rice vinegar, 3/4 cup granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon salt; stir to dissolve sugar. Pour liquid over cucumber mixture and stir lightly. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Serve well chilled.

Makes 6 servings.

Although the Michelin one-star restaurant focuses attention on traditional dishes made with organic or locally produced ingredients, sometime surprises slip into the offerings.  For example joining the spatzle, schnitzel, apfelstrudel and wine list that is decidedly European, is the Seasonal Wellness Drink based on acai—the health food’s darling berry from Brazil.

Odd choice for this restaurant, but chef/owner Wolfgang Ban says the drink is delicious, detoxifying and health promoting and he enjoys it. He’ll even add crème de cassis, rum, or vodka and serve the drink as a house cocktail.

Go figure, the best of Austrian/German specialties and acai—what can I say? Perhaps “prosit!” will do.

Seasonal's Wellness Drink

SEASONAL’S WELLNESS DRINK

4 ounces pineapple juice (fresh is best)

1 ounce passion fruit puree, strained (or substitute juice)

1 ounce acai berry puree or juice

Combine juices and serve in a tall glass on the rocks.

1 serving.

RED’S BACON OLD FASHIONED

1 thin slice orange

1 maraschino cherry

1/4 ounce maple syrup

2 dashes Angostura bitters

2 ounces bacon-infused Jack Daniel’s

Ice

Splash club soda

Squeeze orange and put in an old-fashioned glass. Add cherry and maple syrup. Muddle lightly. Add bacon infused bourbon. Fill glass with ice and top with club soda.

TO INFUSE BOURBON WITH BACON

Fry 3 to 4 slices of bacon to render fat. Reserve or eat bacon (you won’t need it) and strain the bacon fat into a non-porous container. Pour a 750ml bottle of Jack Daniel’s over fat in container and set aside for 6 hours at room temperature. Refrigerate mixture for about 12 hours or until fat solidifies, then remove fat from bourbon and strain the bourbon back into the bottle.

IRISH COFFEE

Put a spoon in a heat-resistant glass, goblet or clear mug. Pour very hot water into the glass over the spoon (the spoon will absorb the heat). Pour out the water (it was just to warm the glass). Now fill the glass about three-fourths way with strong, hot coffee. Add about 1 teaspoon sugar (many prefer brown sugar) and a generous shot Irish whiskey; stir to dissolve sugar.  Here’s the thorny part: very lightly whip heavy cream (the cream should have just a little body, about the consistency of custard). Raise the spoon to the top of the coffee and pour cream over the spoon onto the top of the coffee. The cream should stay in its own separate layer.

Grace Bay beach

Just returned from a fabulous trip to my favorite archipelago, Turks and Caicos—40 islands and cays strung along the blue neck of the Atlantic Ocean like gorgeous shimmering pearls. I stayed on the main island, Providenciales, or “Provo” as locals call it, in Ocean Club West—a peaceful, lushly landscaped resort with individually owned condos renting to vacationers. (I’m going to try to do good deeds the rest of my days so that I can come back in the next life as an Ocean Club owner).

As it happens, Provo, which is located about 550 miles southwest of Miami, has the world’s best beach. Don’t take my word for it. Ask anyone who has ever been. Grace Bay beach has to be Mother Nature’s particular favorite sandy playground as she stretched indescribable-soft, dazzling-white, powder-sugar sand over 12 miles and garnished the glory with 350 days of sunshine, gentle trade winds to fan the heat and clear warm water wearing every vibrant shade of blue. No cruise ships dock in Provo (hallelujah), so the beach is uncrowded and as peaceful as a nap.

In addition to divine beaches (not only on Provo, but throughout the islands) Turks and Caicos is famous for diving, snorkeling and conch (pronounced “konk”).

Conch shells

The world’s only conch farm is found on Provo and those wanting to learn about this large marine snail can tour the farm, but savvy tourists learn most in Provo’s restaurants where the almost-totally flavorless, chewy conch is made ever so palatable.

Not-to-miss conch dishes on Provo include conch fritters at Ocean Club’s Cabana Bar & Grill, conch ravioli at Coco Bistro, the conch burger at Ocean Club West’s Seaside Café, and all things conch at Da Conch Shack.

