Читать книгу Forager’s Cocktails: Botanical Mixology with Fresh Ingredients - Amy Zavatto - Страница 6

FOREWORD

Have you ever had the pleasure of picking a ripe new strawberry directly from the patch, ruby red and so perfumed that your brain goes into overdrive with giddy anticipation before you even put it in your mouth? That sense of freshness once bitten, as juice dribbles down my chin, is one of the purest joys I can imagine!

Over the last 40 years, the gastronomic arc in America has evolved from a keen and then purposeful awareness of sustainably grown food to an equally passionate interest in wine, craft beer, and finally, and more recently, cocktails.

In many ways, the cocktail hobbyist has taken full hold of the zealous American history of cocktails, which has been researched and celebrated widely over the last decade, and applied the parameters of fresh and sustainable food to mixing delicious drinks. If chefs can have rooftop gardens from which to select the most pristine vegetables and herbs, why can’t we treat our home-grown and locally sourced ingredients in much the same way as we fashion a refreshing libation?

My support of the Slow Food Movement in the United States coincided, in the early years of this young century, with the rise of the rejuvenated cocktail culture that has now stretched to communities and countries far and wide. In those days, not so long ago, even the concept of fresh juice behind the bar was not nearly as prevalent as it is today. The championing of quality ingredients—distilled spirits and modifiers, tinctures from herbs and teas, varieties of antique and contemporary bitters, and, yes, near ubiquity of fresh juice—mixed with the emergence of the professional bartender has created the perfect environment for cocktail enthusiasts to take advantage of the best of all aspects of our now-celebrated gastronomic interests.

This pleasure of creativity—whether at home or in our favorite cocktail bar—is not necessarily about convenience, but about discovery. The desire to create “wild cocktails” is a move away from industrial ingredients and a unique and, frankly, privileged pleasure to connect with the very components that comprise our daily food and drink.

There is a uniquely human connection to our sense of reason and desire. Whether you fancy home-grown or foraged herbs, or fruits and herbs from your local farmers’ market, the opportunity to create the exciting, delicious, and unique cocktails crafted in these pages is sure to offer delight, occasional surprise, and, most of all, refreshment.

Cheers!

Allen Katz

Founder of the New York Distilling Company