Cocktails from around the world, and where to try them

by Jeffrey White on

Scene 1: It’s 6 a.m. on a weekday a few years ago, and I am waiting for a flight at Iceland’s main airport outside Reykjavik. I’m sitting at a bar, wiping sleep from my eyes, while those around me are drinking beer to chase shots of something clear from small glasses. I fall into conversation with a man who tells me it’s Brennivan, Iceland’s national spirit. Basically, it’s fermented potato pulp. I down a shot. It’s not unlike vodka, but not like vodka either. Maybe it’s the caraway seeds. It’s bracing, like a bath in ice water. The man pats me on the back, and orders us two more.

Scene 2: I’m in Berlin, at a cocktail bar with a few friends from out of town who I know from my days living in Prague. One orders a Pisco Sour, explaining that it’s made of a grape liqueur, brandy, lemon and egg white, and I think some milk. It looks like lemonade with a cappuccino head (pictured). As someone who avoids milk-like drinks, with or without alcohol, I reluctantly tried it. It was seriously good, almost like desert in a glass, which the most dangerous cocktails always evoke.

Both scenes are related.In a sense, in both cases I considered a country’s national beverage, or at least a beverage that originated in a particular country. But in only one was I actually drinking it at the place of origin. The Pisco Sour is the national drink of Peru, my friend having just returned from there where she had fallen in love with the drink.

Does it matter if you drink Brennivan in Iceland or Iowa? Not really, though there is the Guinness case to be made with many drinks: They taste different there versus here (though one cannot really say this about Brennivan, since you’ll only drink it in Des Moines if you bring a bottle back from Reykjavik).

It was perhaps in the spirit of linking famous cocktails and spirits with their place of origin that lead MSNBC.com recently to list where to go to get certain tipples at their best. So, go to Reykjavik for potato pulp, or Lima for the best Pisco Sour.

The list does have some surprises. Of course you know that a Cosmopolitan is best found in New York, and surely a good Irish Coffee is at home in Dublin. But what about the Bloody Mary and a Sex on the Beach? Try Paris, France, for the former — where it was invented — and Ibiza, Spain, for latter, where it competes only with Sangria for supremacy.

According to MSNBC, the best Mojito is in Miami, the best Caipirinha in Rio and — duh — the best Gin & Tonic is in London. Berlin is known for the Watermelon Man (news to me), Singapore, not surprisingly, for the Singapore Sling and Cape Town is home to the Elephant’s Ear. Head to Stockholm for pretty much any flavored Absolute you fancy.

Curious to learn what some of these drinks are? Head over to MSNBC, where you can find photos, directions for making them and specific spots to try them in your future travels.

“No Reservations” season 4, episode 16: Tokyo

by Jeremy Kressmann on

Location: it’s Tokyo time! Bourdain finally makes his pilgrimage to every food host’s favorite culinary destination, the capital of Japan and one of the world’s largest cities.

Episode Rating: Three bloody meat cleavers out of five. Bourdain made a concerted effort not to do the traditional “this is Japan” food show. It made for interesting subject matter, but the episode also seemed a bit disjointed as well.

Summary: In Anthony Bourdain’s mind, Japan is all about the relentless pursuit of perfection. No matter if it’s food, art or sport, the Japanese are almost religious in their attention to quality and detail. It is through this lens that Bourdain takes us on a tour of Tokyo, one of the most famous but also most confusing places to visit on earth (after visiting earlier this year, I would have to agree). After an earlier No Reservations visit to Osaka, where Tony proclaimed he was not going to “do the traditional” Japan visit to Tokyo, it was interesting to get an entirely different Bourdain perspective on the country, one which was noticeably more subdued than his previous visit.
There’s no better insight into Japanese culinary culture than noodles, and Tony starts his visit by meeting up with famous Japanese chef Masaharu Morimoto for some soba. Made mostly from buckwheat, soba noodles are “one of the most fundamental foods” in Japanese cooking. The noodle shop they visit has been perfecting the art of making the perfect noodle since 1789. Each noodle is cut to the exact width of 1.6mm to ensure proper cooking time and consistency. It was clear Tony was loving his noodles, and the camera work here confirms this – we see some serious “noodle porn” with plenty of close-ups and slow-mo effects for good measure.

Not to be outdone by Japanese noodle-making is the Japanese fanaticism for quality cocktails. To better experience the phenomenon, Tony visits Bar IshinoHana, world-famous for its exquisitely-crafted cocktails. According to Tony, the bartender spends an “agonizingly” long time making Tony’s drink – relax man, it’s going to be one-of-a-kind! In the pursuit of his hypothesis that the Japanese are obsessed with perfection, Tony asks the bartender what inspired him to become a bartender. Amusingly enough, the bartender answers his idol is Tom Cruise in Cocktail. How’s that for an odd source of inspiration?

