You know, if I didn’t read Caitlin Moran’s Celebrity Watch column in the Times every Friday I’d be even more out of touch with the modern world than I currently am.
Thanks to today’s column I’m now aware of something called The Broctail, the invention of one Jack Sotti who’s sometimes described as a London cocktail guru, which is apparently a thing. The Broctail looks like this:
It involves blanched florets of tenderstem broccoli shaken with tequila, lime juice, olive oil, sugar syrup and ice, so it’s basically a magararita with a bit of veg in it. Why not a Brocarita?
Caitlin who refers to me (and a few others) every week as her ‘dearest reader’ suggests a development of her own – the cabbagetini. A bunch of booze with some cabbage in it. And I tried to think of what might be usefully added to a cocktail, any cocktail,and I thought whimsically and improbably that maybe some mushrooms would do the job.
Man, am I late on the scene. The internet is awash with mushroom cocktails of one kind or another, most of them involving some fairly run of the mill concoctions with a slice of shiitake or lion’s mane tossed in, but this one in ‘Barrows’ Intense’ actually uses cognac, orange liqueur, lemon juice and savory mushroom syrup. The Mushroom Cognac Crusta.
I didn’t know there was anything such thing as mushroom syrup although I was well aware of John Cage’s Mushroom Dogsup: as opposed to catsup – get it? His recipe involves mushrooms, ginger root, mace, bay leaf, cayenne and black pepper, allspice and brandy and should apparently be kept a year before using.
You might think the presence of brandy would indicate that it’s some way towards being a cocktail already but Cage’s recipe only calls for one teaspoon per half pint, which is not going to get the job done. But put it a dirty martini or a Gibson, and you’d definitely have something worth drinking.
John Cage obviously regarded mushrooms as a serious business
Though he could see the funny side.
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