The Tweets & Instagrams coming in from Pitti this year are like a 155 artillery barrage. And while this year's street fashion is consistent with years past, I'm seeing a lot more images of folks eating and drinking. Which is what I'd be doing 24/7 at Pitti.
For those of us stuck in this 'Witches Tit in a Brass Bra' deep freeze, click on the You Tube video below and watch the charming and erudite, Maurizio Stocchetto from the Bar Basso in Milan show you how to make a perfect but wrong, Negroni Sbagliato That is, a Negroni but with Prosecco instead of gin -- The smart cocktail for anyone sitting at a bar 24/7.
Rare Cutty Sark tie on even rarer yellow university stripe oxford, 2013
Cutty Sark by A. J. Tinseth, 2013
My old man was very proud of his Cutty Sark. His painting...not the Scotch. He was a gin martini man through and through and Beefeater gin was his go to. I don't ever remember him drinking anything else except beer, of which he gave no brand his loyalty, or the occasional glass of wine, which, if he knew anything, he learned from me.
His Cutty Sark painting was about an image - he knew - was instantly recognizable...at least by himself and his peers in the officer's clubs he frequented. My connection to Cutty Sark is through Berry Brothers and Rudd. A wine merchant in the Pall Mall area of London, I was first introduced to the 300 year old merchant via their catalogs a London friend, Vodka Ronnie, kept by his toilet. Not the most glorious of beginnings but Vodka Ronnie had very good taste in wine.
Barry & Rudd, as it's more commonly known, came up with the idea for a light blended Scotch as they were wine merchants and I assume didn't want to blow their customer's palettes outta the water with a double barrel Islay. Their target customer were Septics (Septic Tank- Yank) who were about to get back into Rub a Dubs (Rub a Dub- Pub) as Prohibition was coming to an end. With the Septic in mind, a 20 single malt blend was used with mostly Big Girl's Blouse Speyside (Glenrothes) being the predominant malt.
"Whis-KAY" as it's pronounced over there also sounds a lot like "Cut-TAY." When I hear one, I think of the other. I'm not sure why. It's a Lemmon-NAY Whis-KAY. Light and dry and being that it's not too dear, I think it's best to be mixed, which I did, with a $20 bottle. I tried it with Polar Bitter Lemon (find it - far better than Canada Dry) and it wasn't bad. I mixed it with lemon flavored seltzer and thought it completely changed the Cutty with the soda giving it a rounder and fuller taste of a scotch double the price. Impressive for those like me who are mean when it comes to their Whis-KAY.
I used it to make a Side Car replacing the brandy with Cutty -- A favorite of the tasting and something I look forward to ordering in a Rub a Dub, "Make mine a Cut-TAY side car, To-NAY." If you're thinking a Manhattan -- I wouldn't -- Although I did. There's just not enough backbone to the Cutty. Having said that, if you're a beginning Scotch drinker, this is the tricycle for you, in much the way Barry & Rudd always intended it to be, even if you are a big girl's blouse; I wear a 14.
Years ago I swiped a G&T recipe from the NY Times which called for the muddling of lots of lime (5) skins, lots of gin (1 cup), a half liter of Tonic and handfuls (4) of ice. Simple in the description...
But cutting the pith outta lime is not easy. I discovered the beak knife does a pretty good job. It's still a messy proposition but the pay off...
....isn't that great. Maybe it was the 1.75 liter of gin for $9 I was using. State Line Liquor (Liquor? I don't even know her!) has a private label for gin and while the label is as cool as all get out -- the gin itself is nothing to write home about.
Still, this recession ain't over yet. At least, not for me...So, nine buck gin it is. Actually, this is the kind of gin you need for a Negroni -- The perfect cocktail for cheap gin but that's another story.
It's not the time of year for a big Cabernet and a hot tub. Nope, that ain't gonna cut it. But a pitcher of this muddled G&T with a good friend in the pool or better, in a cold shower or maybe just between some cool linen sheets. While it's still day light and you smell of Caswell Massey Lime soap...That's a perfect G&T.
My mother hired me to tend bar for a party in her home the Summer between my leaving the Army and starting college. It was mostly opening beer bottles, pouring white wine and sloshing together the occasional G&T or V&T.
A neighbor, who had flown B-17s in WWII, dated Suzanne Pleshette and wrote for Esquire in the late '50s, approached my bar in the kitchen, flashed his brilliant smile and asked for a gin martini. For years, I had made martinis for the Old Man. That consisted of taking a bottle of Beefeater and a martini glass out of the freezer, filling the glass with syrupy chilled gin and adding a couple olives. It was how the old man liked it -- It was how I liked it.
