Basil... and peaches!

 

[We've been stuck in holiday frantic-ness so I haven't written in LONGTIME, but now we're rapidly approaching New Years its all underway again.]

HELLO NEW ZEALAND SUMMER! It's stonefruit season!  Which means for the next month or so we are brimming with fresh cherries, apricots, peaches and nectarines, as well as fresh berries.  And it is also the best time to get fresh basil.

In Chinese Philosophy, peaches are a symbol of/and are eaten for Longevity and Good Health, which is great to remember for the new year.

ALL ABOUT BASIL:

Basil would defiantely be one of my favorite herbs, and it is so versatile, it can be used for sweet and savory, in food and drink, as well as being used for natural medicine.  It is belived to have originated in India, where it was believed to ward off evil spirits and misfortune.  It is placed in hindu temples, and is also know to have preserving qualities.  Basil was used to help preserve mummies in egypt as well as said to be found in the tomb of Jesus Christ. It has been used in the Greek Orthodox Chuch with the making of Holy Water,  and in Italy, Mexico, Romania, Iran, Egpyt and many other countries it is considered a token of love or used to find a suitor. 

However in Ancient Greece and Rome, Basil had mostly negative connotations as it was thought to be associated with the Devil, poverty and bad luck.  Another myth is that Basil was a symbol of chastity.  If an person held basil and it withered, they were considered impure and discarded as a marriage prospect.

Basil comes from the Greek "Basileus", which means "King", and is representative of scorpions.  It was taken to Europe around the 16th Century where it gradually became well know in mediterreanean cuisine. There is even a passage from the Rig Veda concerning the Lord Vishnu... basil is a supremely scared herb for Hindu people. 

TYPES OF BASIL:

 From left to right Mediterranean (“sweet”) basil, African Blue, lemon basil (O. americanum), spice basil, Thai basil (Siam Queen) and tree basil (O. gratissimum), upper and lower sides.

At Goodluck we use a lot of Thai Basil (or Bai Horapa, in Thai).  If you pop down to the bar, you can ask for a Thai Berry Baby, but today we're giving recipes for two other drinks:

1.  For Summer Freshness: Peach, Ginger and Basil Cooler

2.  A Cure for the Seasonal Hangover: Bloody Mary (Asian Influenced with Thai Basil)

PEACH, GINGER AND BASIL COOLER

• 45ml Cachaca
• Fresh Peaches
• Basil
• Lemon Juice
• tsp Palm sugar
• Small chunk of ginger
• Gnger beer
• Soda

1. Muddle two or three peach slices with palm sugar and ginger
2. Add two leaves of basil, cachaca and lemon juice
3. Shake
4. Gently rub a small handful of basil and put in a tall glass with ice
5. Strain peach concoction over this
6. Top with soda
7. Garnish with a peach slice (optional)

BLOODY MARY (with Thai Basil)

• 45ml Absolut Peppar
• Pickled Onion
• Thai Basil
• Corriander
• Worchester sauce (You could substitute soy sauce, but remember its very salty)
• Hot sauce (I like tobasco, its simple and reliable)
• Grinded Salt and Pepper

1. Muddle pickled onion, add vodka, hotsauce, worchester, some corriander and thai basil to taste.  Grind salt and pepper.
2. Add ice and shake.
3. Strain over ice into a tall glass, fill with Tomato Juice. 
4. Stir to blend ingredients
5. Grind salt and pepper
6. Garnish with some cucumber strips and thai basil.

Further Things To Check Out:

• Pineapple Basil Cocktail
• Watermelon and Basil Margaritas
•  Traditional Thai Food: Gai Pad Pra Gow
• thai basil pesto
• fried basil leaves
• 20 things about holy basil
• Everything you need to know about basil

Summer: A time for a good, Salty Margarita

The Stars have aligned lately,

1) The Margarita is one of my favorite drinks, and I've been hammering them back lately.  Much like onions (in my previous post) the idea of 'salt' scares people off them. 
1.5) I had a killer Honey + Clove Margarita with Ginger-Salt at Mea Culpa in Auckland a few months ago
2) I've also just finished reading "Salt: A World History" by Mark Kurlansky, which is a extensive yet fabulous book  all about, well, Salt. 
3) While rummaging in various stores ast week, I stumbled across 'Black' Salt Crystals, which are smokey, tasty and uniquely textured
4) I have a small obsession with salted fish.
5) I have a small obsession with salted chocolate

All of this inspired me to write about Salt, which the human body needs to function.

