People of London, Part II

Did you miss Part I ?  Here it is:  https://stroudallover.blogspot.de/2017/12/people-of-london.html

I know both my faithful readers have been up all night, drinking heavily, their

hearts aglow, waiting for the next installment of People of London.  Always 

daring to please even your darkest desires, I raced back to London to chat with

 more Londoners and down a few very bright and stirring beverages.

Now let’s begin our journey back into the hearts and souls of those who call this 

fabulous city their home.

Lorenzo to the left, Mustafa to the right

There’s the barmen at 45 Jermyn St, pronounced German.  #45 is a part of the very

famous grocers, Fortnum & Mason, but a floor down, with a separate entry on

 Jermyn Street, while F & M’s entry is around the corner on Piccadilly.  Wonderful

 place to stop in for an afternoon pick-me-up.  Make sure to sit at the bar.  The

 barkeeps listen intently as you describe your taste preference and cater to you

 personally. Lorenzo and Mustafa know their stuff.  Lorenzo is from Italy and

 Mustafa is British.

Three of us order a gin and tonic, but add, “Make this a special one.” A discussion

follows of tastes and preferences.  With these barmen, hearing about a customer’s 

tastes is not just idle chatter. They offer what has become the rarest of services, 

they listen.

Mustafa brings over a bottle of Sipsmith, a gin made in London.  “This is my

favorite,” he says and begins a litany of all the aromas and flavors, with hints of

this and that.  His extensive knowledge not only informs, but exudes charm and 

trust. Good reason.  I feel sure he could tell you every ingredient in every bottle on 

the bar.

“And the tonic?” I ask.  Mustafa grabs a bottle of Double Dutch India tonic from

the frig, a brand recently created by twins from the Netherlands, Joyce and Raissa.

You know, of course, that gin originally came from the Netherlands.

“You’ll find this is not too sweet, but pairs well with the Sipsmith,” He says. I found 

this to be exactly true, with just a bare squeeze of lemon to brighten it up.  The man

 certainly knows how to listen and faultlessly match flavors to my taste buds.

No artificial ingredients, colorings, or additives in this tonic and paired with Sipsmith, 

it’s the best gin and tonic ever to tickle my tongue and slide down my thirsty throat. 

High praise from a very experienced throat.

We’d ordered salads, so as not to appear mere drinkers with a rabid thirst.  Lorenzo 

explained buratta to us.  “It’s the creamy inside of fresh mozzarella, and so delicious.

You’ll love this salad.”  And so we did!

But, just in case you're having breakfast and not at present into gin and tonic I've 

included a recipe (from Genius Kitchen web site) for a Bloody Mary, that very roughly

approximates the fab Bloody Mary served at 45 Jermyn.

Having slaked our thirst and hunger, we wandered just down the street in search of 

more conversations.

Berry Brothers & Rudd are the oldest purveyors of wine and spirits in London and

although the main shop is still in the same place it has been for centuries, around the corner

they have just opened a more expansive retail wine and spirit shop. Quinton, 

a young Frenchman works there and so do Englishmen, George and Rob.

Quinton is spelled the same way in French, but pronounced something like Coun-tan.  

You know those French, love ‘em or hate’em, you have to love ‘em.

Quinton was quick to answer questions about wine and spirits, but he is also a

home-taught chef who was exuberant about cooking.  A very saucy man.  Yes, 

dear ones, that is called a pun.

But, as a man with an interest in languages, I had to ask how Quinton became so

proficient in English. “At first I had only English from school, which everyone knows

is only good for learning words and phrases you will never use. (laughing)  

‘My grandmother’s pen rests on the table.’  Which has never come up in conversation.

 So, I kept practicing with friends and when I got a job here, English came very fast.”

Both George and Quinton told us about a liquor concocted by Berry Bro & Rudd in

1903 for the King Edward VII of England.  George’s version was:  “The King’s

Ginger was commissioned by Royal Physicians to keep the King warm and revived

during his morning drives in his Daimler auto, the first ‘horseless carriage’ to be

owned by the Royal Family.”  George poured us a taste.  We bought a couple of bottles. 

Want to know more? http://thekingsginger.com/ 

The King’s Ginger does indeed have a gingery flavor, but it’s more complex than that.  

