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A Visit to the Nordic Food Lab in Copenhagen

This February I was lucky to be invited to visit the Nordic Food Lab, which is located on a boat floating in a harbor off Copenhagen. It was formerly the research lab of the world's top-rated restaurant NOMA, and I believe they still have a close relationship and work together on projects. 

The lab is pretty small: A few work tables, refrigerators and cabinets on both sides of the room, and tons of samples in bottles, barrels, bags, and jars everywhere. It reminded me a lot of my apartment, except that the swaying back-and-forth was coming from the water beneath the boat, not the booze in my belly. 

There I met Ben Reade, a scientist at the lab. He described some of the cool stuff he was doing, such as:

Going into the Swedish forest and collecting all sorts of possibly-edible plants

and doing all sorts of experiments with them, like making tinctures out of them.

He also brewed beer and added three different levels of (incredibly bitter) oak moss to it so see how it tasted. 

I'm not sure what they're doing with this drying (boar?) leg, but they're attempting traditional curing/drying techniques. The one on the right is coated with some sort of wax.

He's also working a lot with fermentation. He made a vinegar from fermented elderflower, which led to us having a long discussion on shrubs and drinking vinegars.

He was also experimenting with kombucha - we tasted a ton of it with different levels of pear juice to seek the optimum amount.

He was also aging vinegar in a mini-solera. How much do I want a set of these barrels?

At the end of the visit we got to taste some non-sweet sugar with added lactasol (not sure if I am spelling that correctly). It's a chemical that inhibits the perception of sweetness. So the powder we tried is mostly sugar but it tastes like nothing. 

Therapeutically it can be given to anorexic people mixed with high-sugar foods as apparently they don't want to eat anything sweet, but of course my thoughts went to cocktail applications: a drop of it in a too-sugary cocktail could dry it right up! (Unfortunately he said it's usually only available in massive-sized quantities.)

Overall the visit was very cool and very inspiring, making me wish I had more space for more experiments at home. 

You can read about the work being done at the Nordic Food Lab on their research blog. 

 

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New Cocktail Program at Sherry-Centric Gitane in SF

Gitane restaurant has a lovely bar with a sherry-centric cocktail program. It was originally designed by Dominic Venegas and later handled by Alex Smith, who recently left to open Honor Bar in Emeryville. 

The new and slightly simplified menu is the work of lead barman Ramon Garcia, with some aid from Neyah White (formerly of NOPA).

Vinegar lovers should be thrilled to see the Sherry Shrub back on a menu. 

SHERRY SHRUB
barbadillo manzanilla sherry,seasonal house shrub, lemon peel 

BOOTHBY
cava, bourbon, sweet vermouth,angostura bitters 

LA PERLA
reposado tequila, manzanilla sherry,pear liqueur 

SMOKED PALOMINO
crema de mezcal,amontillado sherry, grapefruit & lime, soda water

DOBLÓN
yamazaki 12 yr, fino sherry, fresh lemon,honey syrup

JENIBRE SMASH
dry sack sherry, canton liqueur,lemon juice, mint 

MARTINEZ gin, sweet vermouth, maraschino liqueur, orange bitters 

CAIPIRINHA CON MORAS
cachaca, dash px sherry, berries, fresh lime, sugar, nutmeg 

BAMBOO COCKTAIL
amontilladio sherry, dry vermouth, angostura bitters

SEASONAL SANGRIA
red wine, assorted fruits,orange liqueur, apple juice, cinnamon

SAFFRA
gin, saffron, honey syrup, lemon, thyme,orange blossom water

LA RENZA
vodka, elderflower & pear liqueur,maraschino, lemon, peychauds bitters

 

Vinegar: The Other Acid

These are notes from the Tales of the Cocktail seminar "Vinegar : The Other Acid). Forgive the formatting and spelling- I'm typing this on my phone as I managed to lose my laptop power cord.

Three other acids used is cocktails include citric (citrus), tartaric (unripe fruit), and malic (apples and grapes).

Lime has the most acid of the citric group.

Vinegar is a double fermented liquid. Base to alcohol, the alcohol to acetic acid.

Balsamic is more acidic on the palate than white wine vinegar, yet they smell the opposite.

They tried to correlate perception of sourness/acidity with pH but couldn't find any correlation.

Intensity of sourness seems to depend on how the acid reacts in a solution. Approximately 1/3 the amount of something citric is a good starting point for vinegar amount. For one ounce of lime juice start with about 1/3 oz of vinegar.

