Category: Drink

I have a friend who is an identical twin. During the Covid lockdown, she and her sister both had babies. Each of them would visit each other fairly frequently, but because they were being really cautious with newborns in their houses, the visiting sister would stand on the porch fully masked. They would each wave to the inside baby, and the babies, assuming this was just how things worked, would wave back at the lumpy, masked, vaguely mommy-shaped figures on the porch.

After a year or so, both sisters and their babies were able to get together in the same room for the first time without masks. According to my friend, the look on the babies’ faces as each of them saw two pretty much identical versions of their moms on opposite sides of the room was one of the most hysterical moments in the history of babies.

The point of this story — aside from the fact that it’s fun to mess with babies — is that the nature of reality is always a little beyond our comprehension. We have all been in situations where we thought we knew what was going on, but then discovered that we really, really didn’t, and had to reconcile two similar but fundamentally mismatched versions of reality.

Which, somehow, brings us to today’s cocktail.

Double Take

This is a take on a classic — if not often made — cocktail, a Cucumber Ginger Gin Fizz. This version uses largely the same ingredients as the original, but turns them on their head. Traditionally, this is made with cucumber juice and ginger syrup. This version uses homemade cucumber syrup and ginger brandy. You might think of this as a mirror image — the “other mommy” — of the original.

1 ounce cucumber syrup (see below)

1 ounce London dry gin – I like Death’s Door, but Gordon’s would work well, too

1 ounce ginger brandy – I’m a fan of Jacquin’s

1 ounce fresh squeezed lime juice

2 ounces seltzer

Combine the cucumber syrup, gin, brandy and lime juice with ice in a cocktail shaker. Shake enthusiastically.

Strain over fresh ice in a rocks glass.

Gently stir in the seltzer.

Sip, while thinking deep thoughts about the nature of reality.

The lime hits you first. You smile and nod approvingly, because you really like the taste of lime juice, and here it isn’t too acidic. Then your palate and a different set of synapses grab your attention and say, “What do you mean, ‘lime’? That’s ginger.” And you keep smiling and nodding, because you like ginger, too. But it’s at that point that you notice the cucumber, which is pushed out of the way by the lime again. It’s like a set of extremely demanding triplets. Fortunately, they have the gin and the fizziness of the seltzer to ground them.

The nature of existence can be transient.

Cucumber Syrup

Wash, but don’t peel some cucumber — half of one, three of them, it doesn’t matter — and chop it into medium (half-inch) dice.

Freeze it for several hours, or overnight. This will give jagged ice crystals a chance to form and poke holes in all the cucumber’s cell walls.

Combine the frozen cucumber and an equal amount of sugar — by weight — in a saucepan, and cook over medium heat. You’re going to look at what seems to be a dry, lumpy pile of sugar, and think to yourself, “That’s never going to make syrup!” Until it does. All those tiny holes made by the ice crystals will let the sugar draw all the liquid out of the cucumber, and because a cucumber is approximately 96 percent water, everything will come together very satisfyingly.

Bring the syrup to a boil, to make certain that all the sugar has dissolved, then remove from heat, and let it steep for 30 minutes.

Drain the syrup with a fine mesh strainer, and store in your refrigerator for several weeks.

Featured Photo: Double Take. Photo by John Fladd.

Nashua Center fundraiser with food

Nashua Center will present its 21st Taste of the Towns event at the Sheraton Nashua on Thursday, May 2, at 6 p.m.. Eighteen area restaurants, caterers, brewers and distributors will present food and drink as varied as Thai food, baked goods, Mexican dishes or vodka.

Taste of the Towns is the Nashua Center’s signature fundraising event of the year. Proceeds go to support the Center’s mission to provide high-quality specialized care and support to small children and young adults with developmental difficulties in the greater Nashua area.

“Everyone involved in the event is very proud,” said Nashua Center’s Director of Development, Maryanne Gordineer. “We’re so proud of the vendors who come back year after year, and for them this is a way of connecting with the community and giving back.”

