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Good Eats + Raising the Bar Again


SCENE i
Good Drinks Bar

    Greetings, American cooks. If y'all're a fan of this program, you no incertitude recognize this ofttimes repeated scenario whereby I rail at you for slacking off and allowing some classic American dish to fall into disrepair. Well, today is going to be different. Don't worry, I'm withal going to track at you lot. Merely the dishes we volition endeavor to mend were not actually conceived in the United states of america, they were damaged here. So I feel it's our duty to repair said damage and in doing so, mend our bruised international food image. Now I should indicate out that they're not actually dishes, they're beverages, cocktails in fact; and by some reports, the nearly popular cocktails in the land. And yet, both have get swollen, mangled versions of their one-time selves.
Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to present to you the 2 once-great ladies of the American bar. Here, nosotros take the Encarmine Mary, who in the hands of fern-bar mixologists seeking to modernize her has decayed into a murky miasma of discordant spices aimed at buzz-eager brunchers. And here, abreast her, the poor, put-upon margarita, her agave warmth now muffled by a icy slush, her smoky citrus bite cached beneath sickening shawls of sweetness. Nectar, yes, just for bound-breakers. A plague on both our houses, lest nosotros correct the wrongs suffered by these ladies' honor.
Luckily, with a few quality ingredients, some sound science, a nuance of properly applied technique and some uh, historical perspective, we can exercise merely that. Non to mention create some quaffable ...

[Good Eats Theme Plays]

SCENE two
Harry's New York Bar

Scene 2 � Harry�s New York Bar in Paris

GUESTS: Pete
Hemingway, Reporter
Mary Tudor

    To ameliorate empathise the Bloody Mary, nosotros demand to venture to Paris in the 1920s, and Harry'southward New York bar�Harry's, for short�which had get a home-away-from-dwelling for a gaggle of American ex-pats and jazz-age refugees from Fitzgerald to Gershwin, who they say wrote most of "an American in Paris," at the downstairs piano.
Now, an historic setting and supporting cast to be certain, but the real star of this particular drama was a bartender named Pete.

PETE: [knocks on the window]
AB: Ah! Salut, Pete. Ca va? [Ah! How-do-you-do, Pete. You okay?]
P: Pas mal, et toi? [Alright, What virtually you?]
AB: Oh, bien, bien! [Oh, okay, okay!]

    Ferdinand "Pete" Petiot came to work the plank at Harry's in 1921. Now Pete was friendly with some Russian families who had fled the Bolsheviks back in 1917, okay? And 1 of these families, the Smirnoffs, had supplied a curious spirit called vodka, or "picayune h2o", to the Czar himself. It was this association that inspired the young mixologist to experiment with this chameleonic elixir.
Now, nobody knows exactly when Pete had his big monkey touch monolith moment, okay? But I similar to think that on one fateful morning, a young reporter came in with nerves a-jangle, head throbbing from a tardily night of drinking and probably fighting with his offset wife. At present practiced ol' Pete knew that Hemingway really needed a little hair of the dog.

P: Bonjour, Monsieur Hemingway.

    Figured he'd effort out some of that new vodka stuff hidden inside the tomato juice that he knew the author liked. Information technology should be noted that canned tomato juice was becoming very popular in Paris at the time as an center opener, that is something that one drinks when drinking is what someone's been doing too much of the night before. Pete as well figured he would round off the flavour of this new concoction with a few drops of something salty and spicy, and then he reached for Worcestershire and Tabasco, which had both get standards in the bar. Earlier you knew it, something brand-new was crossing the bar. Hemingway drank it downwardly.

HEMINGWAY: Pete, what do you call this bloody thing?
P: Comma vous appelez-vous? [What is your name?]
MARY: Je thousand'appelle Mary. [My name is Mary.]