In order to work off his designer-cocktail hangover the next day, Tony visits a sports complex to learn more about Kendo. The sport, involving the ancient martial arts techniques of sword fighting, is as much a mental exercise as it is a physical one. Participants use their shinai, or bamboo sword, to try and outmaneuver and out-think their opponent, aiming to strike body hits.

Back in Tokyo’s Roppongi district, Tony reunites with chef Morimoto after-hours at his restaurant, XEX. Morimoto prepares Bourdain a surprisingly delicious multi-course dinner using a whole Monkfish. Not a single organ is wasted – Tony gets to sample the liver (tastes like foie gras), fried monkfish with seaweed and bamboo shoots, and a “Nabe” (NAH-bay) made with Monkfish cartilage and skin. All unexpectedly prepared and unexpectedly delicious.

Tony seems to be tired of Tokyo, so he hops on a Shinkansen bullet train to take in some of the other nearby sites. I think Bourdain must be getting up there in years, because the next 5-10 minutes of the show take an unexpected turn into HGTV territory while Tony learns about the art of Ikebana, or Japanese flower arrangement. Really? Look, I don’t doubt that it’s a cool art form, but it really did seem out of place in your typical No Reservations episode that centers on gluttony, shooting firearms and killing animals. Perhaps Tony is becoming more mellow as he ages?

All the arts and crafts have made Tony hungry, so he heads to a famous Yakitori joint known for their top-notch chicken skewers. Let me tell you – there is not a single fingernail of that chicken which Tony did not eat in this scene, where he devours rare chicken breast, spleen, chicken sashimi, the chicken tissue connecting the liver and heart, chicken skin, and chicken tataki. I swear, I will not make any “tastes like chicken” jokes here. Tony makes a point of commenting on the raw chicken, which he finds surprisingly delicious. Apparently illness is not an issue, as the chicken is killed immediately before preparation.

Tony ends his adventure outside Tokyo with a visit to a knife-making shop in Sakai City, and with a traditional Kaiseki meal with chef Morimoto, prepared using fresh seasonal, regional ingredients. Tony samples some Cod sperm during his meal, but this kind of weird food indulgence almost seems routine at this point.

Appropriately, Bourdain ends his Tokyo visit with a trip to one of the city’s most famous sushi establishments. The sushi is simply made, amazingly fresh and accompanied by perfectly-made rice. Tony can’t help but hide his glee, proclaiming it the best sushi he’s ever had. Another reminder that when it comes to anything in Japan, the “devil is in the details.” Anthony Bourdain’s Japan is much of the same – an idealized vision of perfectly crafted foods, supreme attention to the little things and an overarching philosophy of minimalism. In modern Japan, that’s perhaps only half the picture – there are plenty of elements of Japanese culture, technology and bizarreness that Tony intentionally leaves out here. But for a show with a singular focus on food and spinning us a pretty narrative, it makes for a nicely packaged hour of television.

Nachos and Natty Boh on The Square in Baltimore’s Canton

by Kelly Amabile on

I lived in Baltimore for many years, so while reading this New York Times piece about Canton, I thought of some additional insider info I could share. First of all, no one calls the heart of the neighborhood by its real name, O’Donnell Square. But it was nice of Mr. Villano to fill us in on who Captain O’Donnell was. Locals just call it “the Square”.

Secondly, (and I’m sure some native Baltimoreans will argue with me on this one), I think that the very best crab dip in the city is served at Looney’s Pub. My mouth is watering as I write this…it’s the cheesiest, served with veggies and warm bread for dipping, and they’ll bring you more of either if you ask. It’s the best sports bar in town, at least through when I left there in 2005.

Next up, the beer. Sure, Yuengling is a popular beer in Baltimore, but what about Natty Boh, and the mustached grin that smiles down on Canton from a tower atop the former site of the National Brewery building? It’s Baltimore’s beer! The Boh man’s presence is also strongly felt within the walls of Nacho Mamas, an institution on Canton’s Square. (Shame on Mr. Villano for leaving this one out!) This Mexican eatery is small, so you almost always have to wait — but a visit to Baltimore is just not complete until you’ve sipped a margarita from a hubcap and signed your name in chalk on the bathroom wall. Need I say more?

Big in Japan: An Ode to Sake

by Matthew Firestone on

I really love sake.