Try to imagine the aromas of Christmas, with cinnamon and ginger and pine and the

heat from a roaring fire.  I’ve no doubt it pleased the king as he braved the crisp 

morning air and put pedal to the metal.

By the way, King Edward, who only reined 1901-1910, was the eldest of Queen

Victoria’s children. Just to whet your appetite to know more, let’s say Edward lived

LARGE.

In the afternoon, it was off to Duke’s Bar at Dukes Hotel. 

Sitting and waiting for a table and a Vespa Martini at the world famous Duke’s Bar

in the Duke’s Hotel, we met a young Brit couple who live just outside the city and

came in for a night. A delightful pair!  Do they come into the city often?

“No, not really.”  Have they been to Duke’s before?  “No, never.”  And then we chat

 lightly about living in America and England.

Not sure what a Vespa Martini is or curious about the Duke’s Bar experience? 

https://stroudallover.blogspot.de/2015/04/a-martini-worthy-of-james-bond-dukes.html

Also waiting was an actor, That’s the PC, generic term for male and females with

beautiful faces who are paid exorbitant amounts to pretend to be someone else. 

But in the non-PC world, she is an actress.  So much more polite to say actress than

 to speak of genitalia. . 

But, yes, she is both very beautiful and very charming, with dark hair and hypnotic 

eyes. As I fell under her spell, I just had to ask a delicate question that didn’t involve 

Harvey Weinstein. “So are actors able to compartmentalize and go full steam ahead

at auditions?  Do you worry about anything or anybody?”

“I don’t do a good job of compartmentalizing. I keep thinking, ‘Oh! the woman

before me did such a good job!’ and the air is filled with insecurities.”

She’s not an American native, but from Victoria, British Columbia and I kept 

thinking, she’s a Canadian, living in L.A., visiting London and chatting with a

 couple of Americans who live in Germany.

But, then, that’s the essence of London, people from all over, coming to populate

a city, some staying forever and some for only a short time.  But short stay or long, 

people are the city.

Try not to forget this valuable lesson, children, when you visit this wonderful city,

shopping, drinking everywhere from the neighborhood pub to the some of the finest

and most elegant watering holes in the world.  And never again just walk past the

shopkeepers and policemen.  Want to get to know London? Get to know the people!

 So endeth the daily lesson.

from Genius Kitchen

·       3cups tomato juice

·       3tablespoons lemon juice

·       3tablespoons lime juice

·       1tablespoon prepared horseradish

·       1 ¹⁄₂tablespoonsWorcestershire sauce

·       ¹⁄₄teaspoon garlic powder

·       ³⁄₄teaspoon Tabasco sauce

·       ³⁄₄teaspoon celery salt

·       ¹⁄₂teaspoon coarse black pepper

·       ¹⁄₃cup pickle juice

·       1ounce vodka, per drink

DIRECTIONS

1.   In a blender combine the tomato juice, lemon juice, lime juice, horseradish, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, pickle juice, and hot sauce and process until smooth. Transfer to a nonreactive container and add celery salt and black pepper, to taste. Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, at least 2 hours and up to overnight.

2.   When ready to serve, fill each glass with ice.

3.   Add 1 ounce of vodka to each glass, then fill the glass with the bloody Mary mix. Stir well, and garnish each glass with your favorite veggie, pickle, celery, pickled green bean, or a pickled okra.

A Martini Worthy of James Bond: Dukes Bar, London

Where in London would the fictional James Bond drink a Martini.  Lots of choices.  There’s even a bar in Covent Garden called “The Dirty Martini.”  Perish the thought.  J.B. has class.   So did his creator, Ian Fleming.  Dirty Martini?  Chocolate Martini?  Piffle and twaddle!

I know exactly where Fleming went to relax, chat with pals and slake his thirst:  Dukes Bar at the Dukes Hotel.  I’m not sure many people know all that much about Fleming himself, certainly not as much as they know about his creation.