I could give you a recipe for conch, but I have a better souvenir from Provo for you—a recipe for the award winning beet mojito served at Ocean Club Resorts. Yes, you read it right—beet—the veggie, and OMG, of many ways to consume beets, a mojito beats them all.

OCEAN CLUB RESORTS’ BEET MOJITO

Beet mojito served at Ocean Club West

1 lime, cut into 6 wedges

A few sprigs mint

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

Ice

1 tablespoon beet puree (boil beets until soft and puree in a blender until smooth)

1-1/2 ounces rum

Sprite

Garnish (optional): fresh mint, lime wedge and sugar cane stick

In a tall tumbler or highball glass, muddle 5 lime wedges with mint and sugar until well crushed and juicy. Fill glass with ice. Add rum and beet puree. Stir well. Fill remaining glass with Sprite. Stir gently. Garnish with 1 lime wedge, a sprig of mint and a stick of sugar cane.

Not everyone came with a pure palate.  In fact, some had…well…how should I say it…some had been training all afternoon, so approached the whiskey tasting fueled by not only enthusiasm, but also experience.

We met in the lounge of the No. 1 Pery Square Hotel in Limerick–ten American writers and four Irishmen (one of them a woman). Our Irish tour guide, the witty Will Collins, took lead position, admitting that he had never led a formal tasting, but not to worry—he knew a great deal about the pleasure of drinking.

Things got off to a reasonable start. A waitress brought in a tray of whiskey filled glasses. Will picked up one glass, added a splash of water and spouted his first bit of whiskey wisdom: “A touch of water releases the flavor of whiskey.”

As he passed the first glass, which we were all expected to share, Will offered his second bit of wisdom: “Sip don’t gulp. Take a tiny taste into your mouth; let the liquid linger on your tongue before swallowing.”

“What do you think?” he asked about the first passed glass. When someone reported that the sip left a bit of a burn in the mouth, a delighted Will said, “that’s because it’s a scotch from Scotland,” after which the formality of the tasting went to hell, killed by jokes at the Scots’ expense, which segued into stories, limericks and songs interspersed with more tasting and tidbits of real information.

I tried to keep up, but my own personal Guinness infused afternoon was taking a toll, so I only managed to capture glimmers about Irish whiskey—which may or may not be true and may or may not be recorded properly. According to Will (direct quotes in parenthesis):

The Irish spell whiskey with an “e” (“unlike the Scots who are so thrifty they drop the “e” in their spelling”).

Americans do it once, the Scots twice and the Irish three times—I think they were talking distilling—or sex—or both…

Law requires Irish whiskey to be aged a minimum of three years—although most are aged much longer.

The age of a whiskey is determined by the time between distillation and bottling, as whiskies do not mature in bottles.

The type of wood for the casks and amount of charring of that wood greatly impacts flavor.

Will’s favorite Whiskeys are Middleton Rare (“possibly our finest!”), Jameson 17 (“smooth and gentle”) and Cooley, a lesser-known whiskey from the Cooley peninsula (“this one has a little zing to it, but yet it’s smooth as silk”).

What did participants said about the tasting the morning after?

All agreed that any whiskey tasting is a good whiskey tasting and that enjoying Irish whiskies in the land of their birth is no less than a peak experience. See for yourself with help from the following: www.discoverireland.com and www.aerlingus.com.

Duty free shop at Dublin airport

I confess, I’m confused. I have been corrupted by Starbuck’s overloaded coffee terminology and can barely get my mouth around the 10-word drink options; I don’t even have the ability to order a “tall” when “small” seems so okay.

In Italy, coffee terms are more manageable (sort of). Although different places write their coffee menu in different ways (sometimes), as far as I can tell, when ordering coffee in Italy, the following will get you what you want (maybe).

 A QUICKIE GUIDE TO COFFEE LINGO–ITALIANO 

Un caffè: a strong as sin, electric jolt espresso. (This is the basic coffee in Italy.)

 Caffè doppio: a double espresso.

