18 July 2022

Here is a cocktail head scratcher

All my mixology friends (I have tagged some of you on this post), I got a challenge from my friend Steve on how to make a cocktail using garlic.

That is a difficult one. A garlic is too strong on the nose. I do not believe I have ever come across a cocktail using garlic. Have you? How would you go around making one if you had to come up with one?

Asked the chef at home – Sharmila. And she assured me that you cannot beat the garlic at its game on the nose. The only other thought then is to overwhelm the nose with the palate. Building on Sharmila’s suggestion, one idea could be something like a Bloody Mary with the tomato juice (or something like carrot juice) giving a lot of thick texture to the tongue and mix salt with something to veer towards either spicy or umami taste (jalapeno or horseradish for example).

What other ideas might you have? I am going to try your ideas this weekend.

Anand, Ashleah, Tathagata, Akshay, Alexa, Alexis, Bensan, Hope, Joel, Joy, Kaitlyn, Katie, Kree, Leigha, Mathew, Ranjan, Rosalind, Sarah, Satyabrata, Whitney, Subhash

14 June 2022

Juhi’s Elder

“Hey, that cocktail matches your name!”
“That is because I created it!”

Last couple of trips to India, I had gotten to know Juhi. This time, I had not noticed her initially – those masks still make facial recognition tricky for me – but one of the nephews pointed out “Juhi didi na?“.

As I was talking to her, I noticed that the advertised cocktail at the bar of the Executive Lounge carried her name.

“Looks like a summer drink to me”, I said as I read the ingredients.
“Yes sir, best on a hot day.

“Let’s make two of them. And then I will take a picture of the drink with you.”

Sharmila and I both tried the drink.

It tasted great. The elderflower left very fragrant notes and the vodka was mild enough. Probably better suited for being by the pool in heat rather than in an air conditioned room though.