Gordineer described the event as a way for like-minded people to network with each other and chat in a relaxed, celebratory atmosphere.

“It’s a memorable experience,” she said. “It’s just fun!” Gordineer said there are usually more than 300 guests who attend the event and circulate around, socializing and tasting samples from the participating vendors: “I like to think of it as dinner by the bite.”

In addition to its role as a fundraiser, Taste of the Towns is a way to bring attention to the Nashua Center and the work it does for the Nashua community. Established in 1973, the organization helps people build fulfilling lives as part of the community. In the case of very young children, this can take the form of early intervention services to help families identify developmental challenges and give them support. For young adults with special needs, it might be helping them experience post-secondary education, whether it’s attending classes, getting vocational training, or just experiencing an aspect of college life like using a school’s gym facilities or cafeteria. The Center helps provide adult day services or residential services for other clients.

“It’s all about inclusivity,” Gordineer said. “We facilitate independence and community participation.”

Tickets for Taste of the Towns cost $75. They usually sell out quickly, Gordineer said.

For Gardineer, who started with the Nashua Center shortly before last year’s event, it was an introduction to New England foods. “I’d never had a lobster roll before!” she said, adding that it was a revelation.

Taste of the Towns
When: Thursday, May 2, at 6 p.m.
Where: Sheraton Nashua, 11 Tara Boulevard, Nashua
Tickets: $75 at nashuacenter.org
Participating vendors:
Bellavance Beverage Co.
Bistro 603
Friendly Toast
From the Barrel Brewing Co.
Graceful Baking
Imported Grape
K’Sone’s Thai Dining & Lounge
Liquid Therapy
Live Free Distillery
The Peddler’s Daughter
Prestige Beverage Group
Shorty’s Mexican Roadhouse
Smokehaus Barbecue
Tara House Grill
Thon Khao
Tito’s Handmade Vodka
You You Japanese Bistro
Woodman’s Artisan Bakery

Featured Photo: Courtesy photo.

A springtime tradition at Concord Craft Brewing

Dennis Molnar, co-owner of Concord Craft Brewing, says weather plays a bigger role in running a brewery than you might think.

“Most people, unless they’re die-hards, are pulled toward lighter beers,” he said of spring beer drinkers. Which explains the Jalapeño Cream Ale.

Molnar said one of the challenges of making specialty seasonal beers is knowing how much to make, and when to make it.

“We get people getting in touch with us all the time, asking, ‘Why can’t you make the Jalapeño year-round, or why can’t you make that very rich, heavy porter all year round?’ It’s hard to know what the right amount to make is, before people’s tastes change,” he said.

The Jalapeño Cream Ale originally started as a tribute to Cinco de Mayo, Molnar said, but after several years customers started to think of it as a generally springtime beer.

“It’s a Golden Ale,” he said. “It’s on the lighter side, which makes it popular for warmer weather. We use real jalapeños and let it age [with the chiles] for several weeks. There’s a little bit of spice there, but not so much that you can’t finish your dinner or anything.”

Before the Jalapeño this year, there was the maple-season-themed Logger Lager.

“Most years, in the late winter/early spring, we make a bourbon barrel-aged maple brown ale,” Molnar said, “but we had trouble getting barrels this year.” Instead the brewery put out a mazen, a German-style, medium-bodied golden ale with maple syrup. “We liked the name,” he said. “Also, small brewers [like us] make unpasteurized beers. That means that the yeast ferments out the maple sugars, and you’re left with a more subtle maple flavor.”

One of the advantages of running a small brewery is having the freedom to test out new ideas, Molnar said.

“We can make a small batch and see how it works out,” he said. At the moment, he and his team are thinking about something new for the summer, a cherry wheat beer.

“It should be a fun, light, bright-colored beer,” he said. “We’ve finally got a good source for cherry purée.”

During the summer the brewery’s customers drink beers that are lighter in color, texture and percentage of alcohol, but in the fall they start drinking heavier porters and stouts.

