Table Of ContentC L E A N + D I R T Y
D R I N K I N G
100+ Recipes for Making Delicious Elixirs, With or Without Booze
GABRIELLA MLYNARCZYK
PHOTOGRAPHS BY GRANT CORNETT
Text copyright © 2018 by Gabriella Mlynarczyk.
Photographs copyright © 2018 by Grant Cornett.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced
in any form without written permission from the publisher.
ISBN 9781452163949 (epub, mobi)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Mlynarczyk, Gabriella, author. | Cornett, Grant,
photographer.
Title: Clean + dirty drinking / by Gabriella Mlynarczyk ;
photographs by Grant Cornett.
Other titles: Clean and dirty drinking
Description: San Francisco : Chronicle Books, [2018] |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017025825 | ISBN 9781452163819
(hc : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Cocktails. | Alcoholic beverages. |
LCGFT: Cookbooks.
Classification: LCC TX951 .M59 2018 | DDC 641.87/4—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017025825
Food and prop styling by Maggie Ruggiero
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For Iggy, I raise a glass to you, wherever you may be!
Introduction 8
CHAPTER ONE: CHAPTER TWO:
MISE FORAGING
12 50
TOOLS 14 JUICES 52
Basic Yet Hardworking Tools 15 Citrus Juicers 53
Glassware 20 Fruit and Vegetable Juicers/
Extractors 55
Blenders 56
TECHNIQUES 22
Clarifying Juices 57
Building Flavor 23
The Right Ice 25
Measuring 31 SYRUPS + INFUSIONS 64
Muddling 32 Simple Syrups 65
Stirring/Mixing 33 Compound Syrups 66
Shaking/Whipping 35 Spiced Syrups 67
Straining 37 Sous Vide 67
The Essential Bar 38 Infusions 86
Heroes, Superpowers + Sidekicks 41
If You Build It, They Will Come 49 FROM THE PANTRY 98
Salt 99
Herbs + Spices 100
Teas + Tisanes 103
Oils (Fats) + Vinegars 105
Emulsifiers 118
FINISHING TOUCHES 122
Composition, or You Eat with
Your Eyes First 123
Aroma 124
Tasty Garnishes 132
Air Heads 146
CHAPTER THREE:
CLEAN+DIRTY COCKTAILS
154
SPRING 156 AUTUMN 184
#1 Grapefruit + Hops + Gin 157 #13 Golden Beet + Shiso +
#2 Kumquat + Coriander + Saison Beer 185
“Campari” + Mezcal 160 #14 Caramel + Apple + Calvados 188
#3 Nasturtium + Peas + #15 Carrot + Cardamom +
Rhum Agricole 162 Aperol + Old Tom Gin 190
#4 Parsley + Key Lime + Vodka 164 #16 Brown Rice + Banana +
#5 Rhubarb + Coconut + Gin 165 White Rum 192
#6 Rose Geranium + Rhubarb + #17 Oolong + Black Lime +
“Pimm’s” 168 Bourbon 193
#18 Pomegranate + Harissa +
Sherry + Mezcal 196
SUMMER 170
#7 Watermelon + Bergamot Mint +
Bourbon 171 WINTER 198
#8 Strawberry + Umeboshi + #19 Guava + Chai Green Tea +
Manzanilla Sherry 174 Blue Majik + Rum 199
#9 Avocado + Cilantro + Tequila 176 #20 Black Sesame + Date +
#10 Lettuce + Celery + Mezcal 178 Amaretto + Bourbon 202
#21 Chamomile + Bee Pollen +
#11 Lemon Verbena + Vanilla +
Gin 180 Riesling or Highland Whisky 204
#22 Cranberry + Falernum +
#12 Holy Basil + Matcha Green Tea +
Rum 183 Apple Cider + Calvados 206
#23 Turmeric + Tikka Masala +
Vodka 209
#24 Miso + Manuka Honey +
Islay Whisky 210
Resources 211
Further Reading 212
Index 213
Acknowledgments 216
INTRODUCTION
To drink or not to drink? That is the on a tap water budget, but as a lover
question! of fashion and a student of the “rag
Is it nobler to treat your body like trade,” I felt it was my duty to be
a temple, imbibing only that which decked out in what my peers and I
makes you stronger? Or to live fast, considered the best. Bartending filled
die young, and leave a legend of my pockets with just enough money
debauchery on the journey to meet to keep my closet full of vintage
your maker? I’ve walked both paths cool and my lips painted with Chanel
and, along the way, I found my bal- lipstick. Bartending was a job; it
ance. Too much of anything and you’ll was never supposed to be a lifelong
find yourself in trouble; as Buddhist commitment. And yet, somehow,
teachings tell us, we will find peace in over time, it got into my blood.