To say Fleming lived a life of adventure is to grossly understate the case.  Womanizer, booted from this school and that, including the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst.   Studied abroad briefly at the Universities of Munich and Geneva.  Stockbroker: failure.  Banker: failure.  Applied for the Foreign Office:  Couldn’t pass the exam. Royal Navy Intelligence Officer: great success.  Had multitudinous affairs, including with the woman he later married, whom was at the time married to another.

The first Bond book, Casino Royale was published in 1952 and the rest is a story of more affairs and even more success as a writer.  Fleming came from a wealthy family (Banking) and it’s no wonder he drank in the small, but elegant bar at Dukes Hotel, London.  It’s said that in Dukes Bar, he coined the phrase “Shaken not stirred.”

Although he frequently was thought of by the intelligentsia, as his wife said, “A writer of cheap pornography,” in 2008 The Times ranked him as 14^th on a list of the fifty greatest British writers since 1945.  His lack of a writer’s prestige didn’t seem to bother him:  “I’m not in the Shakespeare stakes.  I have no ambition.”

On to James Bond’s Martini, as taken from the pages of Casino Royale:

"A dry martini," [Bond] said. "One. In a deep champagne goblet."

"Oui, monsieur."

"Just a moment. Three measures of Gordon's, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it's ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon peel. Got it?"

"Certainly, monsieur." The barman seemed pleased with the idea.

"Gosh, that's certainly a drink," said Leiter.

Bond laughed. "When I'm...er...concentrating," he explained, "I never have more than one drink before dinner. But I do like that one to be large and very strong and very cold and very well-made. I hate small portions of anything, particularly when they taste bad. This drink's my own invention. I'm going to patent it when I can think of a good name."

As we all remember, James also drinks regular gin and vermouth Martinis, as well as vodka Martinis.  But, the Vesper Martini is the one most remembered.

So, of course, being in London and ever so slightly above the drinking age, I had to visit Dukes Bar, settle into a leather armchair and have a debonair, Italian barman in a white dinner jacket, roll a cart to my table and build me an Ian Fleming Vesper Martini. I was stirred, not shaken by the experience.

Is it the same recipe as written by Ian Fleming in Casino Royale?  Close, but not quite.

The nibbles in Dukes are superb!

In the first place, the Dukes version is neither shaken nor stirred.  The glass, the gin, and the vodka are frozen for 24 hours.  No ice is used. 

3 Measures of Fortnum & Mason’s No. 3 Gin (Bond favors Gordon’s or Plymouth gin)

1 Measure of Potocki Polish Vodka

½ Measure of Lillet Blanc  (a French aperitif, similar to vermouth, but a touch sweeter and more flavorful.  It’s no longer labeled as Kina Lillet)

2 drops bitters

A long, thick twist of orange peel

Because no ice is used, the drink is not diluted, giving this concoction the power of the clean-up hitter for the 1927 New York Yankees.  In fact, Dukes places a limit of two Martinis per customer.

Good reason for that.  After just one, I found myself singing Rule Britannia, marching through Mayfair, and needing a guide dog to get me back to my hotel.  Unfortunately, it was not Vesper, the Bond Girl doing the leading.

So how do you make this concoction?

Put the drops of bitters in the frozen glass, add the Lillet, then the gin, and finally the vodka.  Carve off a healthy swath of orange peel, give it a twist and slip it into the glass.  Presto, you will be irresistible to women, lose all fear of men with guns, and remain calm, even when walking on narrow planks several hundred feet in the air.   I really like this drink! 

Of course, these magic personality enhancements don’t come cheap.  $27 per glass at today’s exchange rates.  Who cares?  M will always cough up a few more quid.

But, that’s not the end of the story.  Naturally, back home, I made a glass for my girlfriend (who insists on calling herself my wife) and one for me.  But, not having a bar stock worthy of Dukes Hotel, I made a few changes.

Liquors and glasses straight from the freezer!

2 Parts Dutch gin, 35% alcohol

1 Part cheap vodka, 40% alcohol

½ Part Lillet Blanc (given the popularity of Jimmy Bond, it should be available locally)

1 Large curl of orange peel

Didn’t have any bitters handy and given my demanding thirst, I didn’t race to the store.

Bottom Line…or should that be Bottle Line?  Excellent!  And just as it was at Dukes, one was enough.

When we arrived, the bar was almost empty.  That soon changed!