Vinegar drinks in history:

Oxymel - honey, vinegar, and water comes from 460BC Greece

Pliny the Elder in Roman era mentioned Posca: vinegar honey water and coriander seed. 50AD

Shrubs. (The new black.)

Switchel- water molasses apple cider vinegar ginger , often mixed with rum in early America

Vinegar Today: Ashley Greene does not consider it a vinegar cocktail, as much as she may enjoy it. Same goes for a dirty martini or a Gibson.

"Vinegar can be a nostalgic reference point in a drink" Ashley Greene

Gastriques- a reduction of vinegar fruit and sugar. Originally made as a sauce. Shrub is more an uncooked item, gastrique often more caramelized.

Tinctures- can use vinegar instead of alcohol to act as solvent to suck up flavors. Just three drops of a fennel vinegar tincture in a Manhattan can brighten up the drink and add a touch if acid. Same with a Martini. Cacao bean/balsamic and fennel/white wine vinegar they tried. To make them, use a lot of the flavoring agent and shake daily.

 

 

Shrubs For Dummies

Last week I took a shrub-making class, lead by Jennifer Colliau of Small Hand Foods and Aaron Gregory of 15 Romolo.

(Blueberry-Raspberry-Thyme Shrub Ready for Vinegar)

 The class was co-hosted by CUESA,  Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture, who puts on the Ferry Building Farmer's Market, farm tours, and educational events and Urban Kitchen, a group that hosts affordable, single-purpose classes and workshops themed around the DIY Slow Food concept. 

(Jennifer Colliau and Aaron Gregory)

Here is what I learned: 

The word shrub comes from a Persian word for a syrup with citrus and fruit in it, which is  also the base of the word sherbet. Originally, shrubs did not have vinegar in them, but as they spread around the world they began to incorporate it. Why? Because Persia had citrus fruit and other countries did not. Citrus provides the acidity that helps preserve these syrups, and so does vinegar, which can be made from non-citrus fruits. So vinegar was a citrus substitute. 

That explains why we see some recipes for shrub syrups with and some without vinegar. Blueberries, for example, need the extra acid; pineapple does not. I had always wondered about that. Mystery solved. 

Furthermore there is a separate type of shrub related to the switchel. According to Colliau, the switchel dates back to Roman times. It was water mixed with vinegar and perhaps sugar that was used to hydrate the slaves. Wikipedia seems to pick up the trail of the switchel as it enters nascent America, where it was used similarly for hydration rather than as a preservative syrup. 

Making Shrubs, Fast and Easy

They made it incredibly easy for us to make our own shrubs in this class. They put out a bunch of berries, stone fruits, herbs, and spices. We filled mason jars with our selection of them. Then we poured hot vinegar to fill the jars. 

Done. Next we wait a week, giving the jar a little shake each day. Then we add sugar and stick it in the fridge -ready to drink! 

I made a blueberry-raspberry-thyme shrub and a strawberry-pepper-coriander shrub. I CAN'T WAIT TO DRINK THEM!

Vinegar tip: Colliau says don't use distilled white vinegar, use wine/champagne or fruit vinegars. Be wary of apple cider vinegar as the flavor can be overpowering. 

Thanks for a great seminar guys. To San Franciscans: check out the activities calendar for more booze and food event with both CUESA and Urban Kitchen. 

The Prospect Cocktail Menu, Revealed and Tasted

I had an advance look at the cocktail menu for Prospect, the new San Francisco restaurant from Boulevard folks that opens on June 29. The beverage program was designed by Brooke Arthur, the long time bar manager of Range in the Mission.

(Brooke Arthur, stirring in her unconventional style.) 

The menu is below, but keep scrolling for my taste-through of the drinks.

Prospect Cocktail Menu (Subject to Change)

Catcher in the Rye 
wild turkey rye, amontillado sherry, amer, grand marnier,
abbots bitters  10.5

The Whaler 
appleton reserve, champagne, honey, mint, lime, egg white  11.

Stallion, dominic venegas 
beefeater, orange curacao, barolo chinato, bitters  11.

Candace 
42 below, white wine, cantaloupe, vanilla, lime  10.5

Mr. White
pueblo viejo blanco, st. germain, strawberry-mint shrub, lime  10.5

Vicious Circle
wild turkey rye, zirbenz, drambuie, pineapple gum, lemon  10.5

Bitter Guiseppe, stephen cole
cynar, punt e mes, orange bitters, lemon  10.

Prospector, thomas waugh
famous grouse, madeira, benedictine, bitters, burnt orange  10.5

Classy Lassy, micheal la freniere
hendricks, orange blossom water, egg whites, lime, tonic, bitters  11.