the middle ground. That said, from my longtime
position behind the bar I’ve had the
A PLEASURE TO TASTE opportunity to watch some badass
chefs in their element and soak up
Don’t get me wrong—I’m not a born-
some of their tricks. When I step
again bartender, and I’m not going
up to that slab of wood, my shy,
to spout Vedic scripture or suggest
oddball, inner kid transforms into a
a week of standing on your head to
Martini-stirring diva with confidence
negate the weekend’s indulgent prac-
for days. Although some of my
tices. As a trip through this book will
9-to-5-er friends criticize me for
show you, I believe that feeding both
not having a “real” job, bartending
your body and your soul doesn’t have
has given me a flexible lifestyle: I
to be as unfulfilling as that plate of
can pack up and come and go as I
alfalfa sprouts and mashed yeast that
please, and meet someone new every
Woody Allen turned his nose up at in
single day. And it’s a creative outlet
Annie Hall. My philosophy is this: If a
as well, feeding my artistic hunger to
drink is going to pass your lips, even if
constantly reinvent—if not myself,
the emphasis is on its health claims,
then at least what is in the glass
it should be a pleasure to taste. And if,
before me. It’s also the reason I get
on the contrary, it’s a boozy bev, it
to write this book!
could and should be beneficial in
some way—after all, most spirits were
A CONNECTION TO
invented for medicinal purposes,
THE EARTH
even while they came with the (often
addictive) side effect of making I come from a family of culinary
imbibers feel high. tinkerers, inventors-by-necessity,
I came to bartending in 1986. and experimentation artists. My Pops
Back then, I had champagne taste Iggy was a musician and the master
8
IntroductIon
of both the Newkie Brown hot toddy out of necessity, I adapted my recipes
(a blend of Newcastle Brown Ale to whatever ingredients I could
warmed and blended with honey forage: fresh seasonal fruits and veg-
and, sometimes, garlic) and the etables and herbs, or year-round oils,
perfect cup of tea. My mum and my vinegars, teas, and dried herbs and
aunts Janine and Judy were always on spices. This practice earned me the
a mission to one-up each other with moniker the “Pantry Raider” at Ink
the lightest pastry recipe. Gramps restaurant, where I worked for a spell
was a gifted gardener: I swear, if he for genius chef Michael Voltaggio.
planted a toenail, he could grow a
human. My witch-doctor Gran could MODERN BARTENDING
banish “demons” from your head
But I’m getting ahead of myself. As
with a spirit-wrapped tea towel and a
I waded into the world of watering
fireside chant, and she also taught me
holes, I picked up some training
the discipline of working with nee-
while working in London for Terence
dles: embroidery, crochet, and invisi-
Conran, where my first “mixed drink”
ble hems. She drilled into my head at
was a white wine spritzer requested
an early age the folkloric maxim, “If
by R&B goddess Sade. Later, in
you don’t have good thoughts in your
New York, an Earl Grey Tea Sour
mind, what you have in your hand will
whipped up by Audrey Saunders of
come to no good.” And she was right!
Pegu Club changed my life forever.
