Few drinks are as evocative of place and season as gin and tonic.
A perfumed spritz fills the air as a wedge of lime is squeezed over the drink. Ice cubes click against the tall glass, and a thin layer of frost forms upon its exterior. English-accented conversations create a muted babble.
The place is a lawn party somewhere in the British Empire during the first half of this century. The season is summer. (In tropic regions of the empire, of course, there was endless summer.) The mystery is the haunting, yet hard to define, flavor of the gin.
It is, at once, remarkably complex and the simplest of liquors to produce (“. . . so easily made it may fairly be classed as an art of the kitchen,” wrote Alexis Lichine in his “New Encyclopedia of Wines & Spirits”). The complexity is provided by steeping a mash of “botanicals” in a neutral grain spirit (most often made from fermented malted barley and rye) or passing the vaporized alcohol over the botanicals in a “flavor still.”
The word “gin” is a corruption of genievre, the French word for juniper berry. But defining its taste is not that simple.
Of the half-dozen or more types of gin, double-distilled “London dry” is the most popular. It need not be made in London, but the botanical flavoring mixture should contain about 50 percent juniper, 30 percent coriander and an assortment of ingredients that may include angelica, fennel, licorice, orange or lemon peel, anise, caraway, cassia bark, orris (iris root) and almond. The formulas vary from producer to producer.
Gordon’s gin is said to be more root-flavored, and the delicious genievre gin that comes from Holland has a rich grain flavor along with the accent of juniper. According to a recent article in Decanter magazine, Bombay Sapphire (which “certainly stakes a claim to being England’s best gin”) also benefits from the flavor of “allspice-like cubeb berries and fiery grains of paradise.”
So complex is Sapphire that I prefer to drink it on its own, well-chilled and straight up, or on the rocks. Use another gin for the drink recipes that follow. They are from “The Drink Directory,” by Lionel Braun and Marion Gorman.
In cooking, the intriguing flavors of gin can perk up a marinade for game, fowl or fish. Also, the liquor can be flamed with chicken or duck breasts, or with fatty fish such as salmon or bluefish, and incorporated into a sauce.
GIN AND TONIC
One drink
4 to 6 ice cubes
2 to 2 1/2 ounces gin
1 lime or lemon wedge
About 6 ounces tonic water, chilled
1. Put ice in a chilled highball glass. Add gin. Squeeze lime or lemon wedge over ice and drop it in.
2. Fill to the top with tonic.
GIN FIZZ
One drink
2 1/2 to 3 ounces gin
1 1/2 teaspoons superfine sugar
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
7 or 8 ice cubes
4 to 6 ounces club soda, chilled
1 slice lemon
1. Combine gin, sugar, lemon juice and 3 or 4 ice cubes in a shaker and shake vigorously.
2. Place 4 or 5 ice cubes in a glass. Strain drink into glass. Add lemon slice. Fill to top with soda.
Note: Sparkling wine can be used in place of club soda.
ORANGE FIZZ
One drink
2 to 2 1/2 ounces gin
1 1/2 ounces orange juice
1/2 ounce lemon juice
2 teaspoons Triple Sec
1 teaspoon superfine sugar
2 dashes orange bitters
3 or 4 ice cubes, plus extra as needed to fill highball glass to half level
4 to 6 ounces club soda, chilled
1 thin slice orange
1. In a shaker, combine gin, orange juice, lemon juice, Triple Sec, sugar, bitters and 3 or 4 ice cubes and shake vigorously.
2. Fill highball glass with extra ice cubes to half level. Strain into glass. Fill to top with soda and stir.
3. Garnish with orange slice.
ORIENTAL GRAVLAX
10 to 12 servings
For the fish:
2 pounds boneless halibut or Hawaiian ono fillet, skin on
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1 tablespoon juniper berries, coarsely ground
Zest from 2 large oranges, removed with peeler, in strips about 3 inches long
3 tablespoons gin (Bombay preferred) or seasoned gin (recipe follows)
For the wasabi cream:
3 tablespoons Japanese wasabi powder+
3 tablespoons white vinegar
1/2 cup sour cream
1/3 cup whipping cream, whisked until lightly thickened
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 teaspoon sugar, or to taste (optional)
+Available in Oriental markets
1. Place the fish, skin side down, in a non-aluminum container. Combine the sugar, salt, pepper, allspice and juniper berries and rub over the fish. Place the strips of orange peel on top and sprinkle with the gin. Cover the fish with plastic wrap, weight it down, and refrigerate for 4 days, basting once a day with the juices that accumulate in the pan.