The long + short of it:  Salt is a life essential, it has been a highly valued commodity, currency, and used for various cusine aspects since, well, pretty much the start of time. 

Because salt has been such a commodity since way back when, there are alot of traditions associated with it and its use.  Throwing Salt on the Dohyo in Japanese Sumo wrestling is still an honoured tradition; Using salt as a 'purification' item- salt circles in rituals, sprinkling salt to 'purify' objects, using salt to ward off evil spirits is still practiced; and did you know the Great Wall of China was financed by the Salt Trade?

And this is all relevant to us in a bar environment, particularly in a society growing more aware of sustainability and waste, salt can be used in SO many ways!  Yet, like alot of things behind a bar, its often neglected in a shaker in the corner for use with cheap tequila shots or to rim a margarita glass.  And thats it.

- Shake some salt into a fruit drink- it automatically lifts flavour.  In Taiwan, they season fresh fruit with salt to bring out the sweetness
- Alternatively you can make a saline solution- at The Violet Hour in Chicago are fans.  A few drops of concentrated solution into a classic drink can lift certain elements.  (Salt + Campari, for example, see the Beta Cocktails link at the end of the post)
- Salt can be added to ice water to chill glasses or ice buckets quickly...
- Salt can be used as an assisting cleaning agent.  Mix with vinegar to clean carpets.  This mix can also remove lipstick and coffee stains from glassware and cups.  And help clean fridges too!
- Salt can be used to remove stains from napkins, teatowels and table cloths
- Salt can be sprinkled on shelves to keep ants away
- Salt can be sprinkled on mint and herbs to help them stop wilting.
- Salt can be added to Gelatine to help it set faster
- Salt can be added to Cream to help it whip faster

 

There are heaps of varieties of salt you could experiment with too, outside of traditional iodised salt, or rock salt you get at the super market.  All have a different look, taste, even smell:

- Himalayan Salt : 'pink' salt
- Hawaiian Salt : quite often hawaiian 'red' salt.  Gets its colour from red clay
- Hiwa Kai- (Hawaii) Pacific waters, solar evaporated with lava rocks, dusted with charcoal
- Fleur de Sel - (France, in particular Brittany): hand collected from the top layer of salt pans.  Very delicate, and quite expensive [flor de sal is a spanish/portuguese equivalent]
- Iburi Jio - (Japan):"iburi" = smoking (food) with wooden chips.  Deep waters, cystalized in stainless steel.  [Also used in the traditional preservation of Daikon Rashishes]
- As well as various smoked, coloured, scented, flavoured (such as chili salt, or ginger salt), 'luxury', that you can find at gourmet food shops.

Theres also Dead Sea Salt, Celtic Salt, Dairy Salt, Kosher Salt, Red Salt... I could go on, but instead i'll just give you a recipe I'm working on (its not perfect yet, mezcals a difficult one to balance):

Black Magic Woman


45ml Mezcal
20ml Cointreau
about 20 ml fresh squeezed lime juice
... a pinch of salt
Charcoal/Black Salt

Rim a cocktail glass with ground black/charcoal salt
Put all ingredients in a boston
Shake
strain
Enjoy.


LINKS:

The Nibble has a great article on the history of salt
WH Foods 'Salt'
Perfect Margarita
Beta Cocktails article "The Campari Martini" + on the use of Saline Solution
Salt in coffee article (taiwan)
The Salt Cathedral in Zipaquirá is pretty amazing
Kashmiri Namkeen Chai/Salt Tea in Kashmir

Cocktail Mondays: Gibson

Image by Audrey Kawasaki

Apparently I'm the resident hippie, according to the boys, because in my spare time I like growing vegetables, yoga, and making chutneys, pickles.  Fair enough, but in the bar we are taking steps to push toward a more hands-on, homemade focus, which we think is important for a few reasons.

1) sustainability - in this case focussing on seasonal produce for certain things, and a broader idea of bar sustainability, but I'll focus on this in a later post

2) better understanding of products you are using.  Most bartenders have extensive knowledge of products to be able to work effectively making drinks.  We are using, like most bars, infusions and syrups, but are branching into bitters, homemade pickles (like olives, onions, etc), and experimenting with Limoncello for the summer.

