US Trends: Sweet & Savoury

From hyssop and lovage to beef jerky and duck sauce, ingredients that were once used on plates are now making it into our glasses. Naren Young looks at the blurring of the lines between kitchen and bar

Think back to the days when bartenders added titles like ‘Professor’ to their names, didn’t welcome women quite so openly into their drinking establishments, and took the maintenance of their facial hair very seriously – actually that one still holds true. 

Back then there were cocktails, and then there were ‘fancy’ cocktails – to make the subtle transition from one to the other the barkeep simply added a lemon twist to the drink. It doesn’t sound exactly fancy these days – but then this was circa 1862.

Imagine what those bartenders of old would say if they saw the addition of smoked and charred bell pepper juice to a Margarita, or a Bloody Mary made with spicy tomato water. Maybe they might appreciate their Corpse Reviver #2 with fresh fennel juice instead of the requisite anise component of absinthe. It’s all gone a bit mad, to be sure. I remember a time (when I first started behind the stick) when guava purée and fresh basil were about as gourmet as things got. 

It’s only been a decade since then but the cocktail revolution hit, and all its sticky and savoury ingredients have gone global. I’m talking everything from house-made duck sauce and chipotles to pickled ramps and beef jerky: no ingredient seems incongruous in the modern cocktail shaker any more. Where has all of this come from?

Chef knows best?

Perhaps we should stop looking around the bar for the reason and step into the kitchen for a moment. Nobody can argue with the influence that chefs have exercised over the cocktail resurgence and the level of creativity that has built up over the last decade. Consumers’ increased interest in food and the source of ingredients has also helped to catapult the culinary cocktail forward. We seem to have moved into an age where the lines between the bar and kitchen have been blurred forever. Squid ink in a cocktail? Sure, why not? Anise, hyssop or lovage? You bet.

Working in a restaurant environment certainly allows bartenders greater access to more varied produce and, possibly more importantly, to kitchen equipment, some of it very expensive. At The Dutch in Soho, New York (where I recently worked for a spell), we smoked cherries for our White Manhattan and apple juice for our Big Apple cocktail. Plus our pastry kitchen turned out kumquat marmalade, which we then used in our drinks, and supplied us with garnishes of grilled pineapple glazed with molasses and cayenne pepper.

Francine Cohen, insidefandb.com’s editor, has been following the trend of savoury, culinary cocktails for some time. ‘What’s being delivered through the back door of the kitchen doesn’t need to simply remain there,’ she says. 

As much as chefs are embracing opportunities to collaborate with local farmers and support the local

Their combination of artichoke, amaro, yuzu, cucumber and tarragon is spring in a glass. And it’s delicious

economy while bringing fresh products to the table, so too can bartenders. With the extensive variety of savoury produce (and even proteins) that local farmers have to offer, bartenders can tap into this resource to enhance their guests’ visit. As Cohen puts it, ‘A cocktail made à la minute from a beautifully arrayed mise en place visible to the guest elevates their expectation about the drink being prepared in front of them.’  

Do it yourself

Rouge Tomate in Midtown Manhattan has a cocktail programme largely focused on savoury drinks. Here the words ‘house-made’ are dotted throughout their menu. They have a wonderful juice bar where you’re likely to sample, for instance, a wonderful combination of chamomile vodka paired with sugar snap pea water – or their ambitious combination of artichoke, Amaro, yuzu, cucumber and tarragon. It’s spring in a glass. And it’s delicious.

Across America, the green market, ‘locavore’ movement that was started by chef Alice Waters in the 1970s with the opening of Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California, is finding its way into ever more urban locales. Bartenders are following suit, offering up tasty libations that pay homage to organic and sustainable farming practices. More often than not this includes a few savoury cocktails on the menu that also nod to what’s in season. 

Eben Freeman, a genius at matching flavours, has garnered a lot of attention during his 20-year tenure across many of New York’s highest-profile establishments. He works a lot with unusual ingredients, especially vegetables. He’s had his fair share of attention for his Beet Sangria and also for an amazing concoction he simply and aptly calls the Agua Verde.

When I think of savoury cocktails, however, it doesn’t get any more extreme or delicious than the remarkable Benton’s Old Fashioned that has seamlessly become the unofficial signature drink at the famed New York speakeasy PDT. Bourbon fat-washed with bacon, maple syrup, Angostura bitters, stirred with a whole lotta love over a huge ice cube. Paired with a plate of fatty tater tots and one of their amazing dogs, life is pretty sweet. Oh, and savoury.

Beetnik

Created by Naren Young,  New York

30ml reposado tequila 30ml Ilegal Reposado Mezcal 7ml Licor 43 30ml fresh beetroot juice 15ml lemon juice 15ml ginger syrup

Shake and strain over fresh ice Garnish with an edible flower.

Agua Verde

Created by Eben Freeman,  Ai Fiori, New York

450g tomatillos, husked and rinsed  (try mexgrocer.co.uk) Pinch of salt and sugar 1 garlic clove, halved 1/2 fresh habanero chili (try southdevonchillifarm.co.uk) 250ml reposado tequila 4 dashes of Maggi Liquid Seasoning 4 fresh coriander sprigs 4 radishes  

Purée the whole tomatillos in processor. Strain through sieve, pressing firmly on solids to yield 250ml juice. Discard solids. Mix the salt and sugar into the juice. Then mix in the garlic and chili – let it stand for one minute. Discard the garlic and chili. Stir tequila and Maggi Liquid Seasoning into tomatillo mixture. Fill four highball glasses with ice. Pour mixture over.  Garnish each with coriander and radish.

Editorial feature from Imbibe Magazine – September/October 2011

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