Tag: history

The Margarita: a Mexican(?) Classic

The Margarita: a Mexican(?) Classic

The Margarita has been a classic of Mexico holidays since the late 1930s, when tequila was at least as obscure as soju is today. A classic blend of grassy tequila with sour lime, sweet orange liqueur and a salt rim, the Margarita works brilliantly frozen, 

A Curious Tale: Who Invented the Singapore Sling?

A Curious Tale: Who Invented the Singapore Sling?

Raffles Hotel, Singapore, is celebrating its 125th anniversary this month. (This despite the fact that the hotel didn’t open until 1 December 1887.) And, perhaps predictably, they’re celebrating with an anniversary cocktail, the 1887, based on the iconic Singapore Sling, with added champers, reduced pinkness 

Pepe’s Fishing Club, Byblos, Lebanon

Pepe’s Fishing Club, Byblos, Lebanon

Back in the glory days of Lebanon, the 1960s and the 1970s, before civil war made the place a wasteland for decades, Byblos, an ancient city on the Mediterranean coast was the Middle East’s answer to Saint Tropez. And, looking at its pretty harbour — 

On Fat-Tailed Sheep

On Fat-Tailed Sheep

It’s no secret that our appetites shape the animals around us. Compare the snout of a wild boar, long and slender for the quest for food, its tusks and its lean, well-muscled frame with the porkers bred for fat, their snouts a mere stub, their 

Consider Cloves

Consider Cloves

It’s hard to imagine that an everyday ingredient in the spice rack could once have been worth almost its weight in gold. Yet cloves, just like peppercorns, were more valuable than silver back in their day. And these little dried flower buds, native to the 

Marmite XO — A Luxury Marmite!

Marmite XO — A Luxury Marmite!

Marmite, like oysters and stinky tofu, is a substance that tends to polarise people, if not actually horrify them. Salty, yeasty and often served on hot, buttered toast, it should never (but often is) be visually confused with chocolate spread. Marmite is, like pavlova, the 

Jerry Thomas: The First Bartending Superstar

Jerry Thomas: The First Bartending Superstar

Long, long before Tom Cruise was shaking up drinks in Cocktail, Jerry Thomas was making theatre behind the bar. With a status equivalent to any of today’s celebrity chefs, his death made front page news in his home of New York — and his life