The Biltong Dry Cocktail

Searching for the recipe for the original Dubonnet cocktail, I discovered the impact of current events at the turn of the 20^th Century in South Africa, on the international cocktail scene.

The legendary head bartender of the American Bar at the Savoy Hotel in London, Harry Craddock, published the Savoy Cocktail Book in 1930. The book is still in print today.  The Savoy Cocktail Book contains 750 cocktail recipes. Eleven of these recipes enjoy very South African references in their name and ingredients, one of them is Caperitif.

Harry Craddock in the American Bar - Source: https://sipsmith.com

The American Bar circa 1931 - Source: https://london.eater.com

Caperitif is a vermouth style drink that was manufactured in the early 1900’s by the Cape based, Castle Wine and Brandy Company. Caperitif captured the imagination of bartenders at the American Bar in the Savoy Hotel. Caperitif was used extensively, it seems, to make South African inspired cocktails. With the Gold Rush and Second Boer War fresh in the memories of people, they served contemporary cocktails like the Barney Barnato, Cape Town Cocktail, Oom Paul, Spion Kop, and Transvaal, amongst others. The Savoy Cocktail book contains at least 18 cocktails with Caperitif as an ingredient. 

With a supply of Dubonnet, it is a good opportunity to try a range of ‘new’ cocktails. To my surprise, I found a very iconic South African themed cocktail in the Savoy Cocktail book. On page 29 there is a recipe for a Biltong Dry Cocktail.

How to make a Biltong Dry Cocktail

1 Dash Orange Bitters

¼ Dubonnet

¼ Gin

½ Caperitif

Shake well and strain into cocktail glass.

Caperitif had disappeared completely. It has in recent years, been revived by a passionate Danish mixologist who had been searching for this “ghost ingredient”. He teamed up with a South African winemaker and in 2015, the modern version of Caperitif was launched. Thanks to these developments, once popular cocktails like the Biltong Dry, can be revived.

Here are a few hints for the young mixer from page 9 of the Savoy Cocktail Book.

“

1.     Ice is nearly always an absolute essential for any cocktail.

2.     Never use the same ice twice.

3.     Remember that the ingredients mix better in a shaker rather larger than is necessary to contain them.

4.     Shake the shaker as hard as you can: don’t just rock it: you are trying to wake it up, not send it to sleep.

5.     If possible, ice your glasses before using them.

6.     Drink your cocktail as soon as possible.”

Dubonnet and “droëwors”*

*Droëwors is a traditional South African cured sausage

As a consumer, I am apparently categorised as a singular niche market. I am constantly looking for some ingredient that is not readily available. Perhaps I should update my recipe books. On the other hand however, I do enjoy nostalgia and the romanticism of authentic traditional foods and drinks.

When Keith wanted to taste a cocktail preferred by the Queen of Great Britain et cetera, and her mother, while she lived, I thought it should not be difficult to find the ingredients. Keith is firmly of the opinion that the longevity and good health of their majesties, might well be ascribed to their love of this cocktail. It is well known that Her Majesty the Queen enjoys a Dubonnet cocktail before lunch. She prefers her cocktail with two parts Dubonnet and one-part Gordon’s gin (which holds a royal warrant) with two cubes of ice and a lemon slice.

Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, famously enjoyed the cocktail as her signature cocktail and the cocktail is known as the Queen Mother. One can make your own Queen Mother as follows.

For one person

1 part gin

2 parts Dubonnet

Orange or lemon twist to garnish (optional)

Pour one-part gin and two parts Dubonnet over lots of ice and stir, garnish with orange, lemon, or both.

Dubonnet is a blend of fortified wine, herbs, spices and quinine. It was first sold in 1846 by Parisian chemist Joseph Dubonnet. Dubonnet was a tonic created for French legionnaires so that they might drink quinine to fortify them against malaria during their campaign in North Africa.

My curiosity went beyond the British royals. I needed to find out more about the use of Dubonnet in cocktails. I started with the Savoy Cocktail book, published in 1930. On page 62, the Dubonnet cocktail is given as, ½ Dubonnet, ½ Dry Gin, Stir well and strain into cocktail glass.

The cocktail seemed quite straight forward. The Gordon’s gin, as our gin of choice for cocktails, was on hand. But alas, finding Dubonnet in South Africa, as I discovered, is impossible. I searched every specialty liquor shop in South Africa without success.