    I'm not saying that's exactly how it went down, but a lot of people do think the drink was named for the original "Bloody Mary", Mary Tudor. Mary Tudor: It's the perfect thing later on a long day of dealing with Protestants. Of course, she'd been dead for a few ... never mind. Nomenclatural bug withal, Pete'south concoction took off like a shot, and the residuum is history.

SCENE three
The Kitchen

Guest: Yeast Sock Puppet

    Like any other spirit, vodka is built-in of a carbohydrate-rich mash that is fermented past yeast.

YEAST: [enter burping]

    What's particularly interesting about vodka is that it doesn't actually matter where the carbohydrates come from: fruit, roots, corn, potatoes, grain, any; because once the mash is fermented, the resulting mash, or beer as it's called, is distilled, meaning that the booze which boils out at 173 degrees Fahrenheit is cooked out and then condensed back into liquid form. The trouble is is that some impurities remain kind of chemically glued to this young vodka, and so it has to exist distilled again, and sometimes it's distilled a third time, or fifty-fifty a fourth time. The distillate is then filtered, unremarkably through the very same activated charcoal plant in home h2o scrubbers. In fact, I've heard tell that you tin turn mediocre vodka into meridian drawer hooch just by running it through 1 of these [habitation water filters] 4 or 5 times. But, I tin can neither confirm nor deny whether that really works.
Finally, water is added to dilute the ABV, or alcohol by volume, to whatever the distiller wants. At that betoken, the vodka should live up to the legal definition, which means it should be odorless, colorless and tasteless, which makes you kind of wonder, what then is the divergence between decent vodka and actually, actually good vodka. I'll evidence you.
On the right, we have a $25 canteen, on the left, an $eighty bottle. The difference, in this instance, $55 worth of canteen. I'll take this one. ($25 canteen)

SCENE iv
Good Drinks Bar

GUESTS: Women Patron

    At present, the Bloody Mary never would accept seen the light of twenty-four hour period or Hemingway's throat had it not been for canned lycopersicon esculentum juice. Because back and then, the only fresh tomatoes in a bar were sitting on the stools, right?

WOMAN PATRON: [slaps AB]
AB:
Oh, touche. Oh!

    So, these days, for better or worse, modern American megamarts have a constant tomato supply on mitt, so I say we can the tin.

AB: I bet y'all dance a mean can-tin.
WOMAN PATRON: [slaps AB again]

    I got to become out of this business.

The first published recipe for the Bloody Mary appeared in the
�Stock Club Bar Book� by Lucius Beebe in 1944.

SCENE 5
Out Front of Good Drinks Bar

    When we talk about the fashion a lycopersicon esculentum tastes, nosotros're actually referring to a armada of flavors. A chemically circuitous stew of sugars, aromatic compounds, acids and amino acids. And to fully capture that in a glass requires that we extract every possible molecule of goodness from the best tomatoes we can find.
Now ripe cherry or grape tomatoes are loftier in sugar and juice, only relatively depression in the pithy flesh that makes up the inner structure of larger tomatoes. So I'm going to use ane iii/4 of a pound of those.
Now these big heirlooms, on the other paw, are positively zaftig, but they're mighty nice and ripe so they can come up to the party equally well. We'll just utilize them in a slightly different style.

SCENE vi
Good Drinks Bar

    Tomatoes, botanically speaking, are berries, and every bit such, contain both water and booze-soluble flavors. Now vodka, beingness booze and water, is an ideal solvent for extracting those tomato flavors. But to do so thoroughly takes time, a lot longer than it would take to mix and drink a Bloody Mary. The answer, of course, is to make tomato vodka, right?

Now to do so, we will need a pound of big, ripe tomatoes, that'due south what our heirlooms are for. Just cut them into, say, eight pieces, and identify in a large, clean drinking glass jar, and top with 750 ml of fourscore proof vodka. And again, this is definitely the $25 diversity. At that place, now seal that up tight for 5 to seven days stirring the ingredients at least in one case a day. one Pound Ripe Tomatoes
750 ml Bottle 80 Proof Vodka

    Then, after a week, remove the lid, and strain through a fine mesh. Then simply discard the solids and return the vodka to its canteen. Go along in a absurd, dry identify and savour, dandy. Sometimes I add a couple of drops of hot sauce and merely call it a solar day; simply we've got a Bloody Mary to make; so, onto the base.