 Caffè macchiato:  an espresso “stained” with a tiny amount of foamy milk.

 Latte macchiato: steamed milk “stained” with a small amount of coffee.

 Caffè marocchino: espresso with a little hot milk and a sprinkling of cocoa powder.

 Caffè e latte: steamed milk mixed with espresso.

 Cappuccino: espresso served in a large cup with a head of steamed frothy milk (said to be named because its color resembled a Capuchin friar’s habit—or the hood of the habit resembled the hood of the drink or…well, you get the picture).

 Caffè corretto: espresso “corrected” with a shot of liquor (grappa, Sambuca, Cognac, etc.).

 Caffè lungo: espresso made with more water run through the machine.

 Caffè ristretto: espresso made with less water run through the machine (WOW!).

 Caffè freddo: Chilled coffee (don’t expect ice).

 Caffè con panna: espresso with whipped cream.

 Americano: espresso diluted with hot water.

 Caffè con zucchero: espresso with sugar (sensa zucchero without sugar)

I once watched an episode of Roseanne, in which Roseanne (Mrs. Conner) went into the bedroom that her daughters, Darlene and Becky, shared to tell them goodnight. Ignoring Becky, she sat on Darlene’s bed, looked at her intensely and said something like: “You know you are my very favorite child and I love you more than anyone else in the world.” After a pause, she moved to Becky’s bed and repeated the same words to Becky.

Last time I posted I said that most locals considered Sant’Eustachio’s coffee the best in Rome. Today I’m saying most locals consider Tazza d’Oro’s coffee the best in Rome.  Okay, let’s cut to the chase. Both are great. Both coffee bars are located near the Pantheon and both serve a multitude of customers with Tazza d’Oro larger and a bit heavy with tourists. But Tazza d’Oro wins the competition when it comes to their specialty Granita di Caffè, an icy, slushy coffee concoction served with a mound of thick, rich whipped cream. COFFEE LOVERS CANNOT LEAVE ROME WITHOUT TRYING A GRANITA AT TAZZA D’ORO.

Then again, if Rome isn’t in the near future, you can make a reasonable granita at home.

COFFEE GRANITA

Pour 2 cups hot espresso over 1/2 cup sugar and stir until sugar dissolves. If desired, add a teaspoon or two of flavoring (vanilla is one of the secret flavors used in some Italian coffee bars). Refrigerate mixture until it is cold, and then transfer to an 8-inch metal baking pan. Place pan in a freezer. Stir with a fork every 30 minutes until mixture becomes slushy; this should take from 1-1/2 to 2 hours. (While stirring, break up any large chunks that might form.) Transfer slushy mixture to a bowl and beat with a fork until crystals are a little smoother and more uniform, about 1/2 minute.  Freeze until granita firms enough to be scooped, about 1/2 hour.

Serve with sweetened whipped cream.

Yield: 4 servings.

SANT’EUSTACHIO IL CAFFÈ

Many places in Rome make good coffee, but Sant’Eustachio (in the Piazza Sant’Eustachio near the Pantheon) wins local accolades for being best of the best. Here is the quintessential Italian coffee bar/ shop that does everything right including purchasing beans from a variety of free-trade growers, roasting the beans over a wood-burning fire and brewing the coffee with water sent to the city by an aqueduct built in19 B.C.

COFFEE LOVERS CANNOT LEAVE ROME WITHOUT TRYING COFFEE AT SANT’EUSTACHIO’S. 

That said, coffee drinking habits in Italy are quite distinct and distinctly different than in the States, so when in Sant’Eustachio do as the Romans do. First, order the coffee and pay at the cashier. Then head to the bar (which can be two to four people deep) and hand the receipt to the barista who will serve the coffee to you. Of course, two minutes in Sant’Eustachio and you can figure out the system yourself, but what you may not know, because it is so different from other countries, is that Romans generally drink standing at the bar and gulp the intense brew rather quickly. Words of warning: in Italy, coffee consumed at a table generally cost more and Sant’Eustachio serves its coffee sweetened, so when ordering be sure to specify no sugar if you can’t abide the sweet stuff.