Now, I know exactly what you’re thinking. Sake?!?! That cheap, indiscernible clear-liquid that they sell at the supermarket for six dollars a bottle. That foul-smelling, foul-tasting garbage that wasted college students love dropping into their beer glasses to the tune of ‘Sake Bomb!’ That gut-wrenching, eye-watering swill of a beverage that they serve at cheap Japanese restaurants across North America.

Well, let’s just say that you don’t know sake like I know sake!

Forget everything you think you know, and allow me to explain to you why real sake is like nothing you’ve drunk before.

Sake (???), which is pronounced sa-kay (not sa-key), is a traditional Japanese alcoholic beverage made from rice. Proudly regarded as the national tipple of Japan, sake is commonly referred to in Japanese as nihonshu (?????????) or quite literally ‘Japan alcoholic beverage.’ To the Japanese, sake is revered as the most exalted of beverages, much like the French swear by fine wines, or like Americans swear by a cold Budweiser.

Commonly referred to in English as ‘rice wine,’ sake is actually more like rice beer. Unlike wine, which is made by the single fermentation of fruit (typically grapes), sake is produced through the multiple fermentation of grains. While beer consists of the holy trinity of barley, hops and malt, sake consists simply of rice.

Mind you, it’s not just the sweet delicious nectar itself I love, but the refined drinking culture that surrounds it. As with most things in Japan, there are unwritten rules that need to be followed.

For starters, sake is typically served in a special flask known as a tokkuri (徳利), and is poured into a tiny cup known as a choko (猪口). Interestingly enough, good sake is nearly always served either cold or room temperature as heating the beverage is a way of masking the undesirable flavor of a cheap brew. With that said, hot sake hits the spot on a cold winter day, even if it isn’t exactly the most traditional way to drink it.

As foreigners quickly learn in Japan, it is considered rude to pour yourself a glass of sake (or any alcohol for that matter). Instead, it’s good form to refill the glasses of those around you, and wait for others to repay the favor. If you want to acknowledge a friendship, or pay tribute to someone of lower status, you can also raise someone else’s glass and take a small sip.

Also, never underestimate the power of a loud kampai (cheers, かんぱい)!

Although sake has somewhat of a less refined status in the West, that doesn’t mean that the drink doesn’t have its own associated drinking culture. As any college kid can tell you, balancing a choko of sake on a pair of chopsticks straddling a pint glass before slamming the table with your fist and yelling ‘Sake Bomb!!’ is the best way to start (or end) a night quickly.

Of course, there are more sophisticated ways to drink sake, such as in an expertly mixed cocktail.

Here are some of my favorites:

Saketini

2 ounces of dry sake
Splash of dry vermouth

In a shaker over ice, add the sake and vermouth. Shake well and strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with grated lemon peel.

Sake Blossom

2 ounces of nigori (unfiltered) sake
1 ounce of orange juice
1 teaspoon of fresh lemon juice

In a shaker over ice, add the sake, orange juice and lemon. Shake well and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a curled lemon peel.

Lychee-infused Sake

720 milliliter bottle of sweet sake
3 cups of peeled and pitted lychees

In a glass pitcher, combine the sake with the lychees, and refrigerate overnight. You can serve the infused sake straight up or as a base for a cocktail.

Getting thirsty? Go wild in the bar, and feel free to post some recipes here.

** Special thanks to Flickr users rick (sake bottle), est_bleu2007 (amazake) and rick (sake cocktail) **

Mixologists, Start Your Cocktail Shakers

by Brett Atkinson on

Most American readers of Gadling probably can’t get too excited about the upcoming Rugby Wold Cup, but in New Zealand’s adventure sports capital of Queenstown, an event that should inspire interest from around the globe is just weeks away. Most travellers head to Queenstown to throw themselves off bridges on Bungy cords or zip about lookalike Lord of the Rings riverscapes on jet boats, but after the daytime excitement the bars and clubs of the lakeside town really take off. It’s kinda fitting then that the 2007 Cocktail World Cup is being held in Queenstown from September 9 to September 16.

“Mixologists” (an official term apparently…) from 15 countries will descend on Queenstown to wow the array of international judges. A special bar is even being constructed high in the snow on the peak of the Remarkables mountain range. And of course you just know there’ll be plenty of time for partaking in adventure sports (sounds like a dangerous combination…)

Chances are quite a few of the concoctions may not be suitable for blokes, but as long as there’s a few caipirinhas on offer I’ll be happy.

Thanks to darrell goodman on Flickr for his pic of sunrise over the Remarkables.