All right, into your blender carafe go the tomatoes and they should fit into most residential and commercial models. To that, we add together two teaspoons of the hot sauce of your choice, iii teaspoons of lemon juice. And yes, this needs to be freshly squeezed and then that the acidity volition properly balance the fruit with the booze. Next, we will get with 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce. one� Pounds Cheery Tomatoes
2 tsp. Hot Sauce
iii tsp. Freshly Squeezed
Lemon Juice
ii Tbs. Worcestershire Sauce

    Pete used it dorsum in 1921, and it'south still on the standard parts list today. Why? Well, it'due south salty for one thing, and tomatoes need that, but three of the ingredients within Worcestershire�soy sauce, anchovies and tamarind�contain glutamates which highlight the savory aspects of the tomatoes. Foodies refer to this as umami, which is Japanese for "deliciousness." Works just similar good, old-fashioned MSG, and it will add a meaty goodness to the cocktail. Of grade, I prefer homemade, but that'll have to wait for another show.

Concluding but not least ane half teaspoon of kosher salt. The lid goes on and nosotros blend on high for ane � minutes. I should mention that all alone this makes a pretty fabled lycopersicon esculentum juice that'll go along in the fridge for up to a month. � tsp. Kosher Salt
Now when it comes time to construct the beverage, I similar a tall Collins glass. Information technology holds enough of liquid but it'south narrow, so when y'all plow it upwards to get at the ice cubes, they won't autumn in your confront.

Collins glass can plough
without ice falling

Speaking of water ice cubes, I brand mine out of the Bloody Mary mix itself; three cubes will do the trick. Dump just a jigger; that�south an ounce and a half of our tomato vodka and and so elevation that off with the Encarmine Mary mix stir, if you desire, or y'all don't have to. i� Ounces Tomato Vodka
4 Ounces Bloody Mary Mix

     As for garnishes, well, nosotros don't demand no stinking garnishes. It's a delicious drink, but one of the things I actually love most it is that in one case the potable is gone, y'all notwithstanding become to crunch on all those delicious tomatoey water ice cubes.

AB: Hither you lot go, Pete.
P: [tastes] Pas mal. [All right.]

    Dang tootin' it's pas mal.
Now it should exist noted that alcohol anthropologists credit Harry'south bar with creating still another cocktail a decade later built upon brandy orange liqueur and lemon juice. Dubbed "the sidecar," it became the poster drink for an entire class of citrus-based drinks referred to as "sours." And the sidecar is first cousin to the margarita. Ironic, don't you think?

The near famous member of the sour family is the �Whiskey Sour� made
with whiskey, lemon juice, uncomplicated syrup, and a maraschino carmine.