My last resort was to import it directly from the UK where I found an online liquor shop that delivered in South Africa. Ordering the six bottles of Dubonnet was very easy. Even the delivery was a breeze after one has paid the import duties, VAT and custom charges, in advance.

The bottles arrived expertly packaged and ahead of schedule. Within days of placing the order, Keith could enjoy his first Queen Mother cocktail. I thought it a perfectly sweet cocktail for a mature lady. Personally, I prefer the mix to be 1 part Dubonnet and 2 parts Dry Gin shaken with lots of ice in a shaker. It is less sweet that way.

On a hot Saturday afternoon, we could enjoy a very English cocktail made with French and Dutch inspired alcohol. Served with a very traditional South African snack, droëwors (cured dried sausage).

The orange sweet potatoes and the harvest of colours

More than a year ago, I bought some orange coloured sweet potatoes from a local supermarket. Although we had a stock of homegrown sweet potatoes, the unusual colour of those in the supermarket appealed to me. The colours of the different varieties of vegetables always appeals to me. They evoke a desire within to plant and eat them.

I decided to keep four for planting when they ran out. Our homegrown sweet potatoes always run out spectacularly. Neglected, they can turn the cellar into a scene out of the movie “The Little Shop of Horrors”. Particularly as the tubers make long ghostly runners in the dark cellar. There is no mistaking a sweet potato that wants to go back underground.

With this experience of sweet potato tubers, I decided to simply let the four orange tubers lie in a protected spot in the garden office, to encourage the inevitable. After months of waiting and with nothing happening to them, I had to accept that whatever is sprayed on supermarket vegetables to make them last longer on the shelf, is obviously inhibiting the natural development of runners in the tubers.

I did not know what to do.  I could not plant them without any sign that they want to go back to their roots and by now they were no longer fresh enough to eat. Although they looked as good as the day, I bought them. The chemicals sprayed on the food we buy at supermarkets, must contain remarkable preservatives. The thought alone of what the tubers were treated with, dampened my appetite for them.

I re-discovered that one can encourage root formation in sweet potatoes by cutting them in half and suspending them in a jar of water with the cut part barely submerged. Much as one does with an avocado pip when wanting to encourage it to sprout. I decided to cut the four tubers in half and with the support of toothpicks, I suspended them in eight glass jars on a sunny windowsill. I topped up the water as it evaporated.

After two weeks, I noticed spindly white roots dangling in the water of some of the jars. I was so excited. Soon they all had roots and leaves. When the leaves were big and strong enough, we planted them in one half of a vegetable bed.

They took longer than usual to make proper tubers and in the first week of March, we decided they were ready to be harvested. Fungai started harvesting and exclaimed in surprise that the plants were bearing orange and purple sweet potatoes. I could not believe my eyes when I saw the clumps of intertwined orange and purple sweet potatoes on the same plants.

The question for me is, did the plant go back to the original purple tubers in some instances or did the treatment they received in the supermarket upset their DNA. I decided to see if the orange tubers that were homegrown, would make runners when they needed to be planted. They were grown organically and hopefully now will behave like normal vegetables in future.

In the end, the purple and orange harvest was quite special. I prefer to imagine that the enchantment of the Towerwater garden had a hand in the mystery.

Sweet Pepper seeds that my cousin gave me, surprised by making quite healthy plants. Normally, I struggle to grow Sweet Peppers. I believed it was because the pH of the soil in the vegetable garden was not acidic enough for them. However, thanks to these seeds, this year I could proudly harvest black, red, orange and green Sweet Peppers.

Our garden seems to be in a colourful mood, and I am really enjoying it. I feel like a child with all the surprises in the garden adding to a very colourful harvest. 

Elderberry, the queen of herbs?

I need another lifetime to optimally utilise everything I have planted in our garden. This weekend, I was reminded once again of the potential that is growing in every corner. Years ago, I planted an Elderflower. I had wanted to make Elderflower ‘champagne’. The romantic sound of Elderflower champagne seduced me into having the plant in the herb garden.