3) developing customer interest in homemade products, and helping them to be able to figure it out at home, or encourage them to ask about drinks

4) our products shelf is starting to resemble a Chinese Apothecary, which we think is kinda nifty.  All thats missing is the Snake Wine...

So, on that note, today I'm going to feature how to make a classic drink, The Gibson Martini.

Now, alot of Martini drinkers are scared to try Gibsons because they're scared of onions.  Which is silly, in my opinion, because there are alot of Filthy Martini drinkers out there, Blue-Cheese Stuffed Olive Martini's anyone? .  We like pickled onions.  And will force you to like them too, because this drink is simple to make, strong, and a great classic drink to start the evening/finish the evening.  Be aware though:

One martini is all right. Two are too many, and three are not enough.

James Thurber

  

I like to drink martinis. Two at the most. Three I'm under the table, four I'm under the host.

Dorothy Parker

As with all classic drinks, the origin is quite often muddled.  You can check out the wikipedia page for a variety of stories here, which also has the IBA official recipe.  Martini's are tricky as drinkers are generally quite specific in the way they have them.  So this is probably how i'd have mine, since I like lots of Gin.

Gibson Martini 

• 60ml      Gin of choice
• 7- 10ml  Dry Vermouth
• Cocktail Onion

1. Add gin and vermouth to a mixing glass, add ice and stir until you get your desired dilution.
2. The best way to think of this is: the longer you stir, the more dilution, the less 'strong' the drink.

If you don't know how you like yours, experiment with vermouth and gin quanties, and if you want it slightly dirtier, add a bit of the brine from the onions (although remember this will be more vinegary than saltine).

Links to check out and other uses for your onions:

• Put a few in a ramekin as a bar snack
• Muddle one or two in with your Bloody Mary
• A Chinese Take on the Lunchbox
• Pickled Onions are Like Girlfriends
• And if you like, Pickled onions go great with summer food!  If you are omnivourous - Corned Beef Sammies with Pickled Onions ; If you are Vegetarian - Avocado, Pickled Onion, Arugula and Feta Salad 

 

Lucky Pickled Onions

• Heaps of onions (depending on how many jars you're making).  You want to be using 'pickling' or 'pearl' onions... which retail at about $1.50- $2 a kilo so they're super cheap to do.
• Brine (1/2 sea salt, 1/2 boiling water)
• Pickling Spices (Peppercorns, Mustard Seed, Coriander Seed, Cumin, Cinnamon, etc)
• White Sugar
• Vinegar (i've been experimenting, but I like 1/2 White Vinegar, 1/2 Red Wine vinegar, alot of recipes call for Malt vinegar or you could try Balsamic)

1. Top/tail onions
2. Peel Onions
3. Leave Onions submerged in brine for 12-24 hours with some spices.
4. Take onions out, put them in sterilised jars.
5. Sprinkle a couple of tbsp sugar over them
6. Add some spices to your tastes
7. Top with vinegar
8. Seal Jars
9. Shake to mix spices/sugar with vinegar
10. Store for 4-6 weeks until use (or longer if desired.)

The Monthly Update- what we're up to...

We're heading into Summer and working on a brand new cocktail list, so are all being busy making, brewing, infusing, flaming and flambeeing things... here is a little snippet of what we are working on:

Sam is our Blazer Boy and is making:

• Pear-Infused Jim Beam Small Batch Bourbon
• Coffee Bean-Infused Cointreau

Rose is doing strange things with angostura sprays and kaffir lime leaves, and is making:

• 44 Naval Rum
• Garam Masala and Vanilla-Infused Herradura Reposado Tequila
• Cherry-Chocolate and Hibiscus Bitters, and Grapefruit Bitters

Matt is our Feng Shui expert and is making:

• Lychee and Lime-Infused DebuGaki Sake 
• Pinot Noir-Soaked Spiced Cherries
• Vanilla bean-Infused Absolut Vodka
• .. and doing everything the rest of us forget to do

Other things you can expect to find down the stairs:

• A million Maneki-Neko "Lucky Cats" waving frantically
• Overproof Rum Spiced Apricots
• Anna Good Luck Sui breaking out some crazy dance moves
• Mr Simpsons Rose-Petal infused Beefeater Gin
• Fortune cookies with very cryptic fortunes
• Fernet, Averna or Amaro Montenegro (your choice, unless we beat you to it)
• Lemon-Chicken being eaten in the red room by the Chairman

And of course our resident DJ's Kev Fresh and Marek (AKA the Dropkick Cousins), who have just released a new mixtape.  Listen to it here!

