Over 1,000? Really?
I may have found the single most pointles and unnecessary book on the planet: The Ultimate Little Martini Book, by Ray Foley.
The cover of the book promises that it contains over 1,000 martini recipes. I find that interesting, given there is only one way to make a martini:
Gin plus dry vermouth in whatever ratio appeals to the imbiber’s palate, blended (shaken, stirred, or otherwise agitated) in a cocktail shaker with ice, strained into a martini glass or served over the rocks, and garnished with some number of olives, the quantity determined by the bartender, or a twist of lemon if the drinker prefers.
That’s it.
There are only three acceptable variants:
The vodka martini: replace the gin with vodka. If you must.
The Vesper, as concocted by James Bond in Casino Royale: 3 parts gin; 1 part vodka; 1/2 part Kina Lillet; shaken and garnished with lemon.
The dirty martini: the standard martini plus a measure of olive brine.
That’s it. Anything beyond that is a gin or vodka cocktail, but it is not a martini. Once you pick up a book with 1,000 recipes and start messing with apple or chocolate, or anise or orange you are no longer in martini territory. It’s a fair bet that any establishment that pretends otherwise, and offers a rainbow assortment of ersatz martinis, is a place where you won’t find a good rendition of the real McCoy.
April 16, 2008 at 5:09 pm
I agree, a martini is a martini is a martini. Regarding the Vesper, they reformulated Lillet in the 1980s to remove much of the quinine content and so the modern drink lacks something. You can add that “something” back by adding either quinine powder to the mix oe a drop of bitters.