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In most cases, a radish is just a radish. In the world of mixologist Giulia Cuccurullo, it might as well be a lychee.
For over a year, Cuccurullo has been experimenting with “future-proof ingredients” in ArtesianThe cocktail bar at the Langham. First, he created a menu inspired by “ingredients of the future” (pandan, jackfruit and dates). Now, the focus is on vegetables. Alter Ego is a series of 16 cocktails that transform unexpected ingredients, most of them vegetables, into familiar flavours. Radishes have been pickled to resemble lychees. Mung beans have been cooked to create nutty Old Fashioneds. Cuccurullo likens his approach to that of a chef. “If a flavour combination works when you eat something,” he says, “why can’t it work in liquid form?”
People have been drinking vegetables since at least the 1920s, when bartender Fernand “Pete” Petiot was said to have invented the Bloody Mary. Tomatoes remain popular with mixologists around the world: in London, Nomadic, Mount St. Restaurant and LPM offer versions of tomato martinis. In Istanbul, the Arkestra bistro Rhythm Make a vodka cocktail with clear tomato juice. Singapore Gastrobar rage Lacto-ferments locally grown tomato with monosodium glutamate before adding mezcal, parsley and basil.
But increasingly the options are becoming more adventurous, whether it’s a corn Old Fashioned in Kol Mezcaleria either Bangkok Supper Club‘s fish sauce, which features cabbage broth. “The culinary world has seen a significant shift toward more complex and layered flavors,” says Leo Robitschek, partner and vice president at Sydell, the group behind NoMad. “This trend has naturally spilled over into the cocktail realm.” Robitschek also points to more sustainable practices: Plant-based cocktails present new opportunities for food waste. The American Bar At the Scottish hotel Gleneagles, cocktails from Book of berries The dishes on the menu are made with leftover cucumber, eggplant skin and avocado pits. Apricity makes martinis from recycled Brussels sprouts.
Besides, who said a vegetable has to be tasty? I’ve had peas that were sweeter than pineapple.True laurel In San Francisco, a Peacasso is made with aquavit, Espodol and pea syrup. The same goes for carrots (see Sopwell House‘s Sparkling Barnes), beets (Three leaves adds it to his Bramble and Earth Martini) and parsnip (Himkok In Norway, parsnips are mixed with maple syrup to obtain a whisky-based cocktail.
“Each ingredient has a different threshold,” he explains. Award-winning bartender Ryan Chetiyawardana“So you need to evaluate the right way to incorporate them to maintain balance. Think about how you use an ingredient in your kitchen; this will help you understand how to use it in a cocktail.” At Chetiyawardana’s Thameside Bar, LianeityThe drinks feature fermented potatoes to give them a vanilla ice cream flavor. A favorite cocktail is the Goose & Gander, made with soda, Grey Goose vodka and a Sichuan peppercorn sauce that Chetiyawardana likes in drinks and with nuggets.
As on Cuccurullo’s menu, vegetables offer mixologists the opportunity to work with superfoods, a good example being mushrooms. In Toronto, Library barNew York’s Last Of Us cocktail is aptly named and features Candy Cap syrup and a mushroom garnish. Naro has a martini made with gin infused with mushroom butter; and Bar Antonio At Pavyllon London, a Boulevard Of Desire is made with white mushroom port. The latter is served with a side of smoked enoki mushrooms, known for their antibacterial, antiviral and anti-inflammatory properties.
Are you hungry for a meat dish? There are options for that too. Flower In Porto, bartender Jorge Morales has created two intensely flavourful cocktails, Clichéd and Sem Pena, which contain extracts of cod and chicken distilled using a rotary evaporator. Hometown and Uisce I’ve been playing around with beef fat. But perhaps the strangest choice here is the Brooklyn Bar’s Hot Doggin It. Star Lillya Collins-style mezcal cocktail with vermouth, tomato water and agave mustard seeds. “With the growing trend of hot dogs, we thought, why not turn it into a cocktail?” says beverage director Christine Wiseman. As long as it’s delicious, why not?