AND here is what we're all drinking:

Sam- Blood + Sand or Sazerac
Rose- Tanqueray Gin + Tonic + Orange; Margarita
Matt- Millers Gin + Tonic + Cucumber; Issac Cider with a shot of Herradura Reposado on the side Rum Old Fashioned

Dylan- Havana Rum + Apple Juice

Charlie- Little Creatures Pale Ale; or a

Reuben- Whiskey sour with marmalade and lime; Becks

Cocktail Mondays: Strawberry Testarosa

In NZ we're coming into Berry Season so I'm going to feature another long-standing drink this week, the Strawberry Testarosa.

Again, its pretty simple to make and super tasty, and you could easily replace the strawberrries with blueberries, blackberries or any kind of berries at the market. We use tequila, but you can also do a nice, smokey Mezcal version (see below) which would be great for summer evenings.

STRAWBERRY TESTAROSA

Ingredients:

• 30ml Tequila
• 20ml Agave Honey (or any store bought Honey)
• 20ml Lemon Juice
• 15ml Stawberry Liqueur (we use Monin Brand)
• Fresh Stawberries x3

Method:

1. Chill a cocktail glass
2. Muddle (crush) the strawberries in a boston glass
3. Add all other ingredients
4. Fill to brim with ice
5. Shake
6. Double Strain (through a tea strainer) into the empty cocktail glass
7. Garnish with a strawberry on the side of the glass or on a skewer

Other drinks to try:

• Speaking in Tongues
• Juquila

Cocktail Mondays: Gambatte

Welcome to the first installment of the latest venture for us down here at Good Luck Bar, and my slow decent into alcohol-internet-blogging madness!

Well, we were refelcting on drinking culture, and thought- so often you go to a cocktail bar for a bevvy, drink some kick a** cocktails, and wonder how to make them.  Well, naturally we're going to keep some suprises locked in the basement, but each week I'm going to share how to make a few of our classics over the years.

The Gambatte (said "Gam-Bah-Tay") has been a perennial fave on the Good Luck Cocktail Lists for 8 years running, so it seems fit to kickstart our 'How-To' with it!   "Gambatte" means "best of luck" in Japanese, or more colloquially, something along the lines of "Go for it!" 

So go for it- its a fantastic drink, tasty, and simple to make- it really on relies on three ingredients, Sake, Umeshu (or Plum Wine), with a tinned black doris plum to garnish.  The sake you want needs to be relatively dry and a little bit crisp to counteract the mix of sweet-sour that the plum wine delivers. 

Without further adieu... The Gambatte.

Ingredients:

• 30 ml Sake (We use our own brand, Debu Gaki)
• 30 ml Umeshu (Plum Wine)
• Black Doris Plum
• Chopsticks

Method:

1. First up, chill down a Cocktail Glass by filling it with ice while you make the drink.
2.  In a Boston Glass, (for those playing at home, any large, tall vessel will do), put the sake and plum wine. Fill to the brim with fresh ice.  With a long bar spoon, stir the drink for a couple of minutes.  What we are doing is mixing both ingredients, while diluting slowly with water and chilling the drink too.
3. Throw out the ice in the cocktail glass that has been chilling, and strain the drink into it.  Put a black doris plum into the drink and a spoonful of plum juice to boost the flavour if you like.
4. Garnish with chopsticks, and you're ready to go!

There are ways you could modify this too.  In Japan Umeshu is served in heaps of different ways, including the popular "Umeshu Soda"... so why not try mixing umeshu with soda or lemonade, in a tall glass with ice?  Again, simple, tasty, and great for summer.

Check out the links below for more cocktails and infomation.

xx Rose

• Ume- what is it? @ Wikipedia
• Making Umeshu + Pics
• "Plum Blossom" at Imbibe
• "Sparkling Sugarplum" Cocktail