I explain to Bernie there's no gin in the freezer and he scoffs, "You don't make martinis with frozen gin." I'm guessing Bernie was in his early sixties then. "Got a pitcher?" We find the appropriate mid 20th century Danish glass vessel and set to work. Bernie pours eight ounces of gin, adds a teaspoon of dry Vermouth and throws in a couple handfuls of ice.
I volunteer my unsolicited wisdom of 22 years, "Stirred, not shaken? I never understood that. Doesn't get cold enough. I'd rather just have it out of the freezer." Bernie stir's the pitcher with a glass rod, "The gin needs the dilution from the ice," Bernie says while the ice sounds like the high keys of a piano. I shake my head, "Bernie, this could take years." Bernie looks surprised, "You have someplace to go?" "No," I admit, "Not at ten bucks an hour." Bernie asks if I've decided my major. "English," I say proudly.
The glass rod continues counter clockwise. Bernie stares into the pitcher, smiles and looks up at me, "I was an English major." Bernie pauses and stirs...I'll tell you a story every English major should know. Sadly, most don't. Lost to time, I guess." "Sure," I say and wonder if this is when Bernie'll tell me how he planked Suzanne Pleshette.
"So," Bernie stirs, "Oscar Wilde was released from a prison in Reading after serving a couple years for sodomy. Everyone knew it was with Alfred Douglas, the son of the Marquess of Queensberry." "The boxing Queensberry?" I ask. Bernie stirs and nods, "Mmmm, Alfred was known among his friends as Bosie. His father, the Marquess, had it in for Wilde. Set Wilde up - although in the trial it was Wilde who put himself in jail." "Really?" I say, lost in the pentameter of the glass rod.
"It's true," Bernie says. "Wilde's released in the late afternoon and since London's almost a day away by coach, he looked for a hotel room in town. Everywhere he went, once he signed the register, he was told to leave. He drags himself into a tiny inn and explains to the innkeeper, "Look, I'm Oscar Wilde. I have served two years hard labor for my crime, I've learned my lesson and have turned over a new leaf. I've been turned away from every inn and am desperate for a room. Would you help me, sir?" The pitcher frosts with the chill of ice as Bernie maintains his stirring cadence."
"So what did the innkeeper do?" I ask. Bernie smiles, "What could he do? He rings for a page and instructs the young man to carry Wilde's bags to his room. Wilde thanks the innkeeper and follows the young man up the stairs. Five minutes go by and no page. Then 10, 15. Finally, a half hour later the page still hasn't returned. The innkeeper trudges up the stairs and knocks on Wilde's door. No answer." Juniper wafts around our heads and it whets my appetite like garlic hitting hot olive oil.
"You do have olives?" Bernie asks. "Sure," I grab a Manzanilla bottle from the fridge. Bernie hums to himself while I open the olive jar and ask, "So, no answer at the door?" I bring Bernie back from some place far away. I'm guessing he's with Suzanne Pleshette. I know I'd be. "No answer at the door. So the innkeeper pulls out a key, opens the door and there's Wilde, stark naked in bed with the page, also naked. The innkeeper, shocked, says, 'Mr Wilde! You assured me you had turned over a new leaf!' Wilde looks up at the innkeeper and says, 'And I promise I will, sir - - Just as soon as I get to the bottom of this page.'"
You probably had to have been an English major to appreciate this -- but every man should have his own martini pitcher and stirring story.
Back in 1867, Lauchlan Rose patents a lime cordial for the British Navy in hopes of cashing in on a regulation requiring all British ships to provide sailors with a daily lime ration to prevent Scurvy. It's discovered, one assumes by the Anchor-Krankers nicknamed, "Limeys," that this cordial, 'Rose's Lime' goes well with a little gin and a splash of water.
When my grandfather was offered a highball by Uncle Tony, a gin gimlet on the rocks was pretty much what he got. Not sure if I associated gimlets with my elders or not but it's a cocktail I have when I'm hanging out with the seniors. Usually at a Supper Club in Door County, Wisconsin with one of those big horse shoe shaped bars and an all you can eat Friday Fish Fry. They whip up a decent Whiskey Sour as well but that's another post.
Troops of the 21st Infantry Division Regiment were nicknamed, 'Gimlets' back in 1921 after a tool used to bore through rock for placing TNT. Their motto was, 'Bore, Bother Bore.'Alain Sitbon, owner of Le Petit Paris in Chicago, nicknamed me 'Pepper Grinder.' When I asked why, Alain held an imaginary pepper grinder in both hands and twisted his fist, "Because, Johnny, you never stop with the criticizing." Alain twists his pepper grinder, "You go on and on and on..."
A gin Gimlet can pack a punch. 3 ounces of gin to an ounce of Rose's Lime in a shaker. A cup of ice, shake, until you think your gonna get frost bite, and strain into a martini glass. Some people garnish with a lime or mint. I'd use more Rose's if I could convince a Canuck to send me a bottle or two. US made Rose's has fructose corn syrup and it's very sweet. Brits and Canadians use sugar. Cleaner and brighter which is pretty much what Brits and Canucks think of themselves.
