Monday I Have Friday on My Mind: Poetry and Cocktails with Nata Traub
Diminuendo and Crescendo
I really hate recipes. I
know I provide
them, but I suggest you use them as you would sheet music if you were a
jazz musician. I approach creating a cocktail the same way I would make
music. So whereas I provide a recipe for a Cocktail, they are not meant
to be absolute. It is a suggestion for you to improvise.
Create your own magic. On any given day, one or two bottles will talk
to me more than others. I enter the kitchen and a spice will strike me.
Inspiration comes from all places. Like an improvisation, the
notes are all there, but how they form and come out, are from the
mysterious pit of creation. There really is no predicting.
I
spent an afternoon making some liqueurs and syrups, while listening to
my Uncle Paul (Gonsalves of the Duke Ellington at Newport, Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue fame). That 27
bars that changed jazz music history. Who could have known? The
confluence of all things in the Universe to make that moment happen.
Magic. Unknowable, unanticipated, unexplainable. No recipe there.
In this vein, here are a few ratios for basic cocktail making, sheet music if you will.
The
Sour style, with a liqueur sweetened cocktails (margaritas and
sidecars, etc.) are most often:
2:1:1 ratio of spirits: liqueur: citrus
The Basic Cocktail
(Created by David Wondrich)
2 ounces base spirit.
1 ounce aromatized or fortified wine.
1 teaspoon of liqueur.
A dash or two of bitters.
What Duke Ellington had to say about
saxophonist, Paul Gonsalves."He wants to be liked by everybody, and
doesn’t want anything from anybody except a kind word and a water
chaser."
Comments
Verify your Comment
Previewing your Comment
Posted by:
|
This is only a preview. Your comment has not yet been posted.
The letters and numbers you entered did not match the image. Please try again.
As a final step before posting your comment, enter the letters and numbers you see in the image below. This prevents automated programs from posting comments.
I left it
on when I
left the house
for the pleasure
of coming back
ten hours later to the greatness of Teddy Wilson "After You've Gone" on the piano in the corner of the bedroom as I enter in the dark
Comments