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Gin Fizz from Lubin

I think if you’ve ready any of my posts you’ll have the distinct impression that I love, nay adore, my food. You may not have got my great love of food, but for me the two things go hand in hand, as great recipes in both are based on great ingredients. So in my mind great food lovers should adore great fragrances. A slight variation on my usual ideas on gifts for food lovers, but here’s some suggestions on fragrant gifts for foodies this winter.

1. For a bit of zing, and for lovers of Asian food, then I would recommend Origins Ginger. Rich, warm but not overpowering, this is the real stuff, freshly cut, rather than the dried, powdered stuff going into baking. I’d go full out and order the Ginger Treats Gift Set which would give you top to toe ginger gorgeousness.

2. For those who like a bit of the sweet stuff, then I would try Laura Mercier’s Marron Glaces. Not too sticky, you’ll find notes of mirabelle and hazelnut leaves (unusual but gorgeous in my book) plus vanilla and amber. It’s going to be  a warm, rich and comforting smell without being sickly sweet. If you need more sweetness, then Laura also does some great products in Creme Brulee and the new Creme de Pistache is smelling good too.

3. A tough one, what to recommend in vanilla? I love vanilla, but we’re talking about great vanilla and not vanilla essence. As in cooking, in fragrance there are some really cheap and nasty things masquerading as vanilla. That said, when I’m in France I always pick up Lait de Vanille shower gel from Le Petit Marseillais, which is a lovely creamy vanilla scent. I think if there was only one, then you could do a lot worse than Vanilia from L’Artisan Parfumeur. This is a loud fragrance, not given over to subtlety but quite something for a vanilla lover!

4. For spice lovers, then I would recommend Noir Epices from Editions de Parfums Frederic Malle. I love this whole collection of fragrances by some of the greatest perfumers alive, and this one is a masterpiece by Michel Roudnitska. It’s like a trip through a spice market in the Orient, with notes of nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and pepper. More raw spice than baked goods, it works for a man or a woman, and is distinctive and memorable. It’s also not available everywhere, so could become a real signature fragrance.

5. For something a bit fresher but not sweet, then I’m going for a classic that’s been reissued, and that’s Gin Fizz from Lubin. With notes of bergamot and lemon tempered with juniper, you’ll smell fresh and summery. As opposed to like someone has thrown a G and T over you! Great for summoning up summer days, even in the midst of winter!

6. For something just rich, lush, slightly dirty but with sweetness (and mainly because this is on my wishlist) it has to be Tobacco Vanille by Tom Ford. Preferably hand delivered by Tom please. The name is slightly misleading, in that it has notes of dried fruits, honey and spices with the sweetness and earthiness of fresh tobacco leaf, all with a bit of pure vanilla thrown in. Whenever I pass by a Tom Ford counter, I always have a spritz of this. It’s not subtle, but it is gorgeous.

So, half a dozen choices that combine beautiful food notes, without straying over into sticky sweetness. If you want that, then I would go through the Philosophy range. And if you want something spicy and vanilla based, then I could also recommend the wonder that is Girard’s Bouquet D’Orient. But then I’m biased on this one, I launched it back into the market! But a foodie will plunder its notes to work out what is going on in there!

The perfect martini?

Last night Dr T and I enjoyed a cultural night out at Nottingham Playhouse to see their production of Blithe Spirit. From this one would deduce that essential kit in many households of the time was a cocktail shaker and a ready supply of martini glasses!

There was a long debate on the way home as to exactly what made up a dry martini, although both of us were quite sure it bore no resemblance to the dry martini and lemonade beloved of our parent’s generation. And the answer seems to be there is no one recipe for the “perfect” dry martini.

There is much agreement that you need the right equipment, and ice. There must be ice and apparently not any old ice. No to tap water ice, but am assuming filtered or best Evian would be ok! And of course it’s not going to taste as smooth if you use Tesco’s Basics Gin or Vermouth rather than a more premium spirit.

So that brings us to the recipe: gin meets vermouth, end of.

Or rather the start of endless combinations. For a dry one, it would appear to four parts gin to one part dry vermouth might be a good starting point. Shaken together over ice then strained into a martini glass.

The extra dry martini could be 12 parts gin to 1 part dry vermouth, and one source quotes the perfect martini as 4 parts gin, 1 part dry vermouth and 1 part sweet vermouth. You could garnish it with everything from olives to cocktail onions to slivers of orange or lemon peel.

But really, it’s all about the spirits. And we’re not talking about the ghosts of either Mrs Condimine. According to the World Spirit’s Festival in January, the best gin in the world was Blackwoods’ Vintage Dry Gin. It certainly sounds like it would be perfect for the job, and also wouldn’t just taste like neat alcohol due to the mix of local botanical ingredients from the Shetlands.

I have to be honest, I’ve never tried it, but I guess could be persuaded to give it a go. My personal favourites in the gin department are Plymouth, Bombay Sapphire or Hendricks, although not sure how purists in the martini field would view the cucumber note in the Hendricks. Personally I think it would be a great addition.

Vermouth really seems to come down to a choice between Martini and Noilly Prat, and given that it’s called a Martini, I might be tempted to plump for that. Although if the bottle looked nice, I might go for the Noilly Prat. Or both.

And then you need good glasses to serve it in. Which seem to be everywhere in recent times, but if you think you’re going to develop a taste for these then frame good liquor with good glass. I like the simplicity of the ones from LSA, which are classy and unfussy, pure of line, which is what a good martini should be.

So, my darlings, I’m going to waft off now and dress for dinner and wait to be shaken, not stirred!

Fabulous photographs courtesy of Mustard Faith on Flickr