I recently tried a Bacardi Gimlet. Rounder and smoother than gin. More character than vodka. Use the same portions as gin and try to find the connection between this post and yesterday's Lolo & The Bar-Kays. There's another giveaway and test question next week.
And, if you find yourself in Chicago, check out Le Petit Paris. Tell Alain 'Pepper Grinder' sent you...and ask him why he's always out of Montrachets, when he's gonna stop comping Jesse Jackson, why he took my picture down, where's the Dover Sole...
Lack of agave syrup & substitution of Prosecco - Not a good idea.
Works wonders with beer
Clean and crisp for the
-- perfect nightcap.
"Innovation that happens from the bottom up tends to be chaotic but smart. Innovation that happens from the top down tends to be orderly but dumb." Curtis Carlson, CEO SRI International
The Redline cocktail was swiped from the Williams-Sonoma blog. Corporate to be sure, the blog features professional and amateur writers contributing useful content that's far from self serving and "free shipping."
The Redline itself seemed a good idea and I gave it a shot Thanksgiving night. A roasted strawberry puree added to a Spanish Cava with a suggestion of agave syrup. I didn't have any agave syrup. Instead, I substituted Prosecco thinking an Italian sparkler would make up for the sweetness I was losing from the missing agave.
Not so much. A tad bitter and boring. What the roasted puree did work well with was beer. Use something simple and clean like Budweiser or Becks. I poured the beer slowly over three fingers of puree in a pilsner glass. It works. A perfect end to Thanksgiving -- Especially since it was 60 degrees outside.
At around $5 a bottle, Military Special (Cheap) Rum is available to active & retired service members through the Class VI (Booze) Store. Class VI is a category for luxury items in the Army although there are those who would argue hooch is a necessity.
As a dependent (Kid), I grew up on generic food from the commissary (Grocery Store). Cans came without labels but with simple descriptions. "Coffee, 16 ounces, ground" or "Beans, Green." We were ahead of Costco with food items coming in huge #10 cans (Six Pound Can).
Today, 'BOHICA' (Bend Over Here It Comes Again) is popular with today's infantry. The same frustration was expressed in my day with, 'The Army's screwed me so many times my ass resembles a #2 pencil in a #10 can.' (Poetry)
Somewhere on the Upper West Side -- Near Broadway -- Maybe it's on Broadway -- I'm not telling you exactly -- In the 70s -- There are a number of outdoor book stalls. The guys who own them don't strike me as serious bibliophiles. Sometimes you can find a real bargain. It's a couple blocks south of Fairway. I'm not telling you exactly where.
The Golf Foxtrot does not allow me to stop at book stalls. And she ain't crazy when I bring books back from book stalls. Sometimes they smell like an ashtray. She's also afraid of bed bugs. Me? Not so much.
Walking north on Broadway a week or so ago -- 50 feet north of 73rd Street -- On the west side of the street -- Not telling you exactly where -- The sun reflects off a sheet of mylar and nearly blinds me. Stumbling up to a stall between Loehmann's and American Apparel -- That's your last clue -- I find this book. The yellowed '40s style cover is one I've seen before.
The introduction by Lucius Beebe is one I've read before. And I know, through my many bookstore travels, that this book is worth, depending on condition, about $100 smackeroos. Even more in New York. That should be a bumper sticker-- "Even More In New York" Anyway, I open the book and see it's a first printing. $3.00 is written in pencil at the top of the page.
The book is bright and clean with no smell and no bed bugs. I look at the stall owner and Presbyterian him down to $2 because, that's what you're supposed to do in New York. Another bumper sticker?
I get the book home and am amazed at the number of cocktail recipes, long lost to history, that I can steal and call my own. If I could find a source for cheap custom made belts then I'd have a book contract -- And a line. Look at the Portuguese Virgin. White Port!? Who in the hell even buys White Port anymore? Well, me but that's another story.
Most are straightforward sans blenders and infused syrups
"How about a Sink or Swim, Phil?" Now that's a cocktail
One of you will steal this
Never
Beats a Slow Comfortable Screw
"Do you want me to call you in the morning or should I just nudge you?"
Two of you will steal this
Brandy, gin and vermouth - That's a wedding
The End
Pretty amazing story, huh? I just wish it were true. What is true is that I don't have the time or the bridge table to set up a stall on Broadway. And I have a lotta catalogs to sell. Brooks Brothers catalogs going back to 1980. The first batch went up Sunday night. I'll follow each week with different seasons: Fall, Christmas, Winter, Spring and Summer.
