Issue 170 | Saveur

Pisco Sour

Shannon Mustipher — Wed, 12 Nov 2014 17:42:31 +0000

Photography by Belle Morizio; Food Styling by Kat Craddock

The pisco sour was one of the first drinks to be codified during the “Golden Age of Cocktails.” In fact, the recipe emerged as a result of a confluence of factors far from the South American spirit’s birthplace.

California boasts a history of wine and brandy production dating back to the 17th century, as well as a deep connection to South and Central American territories once controlled by the Spanish Crown. Gold Rush era San Francisco was a hotbed for cocktail culture, by virtue of the glut of unattached men looking for ways to distract themselves from their arduous work in the mining industry. While the Conquistadors invested in California wine production, spirit distillation was much less widespread; for local high rollers who wished to imbibe, high-quality options were slim.

Pisco—a grape-based distillate whose origins are a topic of debate between Peru and Chile—was suited perfectly to the late 19th century’s emerging “fancy drinks” trend. At turns aromatic and dry, the spirit pairs nicely with various fruits and acids, and was a natural choice for the era’s elevated serves. San Francisco’s Bank Exchange and Billiard Saloon popularized pisco in the 1880s by mixing it with pineapple, lime, and syrup for the enormously popular pisco punch, inspiring imitators throughout the city. Then in the 1920s, the South American liquor garnered its international fame when Victor Vaughn Morris, an American bar owner who’d immigrated to Lima, began serving a pisco-based riff on the whisky sour. Made luxuriously silky via the addition of egg white (like the Ramos gin fizz popularized in New Orleans shortly before), and highly aromatic courtesy of Angostura bitters, a drink this good is virtually impossible to improve upon, which explains why the recipe hasn’t changed in over a century.

Yield: 1

Time: 5 minutes

2 oz. pisco
1 fresh lemon juice
¾ oz. simple syrup
1 large egg white
Angostura bitters, for garnish

Instructions

To a cocktail shaker, add the pisco, lemon juice, simple syrup, and egg white. Dry shake for 20 seconds to emulsify, then add the ice and shake well to chill. Strain into a chilled coupe or nick and nora and garnish with 2–3 drops of bitters in a decorative pattern. Serve immediately.

*Note: It is important to point out that Chilean pisco is generally more floral, while Peruvian versions can display more earthy and vegetal notes which I find more suitable for cocktailing. There are four broad styles of Peruvian Pisco: Puro, Aromatico, Acholado, and Mosto Verde. I prefer Acholado for its drier profile, while others may prefer the sweetness of Mosto Verde. The brands Barsol, Porton, and Macchu Pisco will all work nicely in this recipe.

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English Sticky Toffee Pudding

Rose Levy Beranbaum — Mon, 18 Mar 2019 22:49:01 +0000

Photography by Eilon Paz

In this version of the classic English dessert, adapted from Rose Levy Beranbaum’s Rose’s Heavenly Cakes, dates are soaked in stout beer and then puréed, resulting in a super-moist crumb. This recipe first appeared in our December 2014 issue in the story England’s Sticky Toffee Pudding Trail. To pull out all the stops, serve it in a pool of vanilla-thyme crème anglaise.

Yield: 8–10

Time: 1 hour 35 minutes

Ingredients

For the pudding:

1 cup stout beer, preferably Guinness Extra Stout
1 tsp. baking soda
10 large pitted Medjool dates
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
½ tsp. kosher salt
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. sugar
6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened, plus more for greasing
1½ tsp. vanilla extract
3 large eggs

For the toffee sauce:

1 cup packed light brown sugar, or dark brown sugar
16 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds scraped and pod reserved
½ cup heavy cream
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
¼ tsp. kosher salt

Instructions

Make the pudding: Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat to 350°F. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish and set aside. In a small pot, bring the beer to a boil, then stir in the baking soda and dates and set aside. When warm to the touch, transfer to a food processor and purée.
Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, nutmeg, and salt. Using a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the sugar, butter, and vanilla until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Using a silicone spatula, scrape down the sides of the bowl. On low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients alternating with the reserved date mixture. You should have a smooth batter.
Scrape into the prepared baking dish and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with no crumbs attached, about 30 minutes. Set aside to cool for at least 1 hour before serving.
Make the toffee sauce: In a pot set over medium heat, bring the sugar, butter, and vanilla seeds and pod to a simmer. Cook until the sugar is dissolved, about 5 minutes, then remove from the heat. Stir in the cream, lemon juice, and salt, then strain and set aside to cool until warm to the touch.
To serve, cut the pudding into squares and drizzle with the sauce.

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Bialys

Organic — Mon, 18 Mar 2019 22:53:35 +0000

A lighter, thinner cousin of the bagel, bialys are a classic Jewish staple. This recipe was adapted from Mimi Sheraton’s The Bialy Eaters (Broadway Books, 2002); it first appeared in our December 2014 issue with the story The Return of the Bialy.