Central City
dolin dry vermouth, fino sherry, pickled cherry juice, orange peel  10.

Kingston Crusta, charles baker variation
smith and cross, maraschino, ginger beer, lime, angostura bitters  11.

Roxanna
siete leguas blanco, aperol, cassis, blackberry, lime  11.

And Now for a Tasting

I like this menu a lot- there's a nice balance between lower-alcohol drinks (Central City, Bitter Guiseppe), girlie drinks (Candace, The Whaler, Classy Lassy), and macho drinks (Catcher in the Rye, Stallion, Prospector). It also reads well- there are a lot of friendly fruit flavors like strawberry and cherry juice balanced with challenging spirits like Zirbenz and Amer.

But how do they taste? Luckily I can answer that. I had a mini drink-through of the menu.

(The Central City)

The Central City (dolin dry vermouth, fino sherry, pickled cherry juice, orange peel) is as light as can be, acting as both a refresher and an aperitif. The pickled cherry juice Arthur made a year ago using the Chez Panisse Fruit book. It contains vinegar, sugar, cloves, and cherries. (The cherry garnish in the drink is from the same batch- make sure to try it.) This drink should be served by the vat at outdoor cafes and summer barbecues- it's a classy outdoor drink.

(Mr. White)

The Mr. White (pueblo viejo blanco, st. germain, strawberry-mint shrub, lime) is named for bartender Neyah White of NOPA (who will be leaving the post at the end of June), as the strawberry-mint shrub is apparently his grandmother's recipe. The strawberry and tequila combination nearly always works well, and in shrub form (yes folks, that's two vinegar drinks on a menu!) it's even better than usual.

(Candace.)

The Candace is one for the ladies- vodka, white wine, cantaloupe, vanilla syrup, and lime juice. It's not overly sweet, but the vanilla gives it a false sweetness that might make you think so. It also has a bit of Orange Julius flavor to it that I always like despite myself.

The drink is named for the whaling ship Candace found buried for 150 years at the site of the restaurant when it was being built in 2006. Read the story of the ship's discovery here.

(Vicious Circle.)

The Vicious Circle (wild turkey rye, zirbenz, drambuie, pineapple gum, lemon) is a riff on the Algonquin Cocktail. My mouth is always a little confused by drinks that combine lemon or pineapple juice and dark spirits (I expect gin but get rye) but I like the results. Many of the drinks on this menu are food-friendly, and this one is in that camp- it's interesting but not so strongly flavored that it's trying to compete with dinner.

(Roxanna.)

The Roxanna (siete leguas blanco, aperol, cassis, blackberry, lime) will probably be the star drink of this menu. Arthur smartly chose a dry, spicy blanco tequila that brings out the wonderful fruit-pepper flavor combination that works so well in cocktails (anyone remember the Rouge No. 10?), with Aperol acting as a bridge between them. Arthur chose to serve this drink on the rocks, but it is dense enough in flavor to be served up and juicy/strong enough that it would make a hell of a shot. 

(Catcher in the Rye.)

I've consumed a million Manhattan spin-off drinks made with port, amaros, and other vermouth substitutes, and I'm glad to report that the Catcher in the Rye (wild turkey rye, amontillado sherry, amer, grand marnier, abbots bitters) isn't one of them. Instead it's another drink that would be great with a meal- the nuttiness of the sherry comes through and the Torani Amer and Abbot's bitters (made by John Deragon) combination dries out the finish in a lovely way. Another food-friendly drink here.

At first sip the Bitter Guiseppe (cynar, punt e mes, orange bitters, lemon, created by Stephen Cole of Chicago) comes off a bit syrupy, but then the delightfully dry and bitter finish- that's six dashes of Regan's Orange Bitters in there- lets you know that this is a digestif drink after all. 

(Kingston Crusta.)

Arthur said the Kingston Crusta (smith and cross, maraschino, ginger beer, lime, angostura bitters) was the drink she was most worried about. (You can see her biting her nails after serving it to me in the picture above.) It's a really unique combination of bold flavors- an ultra-funky rum, maraschino liqueur, and though it doesn't say it on the menu, it comes with a chili salt-sugar rim.  It is a little crazy, and I like it.  

In Summary

So that's what I did on Monday afternoon. Mmmm, Mondays.

Overall, the menu is solid so I'm just going to suggest that you try every drink on it: There are only twelve so you should be able to get through the menu in three or four visits. They all read well but I was surprised at which drinks I ended up liking the most. (Roxanna, Central City, Catcher in the Rye, Mr. White for me.)

Then again, I only had eight of the twelve drinks so far. I could find new favorites still.

