Gin is in. After losing its place on the top shelf to a rainbow of flavoured vodkas, along came Mad Men, and now suddenly we all want to wear hats, and sheaths, and drink gin martinis. Saveur magazine’s April issue gives an interesting overview of the juniper-based spirit – what we all think of as gin is really just the dominant London Dry style, but new styles are emerging, and old ones are being resurrected as our craze for cocktails turns glamorously nostalgic.
Cucumber melon civiche with grapefruit and gin.
Our summer drink of choice has long been a gin and tonic made with Bombay Sapphire – what we call ‘the queen’s gin,’ because of the portrait of Queen Victoria on the bottle. But apparently this was just a marketing ploy, according to Merlin Grifftihs, who’s the global brand ambassador for Bombay Sapphire. He was promoting the drink in Montreal last week, alongside chef Martin Gosselin, who grilled delicious food pairings for gin cocktails.
The combination of 10 botanicals in Bombay Sapphire includes coriander, angelica root, grains of paradise, and cassia bark.
It was a quintessentially Montreal event – neither the English-speaking mixologist nor the French-speaking chef seemed to understand a word the other was saying, but somehow the pairings were perfect. And creative. We’ll be blogging Martin’s roasted corn soup when corn’s in season later this summer.
The thirst-quenching Rhubarb and Rose Ramos gin fizz..
And Merlin inspired us to put our own twist on the classic Ramos gin fizz. We’ve updated this eye-opener from late 19th century New Orleans to include rhubarb – a favourite spring flavour, whose tartness really makes this gin sing.
Hendrick's notable botanicals include juniper, cucumber, coriander and rose.
We’re also big fans of Hendrick’s gin, an international-style spirit with pronounced rose, cucumber and coriander flavours. We used this profile as the basis for a scallop ceviche, adding mint, grapefruit, and melon to round things out.
Cucumber-melon ceviche with grapefruit and gin
serves 4 as an appetizer
4 large scallops, cut into medium dice
5 sections from a pink grapefruit, cut into medium dice
the juice of half a lime, about a tablespoon
2 oz. Hendrick’s gin
freshly cracked coriander seed
half a cup of cucumber slices
half a cup of cantaloupe, in medium dice
3 or 4 large mint leafs, cut into chiffonade
freshly ground black pepper
NOTE: To cut herbs into chiffonade, stack the leaves on top of each other, roll them up like a cigar, and make small perpendicular slices that unroll into little ribbons. There is intentionally no salt in this recipe, it does something weird to the gin.
1. Dice the scallops and grapefruit and mix together with the lime juice and gin in a small bowl. Marinate in the fridge for about 15 minutes.
2. Roast the coriander seed in a hot skillet until fragrant. Be careful not to scorch them. Crack the seeds in a mortar and pestle or pound them in a Ziploc bag with a rolling pin, meat mallet, or empty wine bottle.
3. Slice the cucumber very thinly, and then cut each slice into two half-moons. Dice the cantaloupe, and chop the mint.
4. Mix the cucumber, cantaloupe and mint into the scallop and grapefruit mixture. Check the citrus/gin balance, and adjust if necessary.
5. Spoon the ceviche into small ramekins or verrines, and garnish with a light dusting of coriander and black pepper.
Rhubarb and rose Ramos gin fizz
2 oz. Bombay Sapphire gin
½ oz. lemon juice
½ oz. lime juice
2 oz. rhubarb syrup (see recipe below)
1 oz. heavy cream
1 or 2 drops rosewater
1 egg white
club soda
ice
Combine all ingredients except ice and soda in a cocktail shaker and shake vigorously for 30 seconds. Add ice to shaker and shake a further 30 seconds. Strain into a tall, chilled glass and top up with soda.
To make rhubarb syrup, cut a pound of rhubarb into one-inch pieces, wrap them in cheesecloth, and simmer for half an hour in 2 C of water in which have been dissolved 1 C sugar. Strain into a glass jar with a lid.
wow!!! really interesting recipes
love your photos, too
i just found your blog and love it!! you guys feature such lovely recipes…i’ll definitely be back
The cheviche looks good and all of the photos are great!
I love Hendricks! I find it makes a delicious cocktail with cucumber juice and mint. Your addition of toasted coriander to the ceviche is so spot-on. And thanks for reinventing the Ramos Fizz that was my parents’ go-to drink for fancy brunches–my rhubarb is just coming in!
“…and now suddenly we all want to wear hats, and sheaths, and drink gin martinis.” And bang Don Draper. You forgot that part.
I love Hendricks! It’s the only gin we drink around here. Your creativity never ceases to inspire!
Thanks, Shauna. That’s the funniest comment we’ve received so far. Thanks for your visits, it helps to know you have regular readers when you don’t quite feel up to blogging. Cheers!
My Mama, among other virtues, taught me to love gin–it’s her favorite spirit, and I loved introducing her to Hendrick’s a few years ago.
I gave up alcohol for Lent this year and let my last bottle run its course before Mardi Gras…picked up a new one just a week ago and it felt an official start to summer.
do you think this civiche would suffer if I made it with some wild-caught Gulf shrimp instead of scallops?
I think shrimp would be delicious, and very pretty with the pink grapefruit. Glad to hear you’ll be giving this a try.
Enjoy!