Brooksgate, Women, Footwear...You get the idea. These things are taking up too much room in an 805 sq foot apartment. Add that to the fact that Heavy Tweed Jacket is off the air again and you can blog your own Brooks Brothers posts. Catalogs can be found here and I suggest having a few of these cocktails while you're bidding. Cheers.
"...one of the great East Coast haunts for jazz performers"
"I thought I was pressed to the marrow."
"We were all smokers then, my drink was dry vermouth on the rocks."
I recently confessed to the sartorial holy one, G. Bruce Boyer, my love of Nina Simone's, "A Little Sugar in my Bowl", and how it's one of the great songs of strategic (cued only after the second drink or with tea) seduction. Instead of a comment, Bruce came back with a story after which we discuss the specifics of that memorable night almost 50 years ago.
What a Night! Nina Simone in South Philly
I remember seeing the great pianist-chanteuse Nina Simone at Pep's Showbar at the corner of Broad and South Streets in South Philly in the early 60s. At that point the club had already been one of the great East Coast haunts for jazz performers and aficionados for two decades or more. Nat King Cole had played there, and so had Count Basie and Duke Ellington, Lester Young and Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington, Nancy Wilson, Thelonius Monk, and Jimmy Smith. Going to Pep's was a jazz pilgrimage.
We all knew about Nina Simone. She had a hit recording of “I Loves You Porgy” in 1959 – the best version of that song ever – and followed it up with a live album recorded at The Newport Jazz Festival in June of 1960 that reached high on the Billboard jazz charts. By that time she had a tight group of wonderful sidemen with her – Al Shackman on guitar, Chris White on bass, and Bobby Hamilton, drummer – and the show rolled out a thrilling sample of what came to be her unique mixed repertoire: classic American songbook standards, folk songs, blues, African music, all infused with her special brand of Julliard-trained classical riffs.
She was an incomparable artist and played much of that wonderful mix of music at her Pep's engagement. Starting off with an extended version of the great blues “Trouble in Mind”, followed by a stirring, elegiac jazz/classical version of “You'd be so Nice to Come Home to”. Then some Ellington and more blues. The audience knew it would all lead up to “Porgy” for a grand finale.
About a half hour or so into the show she had gently just begun to swing into “My Baby Just Cares for Me”, when she suddenly stopped playing. Just stopped, her high-coiffed head bent over the keys and the sidemen trailing off. The place got quieter and quieter 'til you couldn't even hear an ice cube clink in a glass; there was complete silence … except for two thugs at a table in the corner who had been talking. Another 30 seconds in that vacuum and they looked up too, and found Miss Simone glaring straight at them.
“Let me make myself perfectly clear,” she enunciated, with considerable contempt in her level voice. “Either I play or you talk. Got it?” She glared at them for another uneasily long 30 seconds to what now was an oil painting: nothing in the room was moving, nothing. Waiters stood like statues, drink trays in the air. You could have heard an idea drop. Then she snapped her fingers and swung right back into the tune. Need I add these two boys were afraid to move a muscle?
So “Porgy”, when it finally came about 30 minutes later in the finale, was something of an anticlimax for me. I'd never seen anything like it. Nina Simone commanded that large room full of partying people like Patton at Bastogne. She had peerless talent and she knew it, and so she had complete assurance. She was not about to take any chicken shit from anybody. She demanded respect. She also got a ten-minute ovation.
I can see it all still, as clearly as I can see this keyboard under my fingers. What a night in South Philly! Glorious music and a life lesson from a true artist. What a night.
The Trad: I love that story. Who was with you that night?
G. Bruce Boyer: There were three of us. Young men in our early twenties.
TT: Did you drive?
GBB: We drove to Philly from Allentown in my 1957 coral-and-white Ford. It was a 1 1/2 hr trip. It would have been early summer, June.
TT: I assume you guys weren't wearing shorts and flip flops.
GBB: We were all wearing suits. Those cotton-synthetic blends that were so popular in the early 1960s. It was the style to button the top two buttons, or only the top one if you were really smooth. They wore tan ones, but I wore a navy blue one, with a white button down and repp-striped tie. I thought I was pressed to the marrow.
TT: Smoking and drinking?
GBB: We were all smokers then, my drink was dry vermouth on the rocks.
TT: So? Anything happen? You know? After, Nina?
GBB: We were cool and sharp, but we struck out. We just didn't have the game the big city boys had. Didn't get home til about 4 in the morning, empty-handed, but WE HAD SEEN NINA SIMONE! At home we had major status for weeks.
G. Bruce Boyer's Selected Discography:
Nina Simone: Songs of the Poets (Edsel Records)
Nina Simone at Newport (EMI Records)
Nina Simone Anthology: The Colpix Years (Rhino Records)
Nina Simone Gold (Verve)
Nina Simone/ Little Girl Blue (Fuel Records)
Nina Simone: My Baby Just cares for Me (EEC Records)
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