2. For the wasabi cream, mix the wasabi and vinegar to a paste in a small bowl. Let rest for about 5 minutes. Then stir the paste into the sour cream. Fold in the whipping cream and season with salt, pepper and sugar to taste. Thin, if necessary, with more cream or water.
3. To serve, slice the cured fish in paper-thin slices and drizzle with wasabi cream. Serve with thinly sliced cucumbers or cucumber salad.
SEASONED GIN
One liter
1 cinnamon stick
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
3 allspice berries
6 whole coriander seeds
2 strips each lemon and orange zest
1 liter bottle gin (Bombay preferred)
Add the spices and zests to the gin bottle and let steep for about 1 week. This keeps for quite a while.
Note: Use seasoned gin for Oriental gravlax, substitute for other liquors in marinades or sauces for pork, game or duck.-From “Back to Square One,” by Joyce Goldstein.
CUCUMBER SALAD
Four servings
1 cucumber, peeled and thinly sliced
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 tablespoon gin
2 tablespoons vegetable or olive oil
1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh dill, or 1/2 teaspoon dried
1/4 cup sour cream
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon sugar
1. Place cucumbers in a colander and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt; let stand 20 minutes. Pat dry between paper towels.
2. Combine vinegar, gin, oil, dill, sour cream, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, pepper and sugar; blend well.
3. Toss cucumber slices with dressing. Serve with salmon or poultry.
ROAST CHICKEN WITH BOK CHOY, JUNIPER AND GIN
Four servings
1 tablespoon unsalted butter or vegetable oil (peanut oil preferred)
4 large green onions (white and light-green part only), thinly sliced
4 tablespoons gin
1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
8 heads baby bok choy, sliced crosswise into 1/2-inch-wide strips (or 1/2 pound green cabbage)
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1/4 cup red-wine vinegar
30 juniper berries, finely crushed in a mortar
1 cup unsalted chicken stock or broth
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1/2 cup heavy cream
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
3 1/4-to-3 1/2-pound roasting chicken, washed and patted dry
Vegetable oil (peanut oil preferred)
1. For the bok choy, melt the butter in a heavy large skillet or wok over medium heat. Add the onion and stir until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons gin, bring to a boil and flame. Shake pan until flame dies. Mix in the soy sauce.
2. Add the bok choy, increase heat to medium high and stir-fry until the bok choy is just tender, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. (This can be prepared ahead, cooled, covered and set aside in the same pan at room temperature until serving.)
3. Make the juniper-gin sauce: Boil the vinegar in a heavy small saucepan until reduced to a glaze. Stir in the juniper berries, the remaining 2 tablespoons gin and the chicken stock and reduce by half. Add the sugar, soy sauce and cream and boil until reduced to a saucelike consistency, about 2/3 cup, stirring occasionally. Strain the sauce, if desired, to remove the juniper berries. Season with salt and pepper. (This can be prepared ahead, cooled, coverd and refrigerated until needed.)
4. Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Rub the chicken with oil and season with salt and pepper. Place the chicken on its side on a rack in a roasting pan. Bake until the juices in the thigh run golden when pierced with a knife and the drumstick moves easily in its socket, about 1 hour. Baste occasionally and turn the chicken to the other side partway through cooking. Let rest 10 minutes.
5. Carve the chicken into serving pieces. Pour the chicken cooking and carving juices into the pan with the bok choy. Stir over medium-high heat to rewarm. Stir the sauce over medium heat to rewarm it. Place bok choy in the center of 4 warm plates. Top with chicken and ladle sauce over the chicken. Serve immediately with a wine from Alsace, preferrably gewurztraminer. Pass remaining sauce at the table.
