So I walk through the front door of my local Whole Foods Market and the very first display that I see is a pile of some beautiful blood oranges. Now that I'm officially a card-carrying foodie I think to myself, 'I'm using these for something'. So why not make a drink?
The first chapter of The Babbo Cookbook contains some of Mario's favorite mixed drinks, many of which are staples at Babbo itself. Any good restaurant should have some damn good mixed drinks and wine, especially one in the center of New York City that has earned a Michelin star.
Mario's drink philosophy is that if you're trying to re-create a five-star meal at home with all of the minute details planned much in advanced, an opportunity presents itself to create a unique welcoming drink to greet your guests with. And I agree.
Having said that, I'm just not a drinker. Don't get me wrong, I love a cold beer in the summer and a nice full-bodied red anytime, but I never touch hard liquor, except for the NyQuil that I need to knock me out when I'm sick. Which is why of all of the chapters in the cookbook, this one will be the one that I kind of dread.
The drinks in this cookbook are Italian inspired with an American twist. Italians love their sweets, especially anything that takes advantage of local, fresh, and in season fruit. And this drink certainly meets that criteria.
Here are the ingredients (do they use the term 'ingredients' with drinks?):
Look at how beautiful these blood oranges are. These should make a great drink.
Let's make this. You combine orange-flavored vodka, Cointreau,fresh lime juice, and fresh blood orange juice in a chilled shaker.
Then you try and look cool like you know how to bartend.
Next the drink gets poured into a chilled martini glass and garnished with an orange twist. Not being a drinker I don't have a martini glass set, perhaps I will invest in some later on. I just used a champagne flute. As Mario points out, half of the fun of having a drink is putting it into a sexy glass.
Now for the tasting...
My wife took one sip and was good. Her drinking days ended with college graduation. I actually finished it. Slowly of course. It's definitely what my colleagues would call a 'girly drink'. I found it to be simply, not bad.
I bought small bottles of the liquor so that I don't feel guilty letting it fester on the shelf until my 'alchy' friends come over to help themselves. Otherwise it could get a little pricey, and I want that money to go towards some of the delicious ingredients used in the book, some of which I haven't tried yet. Maybe that'll be my inspiration for the next post.
Until next time...
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