My unorthodox family, a clan
The perfection of this drink sang to
of foreign outsiders in suburban
me—and my brain worked overtime to
England, was very Catholic, but at the
figure out how it was made. Around
same time paganish, you could say, in
the same time, I was introduced to
our connection to the earth we stood
two exceptionally skilled bartenders
on and the seasons that governed our
well versed in pre-Prohibition-style
diet. My summers were spent digging
cocktail making. I had simply never
for earthworms or lounging under
tasted drinks so good, and I owe my
sunflowers eating a bucketful of bush
fledgling cocktail education to them—
blackberries. Seasonality was not a
thanks, Audrey, for providing that
choice; it was how my grandparents
initial spark, and Lynnette and Jim for
ate. And, so in turn, seasonality
filling in the numerous gaps!
inspires my drinks: each is an ode to
A few years later, after several
the time of year or a fresh ingredient
hundred incredibly hazy nights and
at its growing peak.
several hundred more beautifully
Another big influence on my
made cocktails, I found myself
cocktail styling is that from my
relocating to Los Angeles for a reset.
home-growing roots to my DIY adult-
L.A.—the land of eternal sunshine,
hood, I never had much of a budget
where the abundance of the seasonal
for luxuries, such as pricey mixers and
harvest made me feel like the prover-
other extras. So, as a bartender, and
bial kid in the candy store. This was
9
IntroductIon
produce like I’d never seen before, MY BOOK: YOUR CREATIVITY
piled high in farmers’ market stalls:
Chapter One of this book presents
fragrant Thai basil blossoms begging
the vital information you need to
to be sniffed; fat, bulging Japanese
understand, or reconsider, all the
tomatoes; melt-in-your-mouth Sea-
steps to creating a delightful bever-
scape strawberries winking bright red
age, beginning with the basics—the
and tasting like Mother Nature had
tools, your mise. From there I move
intended. I felt like it was my ordained
through the mechanics of founda-
duty to celebrate this phenomenal
tional techniques, such as measuring
edible bounty.
and stirring, but including things like
Modern bartending is so much
how to make a simple (or complex)
more than just throwing ice in a
syrup, which ice to use and when, and
shaker, pouring in some booze,
how—and how many times—to shake
waving the shaker about, and tossing
a drink.
it all into a glass with a radioactive
Chapter Two explores the wide
cherry. Some of my colleagues could
vista of all the wonderful things you
rightly be called chefs due to their
could (and should) choose—forage—
commitment to craft, attention to
for making an exceptional drink, from
detail, and perfectionism. A good
syrup and juices to usual and unusual
bartender spends hours prepping
items from the market and the pantry
for service before the doors open.
selected based on a philosophy of
We make fresh juice, prepare syrups
using fresh and potent (in terms of
and infusions, carve ice, and cut or
flavor or health benefits—or both)
fine-tune garnishes, as well as polish
ingredients, from freshly squeezed
glasses, stock wines, beers, and spir-
citrus juice to modern foams, all with
its, and tidy up from the night before.
a cherry on top—or rather, a lovely
Let’s say service lasts five hours,
updated garnish, such as a Parmesan
or as much as seven or eight; then
Frico (page 137).
another hour or two are dedicated
Chapter Three contains the
to cleaning up and breaking down.
recipes, organized by season. Every
All told, it’s a time-consuming and
drink has a booze-free (Clean) and a
arduous job . . . but addictive. For
liquor-laced (Dirty) version. “Clean”
me, each drink is an opportunity to
drinks are any cocktails that are
make a better version than the last.
nonalcoholic and that, for the most
I love the adrenaline rush, the fast
part, do not contain processed sweet-
pace, working as part of a team, and
eners, using instead more beneficial
connecting with my guests, many of
sweeteners, such as raw honey, maple
whom have, over the years, become
syrup, or coconut nectar—all of which
my friends. My other cherished
contain an abundance of amino acids
“friends” are my tools; we work as a
beneficial to our bodies.
team and without them I would be
nothing.
10
IntroductIon
