Not, I must admit, the fish. The drink.
I have long held it an unassailable truth that the greatest drink in the world is the Bloody Mary. I have strong views on how it should be made (chiefly: no horseradish, no stick of celery).
But after reading The MEATLiquor Chronicles, that has all changed. I discovered the unholy / holy marriage that occurs when you swap the vodka for gin and add a dash of absinthe. This drink is just indescribably, insanely great. It’s as different from a Bloody Mary as Dr Pepper is from vintage champagne.
They are quite firm in the MEATLiquor book on not over-spicing. Now I agree, but I think even their recipe is a bit over-generous on the Tabasco. So here’s my take. Serves 1 (rather than the 8 given in the book. Though I could probably drink 8).
- 12 cm high glass
- ice
- 5 ml absinthe (or more – I think more)
- tomato juice (unspiced)
- 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 scant tsp Tabasco sauce (or less)
- 1 tsp dill pickle juice
- 1 tbsp orange juice
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- shake of celery salt
- shake of cayenne pepper
- squeeze of lime juice
- shake of smoked paprika
- half a teaspoon icing sugar
- freshly-ground black pepper
- GIN!
Fill your glass with ice cubes. Pour in and swill round the absinthe. Three-quarter fill the glass with tomato juice. Add all the other ingredients and stir/shake vigorously. DRINK.