MAKES 16 SMALL BIALYS

⅓ cup olive oil
1 small Vidalia onion, minced
2 tbsp. coarse bread crumbs, lightly toasted
3 cups ice cold water
½ oz. fresh yeast
5¾ cups bread flour, plus more for dusting
2 tbsp. kosher salt
3 tbsp. poppy seeds

1. Heat oil and onion in a 12″ skillet over medium; cook until onion is golden, 12-14 minutes. Stir in bread crumbs; let cool.

2. Stir ½ cup water and the yeast in a bowl until smooth; add remaining water. Combine flour and salt in a stand mixer fitted with a hook. With the motor running, slowly add yeast mixture until a sticky dough forms. At medium-high speed, knead dough until smooth but still sticky, 3-4 minutes. Cover bowl with a dish towel; let sit in a warm place until dough has doubled in size, 1-1 ½ hours.

3. Uncover and return dough to stand mixer with hook; knead 10 minutes. Return dough to bowl and cover; let sit until doubled in size once more, about 1 hour. On a floured surface and with floured hands, divide dough into 16 balls. Place 2″ apart on parchment paper-lined baking sheets and cover with dish towels; let sit until slightly puffed, 40–45 minutes.

4. Place a pizza stone on a rack in lower third of the oven; heat to 450°. Wet the bottom of a small glass (about 3″ in diameter) with water and dip in flour; press glass into center of each dough ball and twist glass back and forth to produce a thin, flat well surrounded by a thick ring of dough on the outer edge. Brush a little water over top of dough rings and sprinkle with poppy seeds; spread 1-2 tsp. onion mixture in well and top edges of dough. Working in batches, place baking sheet on pizza stone; bake until bialys are golden, about 10 minutes. Transfer baking sheet to the middle rack; bake until bialys are browned and onions are slightly caramelized, 6-8 minutes. Let bialys cool before serving.

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Classic Negroni

SAVEUR Editors — Mon, 18 Mar 2019 22:33:50 +0000

This classic cocktail was first created for Count Camillo Negroni in 1919 at Florence’s Café Casoni. Get the recipe for Classic Negroni. Matt Taylor-Gross

Luca Picchi of Rivoire in Florence, Italy, sticks to tradition when making this superlative cocktail. The classic was first created for Count Camillo Negroni in 1919 at Florence’s Café Casoni. The bartender who supposedly invented the drink, a man named Fosco Scarselli, later sent a letter to the count advising him not to imbibe more than 20 of the cocktails per day.

Yield: makes 1

Time: 5 minutes

1 oz. Campari
1 oz. gin
1 oz. sweet vermouth
Orange slice, for garnish

Instructions

In a tumbler filled with ice, stir together the Campari, gin, and vermouth. Garnish with the orange slice.

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The Return of the Bialy

Organic — Mon, 18 Mar 2019 22:39:04 +0000

Andre Baranowski

How far would a sane person travel to find an onion roll? I’m afraid that I know the answer. While researching my book The Bialy Eaters (Broadway Books, 2000), the search for the roll known as a bialy took me to Poland, Israel, Argentina, Australia, England, France, and various cities in the United States. For those not yet privileged to know it, the bialy is a squat, squashy bagel alternative characterized by a slightly crackling yet softly puffy rim encircling a crisp center well, all mantled with pungent golden brown flecks of caramelized onions and crunches of poppy seeds.

Since then, it has become ever more difficult to find convincing examples. For decades, New York bakers turned out excellent bialys, but with changing times and tamer palates (“What? Me eat burned onions for breakfast?”), the old standards declined. Today, the bialy is returning to fashion, but mostly in bizarre guises with toppings such as squid ink and roasted red peppers, or a slice of cheese that melts in baking. All might cause traditionalists (including me) to lose their appetites altogether.

Fortunately for devotees of the classic bialy, the flame is being kept alive by a few new-generation bakers. In my former searches, I never would have thought to look for great bialys in Manhattan’s Spanish Harlem, or at ultrachic Barneys in New York and Los Angeles, or, least of all, in Asheville, North Carolina. But bakers in these places are proving that sometimes the best things don’t need updating.

See the recipe for Bialys »

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An 8-Hour Bread That’s Worth the Wait

Organic

Slow baking gives this loaf, from Nanna Rögnvaldardóttir's Icelandic Food and Cookery (Iðunn, 2014), its dense crumb and deep color. See the recipe for Icelandic Dark Rye Bread ». Ingalls Photography

Why bother to bake a bread for 8 hours? That was our question when testing Icelandic dark rye bread. On the island, loaves are steamed underground in geothermal fields for nearly 24 hours. You can achieve a similar result in an oven set at ultralow heat. The long, low cooking deepens the bread’s flavor and color. Given time to transform, the enzymes in the rye flour convert starches into sugars, and amino acids and free sugars go through reactions that lead to caramelization. The glucose in the golden syrup used in the dough helps retain liquid during cooking, making for a dense, moist, sweet-malty bread. Worth it? You bet.

