A-gave a shot at it

Drunk stories are always fun to remember, that’s if you can remember or choose to remember because they always end in embarrassment and blearily comes into focus when you wake up. There is always a first time for everything. First times require gumption, dedication and the will to have a go at it, whatever may be that “first time”.

I remember my first brush with alcohol. Being in a family which is quite open minded and new-age in a way, cultures and traditions intact, my family loves to live well and make others live well too. My first drink was with my father, he used to give me a ‘sip’ of his beer once in a blue moon and even though I found it bitter I used to proudly have the ‘sip’ wearing my heart on the sleeve beaming at everyone who were in plain sight of my so-called experience. One fine day, my father offered me a glass of beer, this was when I had graduated from school and making my way into the college world (again, a first, of course, you can imagine the apprehensions, new friends, new people, new life-step). I had a full mug with him and lolled around benignly as I had guzzled it down real quick. Ever since, I realized that drinking was no big deal. It was just a means of nursing a potion, get light headed while socializing and in the bargain loosening up your senses a bit to be the toast of the party / social event.

As I transgressed from light beers to hard liquors, tasting vodka, having a cocktail once in a while, the one thing which the adolescent mind wanted was the ‘stupor’ or ‘highly elated state of mind’ which could be achieved by shots. To be precise, tequila shots. The first time I enthusiastically tried it was at a cousin’s party. A house party no doubt, the cousin was all of six and it was one of those birthdays where all ages were present with the adults indulging in social revelry of the alcoholic kind. A few of my age found a bottle of tequila and before long were downing shots after shots with trembling hands and squeezed lemons strewn around us. What followed after involved beheaded Barbie dolls, half-eaten strawberry pink lip gloss, torn wrapping papers and we waking up covered in confetti. Well, atleast my six year old cousin was not a very happy kid as she fumed around looking daggers at us when we woke up. We had plainly decided to open up her gifts with not even a faint recollection of what we intended to do with it nor why we did it?

Tequila is the one thing renowned worldwide for its famous way of consuming it, as Shots. A shot glass filled with finest chilled tequila (or shaken with ice to weaken it) and served with salt on the side of your folded fist and a wedge of lemon, is the typical way to enjoy it. A first choice at drunken parties and having said that I always have a bottle of it in my bar, well atleast now matured enough to use it with my cocktail concoctions nowadays.

I was recently invited to a showcasing of José Cuervo brand of tequila. Their brand ambassador David Dennis whose antics in the bar are stupendous as he got around not only explaining a little about the history of José Cuervo Tequila but also whisked up some cool cocktails as a showcase that tequila is not only meant for shots. I agree with him totally especially since I personally have had a lot of fun with this spirit. An interesting trivia to learn is that not only was José Cuervo the first manufacturer of Tequila but original Tequila is made from a plant called Blue Agave, (once again mistaken to be a cactus, but its actually a relative of the lily family). José Cuervo’s hometown is in a central Mexican town of Tequila (yes, a place called Tequila in the state of Jalisco). David’s showcase was highlighted when he called volunteers on stage and I was the ecstatic one who went up and made a concoction using Basil, Star Anise, Cucumber and Silver José Cuervo Tequila.

A week back, I was party to a group of men who witnessed a “first” in their lives. A specially held cooking class by my favorite foodie – Rushina Munshaw Ghildiyal; she had held a special “He Cooks” cooking class for men teaching a variety of simple easy to cook dishes for men. Now men & kitchen somehow is quite rare, though the finest cooks in the world are men, in regular home cooking, men take a backseat. Quite the contrary for me but we had an enthusiastic bunch of them keen to learn the finer nuances of cooking basics. Rushina had put together some interesting recipes such as parsley baby potatoes (which made me make a beeline to the nursery and adopt a parsley plant), she made a non-vegetarian potato dish by combining sausages, chili and capsicums. The pasta aglio olio was next with oodles of parmesan, a simple easy to prepare dish and with a side of a tossed salad using toasted sesame oil (drool worthy), there was an interesting creamy sauce made with chorizo. The mains were chicken in a white wine sauce served with a side of simple buttered vegetables, which got quite interactive with the men having a go at cooking their own chicken breasts. They landed up beating it to pulp (one creatively using a vodka bottle in place of a mallet) to cooking it over the intimidating eye of their teacher, it felt like kindergarten all over again. I was just a quite viewing party to all this mayhem, quietly munching on macaroons (this was held in the kitchen of Mumbai’s finest baking shop – Le15 Patisserie, where they kept bringing in trays after trays of freshly baked macaroons which I was devouring quite unabashedly). The best part was the after-party, or should I say the “return gift” or “takeaways”. We all got a bottle of Rushina’s famed Naga Chili Spiced Vodka.

Now liquor truly is man’s best friend. I mean we all got to take back spicy vodka; I had just about attended a tequila workshop. It was without question that I would try and combine both to make a little experiment of my own. Well here is the result, a super delicious, kick in the rear but fruity overall drink which will definitely knock your socks off.

Scoville on Ice

Ingredients

• 50ml José Cuervo® (Silver) Tequila
• 10ml Naga Chili Vodka*
• 1 tablsp Sugar Syrup
• 1 Star Anise (crushed)
• 1 Cinnamon (crushed)
• 1” Piece Orange Rind
• Apple Juice
• Sparkling Water
• Ice Cubes
• Sichuan Salt** for rimming

In a shaker, combine the tequila, vodka, spices and sugar syrup. Touch a lighter flame to the orange rind and heat it for five seconds, this releases the citrus oils. Squeeze and drop the rind into the shaker with a lot of ice, give it a good shake.

Take a nice tall glass or a highball and rim with lemon followed by dipping in a saucer of Sichuan salt, add a few cubes of ice into the glass. Strain the cocktail mix into the glass and top halfway through with apple juice. Top all the way up with sparkling water and drop a piece of star anise. Serve Cold

*Naga Chili Vodka – In this recipe I have used the vodka Rushina Munshaw Ghildiyal gave me as a take-away gift in the Men’s cooking class. Her version consisted of Star Anise, Cinnamon and Naga Chili Steeped in Vodka. I would recommend using the version of steeped Naga Chili Vodka given below as you can then add a host of spices, zests or condiments while making your cocktail depending on the mixes/additives.

**Sichuan Salt – Another seasoning made fresh my Rushina Munshaw Ghildiyal. Its simply free flowing salt pounded with dried and roasted Sichuan peppers. You can make your own version by mixing together cayenne pepper powder with free flowing salt (1 tsp Cayenne Pepper Powder: 2 tablsp Salt)

Drop one full Naga chili (whole) in a 750ml bottle of your favorite vodka for a week. The liquor should begin to turn a bright red by then and you can start using the vodka. Be careful as the days go by the vodka concentrates in heat and it gets hotter day after day.

He Cooks – Mens cooking class at Le15 Patisserie by Rushina Munshaw Ghildiyal