SCENE vii
Good Eats Bar

GUESTS: Mexican Barkeep
College Kids

    Although they are both classic fruit-based cocktail, the Bloody Mary and the margarita could not exist more different. In the bloody Mary, vodka�more phantom than spirit�plays silent partner to the crimson nightshade. Only everything in a margarita, a good 1 at least, serves the tequila. And whereas vodka tin can be fabricated anywhere from anything, every bit long equally it'south thoroughly distilled and filtered, tequila is one of the most jealously guarded and regulated varietal products on the planet. It is also one of the almost misunderstood. Now I would honey to keep for hours about this mysterious spirit, simply we're a little pressed for time.
So here are the top four things you only must know about tequila. One, tequila is made from the bluish agave plant, not a cactus. At present when the agave's about a dozen years old, which is considerably larger than this, they are dug out by hand, the spikes are removed to reveal the eye, which looks and then much similar a pineapple, they really call information technology a pi�a. Yes, that was an actual pineapple, sorry virtually that.
Number 2, tequila, like champagne and Vidalia onions, can only legally be chosen tequila if information technology is produced in very specific areas, Including the states of Jalisco, and limited regions of Guanajuato, Michoacan, Nayarit, and Tamaulipas. Whatever agave-based spirit fabricated outside these areas are chosen mezcal.
Tequila fact number iii. There are actually ii dissimilar categories of tequila. At that place is 100 percent agave tequila and and so there are mixto tequilas, which, by law, only have to comprise 51 percent agave, the other 49 percent of which can be, well, nosotros call it headache in a bottle.
Now it's worth noting that the number-one selling tequila in the U.s.�very popular with the college kids�is in fact a mixto, which is mistaken as the good stuff, because it unremarkably has the word "golden" associated with information technology because of the caramel coloring. At present the really expert stuff, the 100 per centum agave, does price more than the gold stuff. But information technology doesn't really price you an entire bucket of money, it'south just we already had the props and the wardrobe rented, so in that location y'all go. That's the adept stuff.

Four: within the 100 percent agave territory, at that place are several classifications, alright? Blanco or white tequila is often called silver. It's crystal clear, like vodka, and straight from the still. The flavor is pure agave, which is floral, spicy, even a piffling fruity.

Blanco or White Tequila
aka: Silverish

If the tequila is stored in oak barrels for at least ii months but not more than 11 months and 30 days, it is labeled Reposado, or rested. The pale gold is from the wood, which also lends a subtle smokiness.

Tequila aged in oak barrels from 2 months to 11 months & thirty days is labeled Reposado

At present as the aging continues for between one to one 24-hour interval short of iii years, the tequila is A�ejo, "anile". And the woodiness and smoky flavors resemble those of other spirits that are anile similarly, such as scotch whiskey, and of course, bourbon.

Tequila anile from 1 year to ii years 11 months & 30 days is A�ejo or "aged".

Then we have extra A�ejo. As they are very, very dark, due to spending more than three years in forest, and these are actually expensive tequilas, which should be sipped and savored the way you lot would enjoy a fine cognac. Otherwise y'all're going to miss out on the subtleties, and that'southward the existent discussion here.

Extra A�ejo is anile for three years or more than in wood.

I keep 100 per centum agave silver, or white tequila, around for all my mixing needs, including, of course, the margarita.

100% Agave Silver or white tequila is great for mixing, particularly margaritas

    Now, many take laid claim to the creation of the first margarita. But whoever did the making, I'g willing to bet five to one it went down just like this, okay?
At present imagine, one night in the mid '30s, some spiffy gringo swells were whooping it up in a hot dark club, mayhap in Tijuana or Juarez or Monterrey, and i of them turns to the barkeep and says, ...

GRINGO: "nosotros'll have two sidecars."
MEXICAN BARKEEP:
Como? [What?]
G: Ii sidecars.
MB: Si. [Aye.]

    The barkeep turns and he grabs the orange liqueur, right? But then he reaches for the brandy, the key ingredient, and ooh, he's just most out. At present the bartender�who looks similar Pete, but isn't really Pete�sizes upwards the customers and figures they'll never notice if he switches it out for something else, maybe tequila. Yeah. And he's got enough of tequila right there, and information technology's squeamish and inexpensive to kick. Of form, on pinnacle of that, he'll also demand some lemon juice. Oh, he's out of that, and so he reaches for the lime. Necessity is the mother of invention. He shakes it up and he pours information technology downward and of course, the customers beverage them down without ever noticing that they were actually consuming the first margaritas on earth. Proficient job, barkeep.
And that'south how I merely know information technology happened. The reason I know is that if the margarita had been built from scratch; and well I know I'm nearly to commit beverage heresy here, merely, if it had been designed from scratch, the orange liqueur would never have been in the glass in the first place. And so, I say to those of you at home, unless y'all actually like drinking orange liqueur, or sidecars, just skip it all together, and spend the money on better tequila and a little flake of agave nectar.