I might not have made the ‘champagne’ correctly, but clearly the idea of making Elderflower champagne was a superior notion to the experience of drinking of it. I will try it again when I have time to dedicate myself more purposefully to the process. Luckily, the products that one can produce from Elderflowers are endless. The lacy white caps look lovely on the tree and in ice cold Elderflower cordial and cocktails made with Elderflower liqueur. Both of which I can make and serve with confidence.

For the first time, the Elder tree is covered with elderberries. I did what I always do, I explored what I can possibly make with elderberries. In the exploration, I discovered that the Elder is a very beneficial plant. In the Middle ages it was believed that the elderberry could restore and keep good health. Some believed that it was an aid to longevity. With my interest piqued in this magical plant, I decided to make elderberry gin and elderberry cordial.

The Elder tree is steeped in Folklore. Anglo-Saxons, the Danish, and other old European cultures believed the Elder tree to be sacred. This sanctity emanated from the spirit or goddess believed to live within the plant. In Danish she is known as Hylde Moer, or the Elder Mother. She had the power to protect and to harm. The Elder Mother had the power to turn the plant’s natural gifts (flowers, berries and wood) into blessings. The leaves could protect a home or a person from evil spirits when dried and hung in a doorway or around the neck. The part that I like is that it was a particularly good omen if an elder grew near a dwelling, as the tree’s proximity to the home would protect the household.

The Elder tree is best known for its fragrant flowers and berries that are rich in antioxidants. With twice the Vitamin C of oranges and three times the antioxidants of blueberries, elderberries are also high in polyphenols and bioflavonoids. It is believed that the use of elderberry can assist in the treatment of flu. Studies show that the use of elderberry compounds can inhibit the virus's entry and replication in human cells and can help strengthen a person's immune system.

In my efforts to put to best use every herb, vegetable and fruit in our garden, I might have stumbled upon a readily available natural remedy for familiar and less familiar diseases doing the rounds. With elderberry gin and elderberry cordial fighting the viruses, life might become an even more enjoyable experience.

Elderberry Gin

Ingredients:

400g of elderberries

750ml of gin

Lime peel

Sugar syrup

Method:

1.      Carefully remove the berries from their stalks making sure to discard any green or unripe berries. Note: Using a fork to comb through them is a quick and effective way to remove the berries. Be careful not to squash the ripe berries though.

2.      Rinse the berries in cold water, remove any bits of leaf and stalk that rise to the surface of the water. Drain the clean berries and place them in a 1 litre jar with the lime peel.

3.      Add the gin to the berries and lime peel. Close the jar and leave too steep for at least 4 weeks in a dark area. Turn the jar ever so often.

4.      After the 4 weeks of steeping, strain the gin through a sieve into a bowl and add the cold sugar syrup made with equal parts sugar and water.

5.      To make the sugar syrup use equal parts sugar to water, I used 150ml of water to 150ml of sugar. Put the sugar into a pot with the water and set over a low heat, stirring until it has dissolved into a syrup. Allow to cool completely.

6.      Add the syrup to the gin bit by bit, tasting along the way until you are happy with the sweetness.

7.      Pour into a bottle using a muslin lined funnel.  Leave for at least a month before serving. Serve straight or add tonic for something more refreshing.

After picking an enamel bowl full of berries, I spent the whole morning stripping berries off stalks. I did regret picking so many after a while. But the promise of the new taste experience awaiting us, made me soldier on. After weighing off the required berries I realised I had enough berries left for some elderberry cordial.

Elderberry Cordial

Ingredients:
500g Elderberries

500ml Water

350ml Sugar

1 Lime

Method:

1.      Put the elderberries and water in a pot.  Bring to a simmer and let cook for 30 minutes.   Strain the elderberries through a muslin cloth lined strainer, reserving the juice.  Press the berries gently, squeezing all the juice from them.

2.      Pour juice back into a clean pot.  Add the sugar and juice and zest of the lime. Bring the mixture to a boil and boil for 15 minutes, stirring regularly (to ensure all the sugar is dissolved).  Let the syrup cool while you prepare the bottles.

3.      Pour the cordial into bottles using a muslin lined funnel. Store the cordial in the fridge. 

With the temperatures soaring to 40°C outdoors, I spent the time in the cool house making new items for cocktails and drinks. Who knows? Drinking to one’s health may take on a more appropriate meaning using elderberries. With everything one can make with elderberries and elderflowers, the Elder truly is the queen of herbs.