Shaken and stirred

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Posted at 12:16PM, 04 April 2008 by Jenni Muir - Food writer

Out for dinner the other night, the first thing we were handed on being ushered to our table was a cocktail list. The wine list had to be requested. Cocktails get pretty well any evening off to a swinging start, there's no doubt, but how do they fare as a food accompaniment?

Cocktails seem so right in New York or San Francisco, when you're sitting up at the bar with steaks and salads and deep-fried onion rings, and then wandering back to your hotel. In glamorous Indian restaurants such as Amaya and Veeraswamy (where the non-alcoholic cocktails like lychee and rose lemonade are also a great choice) they can work very well too.

But with so many mixologists developing new drinks, there are times when you need to interrogate the bar staff before ordering. Taking pre-dinner drinks at a hotel bar recently, my husband ordered what sounded like a fairly straightforward citrussy twist on a martini to find himself presented with something creamy and chocolaty that could have passed for dessert. And while it didn't have a paper umbrella, it did make him look a bit like Del-Boy. Not really an appetite sharpener, or good lead-in to a plate of oysters.

Getting it right, for me, has become as satisfying as producing a good curry or cake where special tweaks here and there put your personal stamp on the result.

I've been studying the making of dry martinis for a couple of years now (not every day or even every week I hasten to add!) and on occasion, invariably by accident, have come tantalisingly close to perfection. Getting it right, for me, has become as satisfying as producing a good curry or cake or any other of those recipes where special tweaks here and there put your personal stamp on the result. (Hendrick's gin is my preference, in case you're wondering, plus Noilly Prat and quite a bit of dancing the lemon zest over the glass - a trick I picked up at the wonderful Dukes.)

Friends and neighbours really seem to appreciate being offered something so indulgent. However I've also developed the knack of sending dinner guests face down into the starter. The problem with a good dry martini is that you probably do need to stop at one or two at the very most, as the wonderful Dorothy Parker memorably quipped.

Are cocktails part of your entertaining repertoire? Do they get the party started, or bring it to a crashing halt?

Comments

rozmorgan

5 April 2008, 10:37AM
rozmorgan

I adore martinis. A local fantastic restaurant /bar has a drinks bible and I have tried everyone of their fantastic drinks. Their best is most certainly the chocolate orange martini which is a delicious way to end a night, although not really a martini as its made with brandy. The food tends to work deliciously as its either light bar snacks such as sweet potato wedges in sea salt made fresh their, or big warming meals of flavorsome curries which goes very well with the spiced apple and pomegranate martini. The only problem is they are mixed so well you can hardly taste the alcohol! You can defiantly have one to many!

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James

5 April 2008, 3:50PM
James

Try using homemade sloe gin - amazing. Lemon and orange gin is nice (a grand marnier substitute made with gin obviously, sugar, lemon and orange zest, matured for a month shaking every day). I've got some cherry vodka maturing at the moment, and want to try raspberry gin in the summer. Blackcurrants would be great too -homemade creme de cassis. Maybe that's straying too far from the martini idea though..... They're so nice it's a shame to spoil the flavour with food, which is why a lot of people eat before they hit the town. Pre-dinner is not always a good idea. One person recently didn't even make the starter.....

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Gayns

5 April 2008, 6:12PM
Gayns

Definitely get the party started!! I love a "Marylin Monroe" which is Champagne with a measure of calvados served with a Kirsh soaked cherry" it always does it for me . A pre dinner cocktail gets everyone in the mood for a good night. Just one or two and then onto the food else you peak too soon!!

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Rayne

22 April 2008, 3:59PM
Rayne

I held a cocktail party the other weekend, and although we trailed off with more traditional vodka and cokes towards the end of the evening, it definitely started off the party in good spirits!

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