Agave nectar is produced past extracting the sap from the
�pina� or cadre of a mature agave.

SCENE 8
Adept Eats Bar

    Here comes the margarita hardware.

  • I cocktail shaker. I like the two-piece Boston style.

  • A modest liquid measure. I adopt the plunger which is adjustable,

  • 1 citrus reamer.

  • A muddler

  • A cocktail strainer and

  • A 12 ounce drinking glass; martini or cocktail glass we telephone call that.

  • Two saucers one with a tablespoon of kosher salt the other with just half an ounce of the tequila. Alibi my little measure for that. It should just cover the bottom. Perfect.

1 Tbs. Kosher Salt
� Ounce 100% Blueish Agave
Tequila

    Now take the cocktail glass, invert, and dip into the tequila thusly. Now just count to ten. Considering information technology evaporates faster than water and is but a little chip on the sticky side, tequila volition provide a better, well primer, if you volition, for the table salt to come.
    Fourth dimension'due south upwardly. And so only place the rim straight downward in the salt, give it a jerk, tap off the excess and capsize. that prep is done.

At present, as far the margarita itself, we start with the citrus. We're going to need half a juiced orange quartered and iv limes, two quartered, two halved with one small wheel cut off of the half. Yes, it'due south a lot of lime, just nosotros're simply going to be using the juice from part of it, the rest we're going to be muddling for the oils in the pare, that'due south a very dissimilar kind of flavor. ii Limes, Halved
� Hamlin Or Valencia Orange
1 Thin Slice [lime}
2 Limes, Quartered

    And so, hither we go, I like to utilise a reamer that really fits right on the cocktail shaker, but y'all can use whatever juicing device yous've got. In that location we go. And side by side, only dump in the oranges, and then come back for the limes. There we go, perfect.

    Now typically, we would muddle with sugar, simply in this instance, I'm going to utilize the agave nectar, two tablespoons of it. It is mostly fructose, so it's sweeter than an equal amount of sucrose. But unlike say, honey, information technology is relatively neutral in flavour and it's highly soluble in cold liquids, so it'southward perfect for cocktails.\

ii Tbs. Light Agave Nectar

    Muddle thusly for 2 full minutes, to release, over again, non just the juices, but the oils in the skins. Now this pace is often kind of glossed over in the fast-paced professional person bartending world. Don't make that mistake.    At that place. I think the fruit has given upwards all that it'southward got to give. So strain into the other side of the cocktail shaker, or only another drinking glass, if y'all're using that kind of model. And make sure yous get every drop possible.

Then, bring forth tequila, one and a one-half ounces, that�south a jigger and oh, don't forget about that half ounce back down in the saucer. Don't want to waste that. That goes in on meridian. ane� Ounces 100% Blue Agave
Tequila
There, now we're going to shake that with three quarters of a cup of ice and the ameliorate quality the water ice is, the ameliorate quality the drink will exist. Shake for a total 30 seconds, or until the outside of the shaker is ice cold. So just strain into the prepared glass thusly. Oh, and of course, utilise the lime bicycle. There. Now that is the margarita that would accept been if the margarita hadn't been a sidecar first. Hmm, oh yep. � Cub Water ice Cubes

    Well, I certainly hope that yous have enjoyed learning a little about a couple of perfectly proficient cocktails that we Americans led astray. Luckily, Americans possess the ingenuity, savvy, materials and skills necessary to repair whatever ethno-culinary habit nosotros wreak, correct? Well, sometimes we do. This time we do. Encounter you side by side fourth dimension on Good Eats. And oh, call back, please enjoy responsibly. Cheers and goodnight.

SCENE nine
Outtake

Adult female: [slaps AB]
AB:
I got to get out of this business.

That's actually the best you lot've got, I can't believe it. [laughs]


Transcribed past Jennifer Schleicher
Proofread by Michael Menninger

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Final Edited on 08/27/2010

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