Prospect is located at 300 Spear Street, San Francisco. It opens June 29, 2010, at 4PM.

Wayfare Tavern Cocktail Menu Preview

After nearly a year of no notable cocktail programs launching in San Francisco, they're coming fast and furious these days, with the Comstock Saloon, Burritt Room, Scott Beattie's program at Spoonbar in Healdsburg, Brooke Arthur's menu at Prospect, and The Bon Vivants at Wayfare Tavern.

What's that, you say? Didn't you just read in the Eater interview with  Tyler Florence about his restaurant Wayfare Tavern that he won't have fancy cocktails? Yes you did:

Can we talk about the bar program?

You know, there are some amazing consultants in the city, but I don't know if we're necessarily going to go there. We've got talented people here in house and it's really all about Martinis and Sazeracs. I think the craze of muddled, precious cocktails is kinda over. I don't think people want to pay for that or wait. So we're still putting the finishing touches on, but I promise it's going to be amazing.

How quaint! I had a little chuckle at that one.  

Luckily he changed his mind, because now Wayfare will have a cocktail menu created by The Bon Vivants, also known as Scott Baird and Josh Harris.

(The Bon Vivants. Photo by Liza Gershman.)

As usual with these two, the drinks are creative, chock full of hard-to-identify ingredients, and difficult to imagine by reading the menu how they'll taste. No doubt they'll taste delicious, as they always do. I am, of course, excited to try the black tea shrub. 

The days of precious cocktails is not quite over, I'm glad to say. Look no further than the  Granite Lady: That's an Old Tom Gin Martini with three kinds of vermouth. Hallelujah!

Wayfare Tavern Drink Menu - Subject to Change

The Leidesdorff
Buffalo Trace Bourbon, Benedictine, Royal Combier, Orange Muscat, lemon, egg white, cinnamon tincture.

Darkness at Noon
Bourbon Rooibos Wild Turkey Rye, Galliano l'Autentico, Floris Apple Lambic, honey, lime, angostura

Fort Vigilance
High West Silver Whiskey, Leopold Brothers Michigan Tart Cherry Liqueur, Hidalgo “Faraon” Olorosso Sherry, Aperol, Peychaud's

Occidental Sour
Macchu Pisco, St. Germain Elderflower liqueur, Mondavi Moscato d'Oro, caramelized pineapple syrup, lemon, lime, egg white, Peychaud's

Gravel & Gold
Cap Rock Gin, 42 Below Munukah Honey Vodka, R&W Orchard Apricot Liqueur, lemon, seltzer, egg white.

The Granite Lady
Hayman's Old Tom Gin, Cocchi Americano, Dolin Blanc, Sutton Cellars Brown Label, Grapefruit Bitters 

Dutch Plum Shrub
Bols Genever, Plum & Black Tea Shrub

(Image courtesy of Wayfare Tavern.)

Reading Material, Now with More Vinegar!

Gin and Tonic cupcakes.

An LA bar goes with big ice.

This AP story on sake does a great job of explaining the surge in sake sales over the past decade. Here's the meat:

"Distribution of sake was limited to Japanese trading companies. They sell you the food, the plates, the sake. It's one-stop shopping for sushi restaurants. In that environment, sake wasn't getting its due. And the majority of the sake exported was table sake, which isn't very good."

But about 10 years ago, two things changed that.

In the U.S., Asian food trends boomed. Asian and Asian-fusion restaurants flourished, non-Asian restaurants served dishes with ingredients such as miso, wasabi and edamame, and grocers offered more ethnic fare.

At the same time, the Japanese began turning their noses up at sake. In Japan, young drinkers view sake as old fashioned, favoring beer and wine instead. As a result, sake consumption has fallen sharply since 1995.

To survive, premium sake (pronounced SAH-kay) brewers in Japan turned to Americans and began working with importers, who introduced sake to the fine wine market.

Cheryl Charming lists all the drinks mentioned by name in the horrid movie Cocktail.

Combing through my old links, I found this one I don't think I linked to before: Toby Cecchini wrote one of the best and most practical stories about shrubs (VINEGARWATCH CONTINUES) and includes a recipe.

Did Someone Say Vinegar?

The Washington Post has a story on making your own vinegar. I think this would be the perfect amount of added complexity to vinegar cocktails, which are all the rage (so I hear).

In fact, it makes people like Neyah White seem lazy. His shrub recipe, which uses vinegar, takes a mere two weeks to make. Where is the effort in that? Now, if he just took the step of adding a few months for waiting for vinegar to be ready first, it might really seem like hard work.

Bartenders. So lazy!