Warm, sunny days (with a hint of sea breeze) on Prince Edward Island give HG a preview of his eventual destination: Heaven. HG/BSK have been walking along the shore, splashing in the the water (The sea is warming up) and adding to the family’s ever growing collection of beach glass. HG’s current beach reading is The Yid, a funny, bitter, surreal novel by Paul Goldberg, a Russian emigre. (SJ gets the book when HG finishes). Days have ended with hot, outdoor showers. Cocktail of the week has been an HG invention: one third gin, two thirds dry vermouth, a few drops of Boker’s Bitters. (HG has done a previous post, “A BITTER DISCOVERY”, about magical Boker’s, created in 1828 New York). While drinking, HG has been listening to Pierre Fournier, the suave cellist, playing unaccompanied Bach suites. (Son in law Profesore Massimo R. introduced HG/BSK to Fournier). Dinner (BSK made enough for two nights) has been an Indian eggplant and green onion curry from Vikram Vij’s cookbook. HG cooked Garafalo orzo (Garafolo is world’s best packaged pasta), mixed it with a can of Indian black lentils and enhanced the dish with Garam Masala spice. A cooling salad of cucumber, radish, lemon juice, olive oil and a touch of the Middle East: Greek yogurt dusted with Zaatar. Delicious cross cultural dining.
As HG followers know, HG is a passionate devotee of those highly concentrated, pungently flavorful alcoholic beverage enhancers known as “bitters”. (Check the archive for Bitters Make It Better). HG uses Peychaud’s to give indifferent French brandy a boost and mixes pre-dinner vodka on the rocks with either Stirrings Blood Orange Bitters or Regan’s Orange Bitters (an SJ discovery and recommendation). Angostura Bitters is used by HG to flavor a non-alcolholic midday glass of Pellegrino sparkling water. Recently, HG made a happy discovery: Dr. Adam Emelgirab’s Boker’s Bitters. Boker’s was created by John G.Boker in New York in 1828. It was much used in fashionable bars. Disappeared during Prohibition. Dr. Emelgirab has brought it back, utilizing an 1853 recipe he discovered. He now manufactures Boker’s (and some other unusual bitters) in Scotland. Last night, HG poured vodka on ice. Gave the glass a squeeze of lemon. Added two drops of Boker’s…Swirled the glass. Gazed at the incipient sunset over the Bay of St. Lawrence. Raised the glass. Sipped. The HG palate exploded with flavor. Indescribable. The flavor was something like the Martini favorite of Parisian hipsters where St. Germain liqueur (sweet with an elderflower flavor) replaces the usual dash of dry vermouth. Boker’s, however, creates a much more powerful drink. Boker’s is so good, HG is going to try with other combinations. Maybe with gin and sweet vermouth. Sobriety, get thee behind me!!