See the recipe for Icelandic Dark Rye Bread »

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Getaway Car

Organic — Mon, 18 Mar 2019 22:39:36 +0000

Chris Lowder, bar manager at The NoMad Bar in New York City, pairs pisco with bourbon, gingery falernum syrup, and an herbal Italian liqueur for this frothy autumnal cocktail. See the recipe for Getaway Car ». Ingalls Photography

Chris Lowder, bar manager at The NoMad Bar in New York City, pairs pisco with bourbon, gingery falernum syrup, and an herbal Italian liqueur for this frothy autumnal cocktail.

Yield: makes 1 Cocktail

1 oz. bourbon
1 oz. pisco, preferably Macchu Pisco La Diablada
³⁄₄ oz. falernum
³⁄₄ oz. fresh lime juice, plus grated zest for garnish
¹⁄₄ oz. Strega
Dash Angostura bitters
Dash Bittermens Xocolatl Mole Bitters
Half an egg white

Instructions

Combine all ingredients except lime zest in a shaker. Shake vigorously until egg white is frothed. Add ice and shake again; strain into a chilled coupe glass. Spoon egg white froth over top; garnish with lime zest.

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The Dude

Organic — Mon, 18 Mar 2019 22:29:52 +0000

In this ode to The Big Lebowski's signature drink, Xavier Herit, bartender at New York City's Wallflower, concocted an upmarket riff on the White Russian with cognac, port, and real coffee in place of vodka and coffee liqueur. He advises using a dry shake, sans ice, to froth the egg white for this righteous libation. Ingalls Photography

In this ode to The Big Lebowski‘s signature drink, Xavier Herit, bartender at New York City’s Wallflower, concocted an upmarket riff on the White Russian with cognac, port, and real coffee in place of vodka and coffee liqueur. He advises using a dry shake, sans ice, to froth the egg white for this righteous libation.

Yield: makes 1 Cocktail

1 ¹⁄₂ oz. cognac
³⁄₄ oz. chilled coffee
¹⁄₂ oz. Demerara sugar
¹⁄₂ oz. heavy cream
¹⁄₂ oz. ruby port
4 dashes Angostura bitters
1 egg

Instructions

Shake cognac, coffee, Demerara sugar, heavy cream, ruby port, Angostura bitters, and egg in a shaker. Add ice; shake. Strain into glass.

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6 Winter Whiskeys

Organic — Mon, 18 Mar 2019 22:35:17 +0000

Ingalls Photography

Photo Credit: Ingalls Photography

Hillrock Single Malt Whiskey

Using barley from distillery fields, this is the first farmstead whiskey from New York’s Hudson Valley since Prohibition. ($88; 750 ml; astorwines.com)

Smooth Ambler Old Scout Straight Rye

Balanced and accommodating, this suave rye shines in a perfect Manhattan. ($41; 750 ml; moraswines.com)

Hibiki 21

The mizunara oak used to age a portion of this Japanese spirit imparts notes of sandalwood. ($300; 750 ml; winfieldflynn.com)

Old Forester Birthday Bourbon 2014

All the bourbon blended in this bottle comes from a single day of production in 2002. ($100; 750 ml; castlewine.com)

Redbreast 21

As with other spirits, the age of this bottle—the oldest expression for Redbreast—is pegged to the youngest whiskey in the mix. ($240; 750 ml; internationalwineshop.com)

BenRiach Solstice Second Edition

In Gaelic, the name of the distillery that makes this fruity scotch means “hill of the red deer.” ($86; 750 ml; hitimewine.net)

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Roffignac

Organic — Mon, 18 Mar 2019 22:50:01 +0000

Chris Granger

Count Louis Philippe Joseph de Roffignac served as mayor of New Orleans from 1820 to 1828, bringing cobblestones and gas lighting to the French Quarter. The concoction that celebrates him was a signature drink at Maylie’s restaurant until 1986. When Maylie’s shuttered, the Roffignac faded away. But recipes survive in books like Stanley Clisby Arthur’s 1937 Famous New Orleans Drinks and How to Mix ‘Em, which calls for whiskey, sugar, soda, and the curious “red Hembarig.” This, says local bartender Paul Gustings, is raspberry shrub, a berry-infused syrup made with vinegar that adds a balancing zing to the drink. In his own version, Gustings swaps the whiskey for cognac, a nod to Roffignac’s Gallic heritage. —Elizabeth Pearce

Yield: makes 1 Cocktail

2 ¹⁄₂ oz. fermented raspberry shrub or stovetop raspberry shrub
1 ¹⁄₂ oz. cognac
¹⁄₂ oz. simple syrup
Soda water, to top

Instructions

Shake raspberry shrub, cognac, and simple syrup in an ice-filled shaker. Strain into ice-filled glass; top with soda water.

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