“Our Squirrel Fights Nut Brown Ale is really popular,” Molnar said, “and Apple Crisp — like the dessert — Porter is one of our most popular fall beers. We almost always brew a pumpkin beer, too. Some people really like pumpkin beers around that time of year. A lot of them don’t actually like eating pumpkin, but they love seeing it in a glass.”

Right now, the flavor of the moment is jalapeño. Because it has become identified so strongly with springtime, it will be around for the rest of the season.

“We’ll have it in stores until the beginning of June,” Molnar said, “and on tap for a little longer.”

Featured Photo: Photos courtesy of Concord Craft Brewing.

A note about mangoes: Fresh, ripe mangoes are a gift, tender, juicy, sweet and perfumy. Even in New Hampshire, pretty much every supermarket will have fresh mangoes. Granted they might not be ripe, but with a little planning even the most ham-handed cook can buy a hard mango and let it ripen up for a week or so before eating it or cooking with it. But if you find yourself in a bind, mango-riping-wise what then?

Frozen fruit is just about perfect for making purees and syrups. The freezing process breaks down cell walls and lends itself to processing. Is it as good as an actual ripe mango? Not even remotely. Is it better than no mango? Infinitely.

The same goes for canned mangoes. Unlike their frozen brothers, their cell walls are mostly intact, so they won’t dissolve into mush. Diced “champagne mangoes” — the little yellow ones — would beat up a canned mango in the parking lot without breaking a sweat, but for a Mud Season tropical crème brûlée, it will do nicely.

¾ cup (230 g) mango puree

1/3 cup (79 g) sugar

2½ cups (567 g) heavy cream

pinch of salt

1 Tablespoon really good vanilla extract or vanilla paste

7 egg yolks

2 fresh, ripe mangos, diced, or 1 can mango cubes

Preheat your oven to 280ºF.

Separate your eggs, and put the yolks in a large bowl.

Puree mangoes in your blender. If you are using frozen mangoes, let them thaw first.

Whisk the mango puree, sugar, and heavy cream together in a small saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat until it is “scalded” — this means hot, but not yet boiling (about 180ºF, if you’re using a thermometer).

Remove the cream mixture from heat, then, whisking like a crazy person, spoon a couple of tablespoons of the hot cream into the egg yolks. This is called “tempering.” It will slowly bring the yolks up to temperature without cooking them. Keep adding a few tablespoons at a time, whisking constantly; I use a ¼-cup measuring cup for this. When the yolks are incorporated into the cream, whisk in the vanilla.

Put ramekins into a couple of casserole dishes. I like to use the little glass jars that some yogurt comes in. Distribute your diced mango between the ramekins.

Pour your custard mixture into the ramekins — it should fill around 10 of the yogurt jars about three quarters of the way up. Pour hot water into the casserole dishes. This is called a “bain marie” and helps your crème brûlée heat evenly, so it doesn’t crack.

Heat on the middle rack of your oven for 20 to 40 minutes. It will probably take 40, but you should check on it every five minutes or so starting at 20. You want to cook the custard very gently, so it will not pick up much color. Check it by picking up one of the ramekins with a set of tongs and jiggling it. When it doesn’t slosh around but jiggles like Jell-o, it is ready to remove from the oven.

Remove the ramekins from their water bath and let them cool on your counter for half an hour or so, then chill them for at least three hours in the refrigerator.

Brûlée-ing them: Sprinkle sugar on the surface, then caramelize it into a thin candy shell that will crack when you tap it with the back of a spoon. Many cooks like to use a tiny blowtorch to do this. Pastry chefs use an industrial-strength broiler called a “salamander.” I like to use a plain, not-putting-on-airs plumber’s blow torch, the kind with a blue butane bottle that you buy at a hardware store.

Mango and vanilla are natural partners. This custard is cool, delicate and creamy, with little chunks of mango in it. The candy shell is warm and crisp and anything but delicate. It’s fancy, but even though you don’t indulge it very often, you’ve got a fancy side to you that needs to be let out of its cell every once in a while.

Featured photo: Mango Crème Brûlée. Photo by John Fladd.