Thought for Food

April 30, 2009

Vodka doesn’t really lend itself to cocktailing.

A bartender at Vinegar Hill House (New Yorker).

M. is on a mission to end my decade-long love affair with vodka, a contemptible and near-useless spirit in his book. He groans when I order vodka martinis. (Sometimes I do it just to spite him.) We once chatted about what spirit we’d choose if we could only have one for the rest of our lives. “Vodka, of course, it goes with everything,” I chirped. He shuttered. “Tequila,” he said. (Nope, he’s not kidding around with Mayahuel.)

Last night he taught me to make a Plymouth Fruit Cup, with cucumber, orange, lemon, non-alcoholic ginger beer, soda, and orange-flavored Grey Goose (a friend brought it to a party — he wouldn’t normally keep it stocked).

He thought I put too much vodka in it (my headache today is a resounding affirmative).

“That’s what you get for asking a Tulane girl to make your drink,” I quipped.

“See, you like the taste of neutral alcohol — I don’t,” he replied.

I see his point. Vodka is just a delivery mechanism for alcohol. Every cocktail is better with something else, including Bloody Marys (also great with tequila).

Oh dear, I’m starting to crack….

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