Lundi: Recipes

Say what you will about NOLA, it is an undisputed cocktail lover’s paradise.  From the best Bloody Mary in the Quarter (Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop) to flame kissed brandy and coffee (Café Brulot at Antoine’s), there is no stopping New Orleans from getting her drink on.  And that is why the very short summer season where I live always turns my thoughts back to my ancestral home.  The sun is out, the temperature is above 60 degrees Fahrenheit and the barbeque is ready to fire up.  Time to start making the Ramos Gin Fizz.

Legend has it that the drink was invented by Henry C. Ramos who owned an eponymous bar in New Orleans in the 1880s but this recipe actually became famous when Louisiana Governor Huey Long began frequenting the Roosevelt Hotel and calling for it each time he did.  The Roosevelt is no more (it is technically the Fairmont New Orleans now), but the drink is still associated with it.  The story goes that Long once took the bartender from the Roosevelt with him when he went to New York just so he could have his Ramos Gin Fizz done properly. 

1 tbsp confectioners’ sugar

1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 ½ tsp fresh lime juice

1 egg white

1 tbsp orange flower water

3 ounces milk

1 ¼ ounces gin

Ice

Combine all in a cocktail shaker and shake well to bland.  Strain into an 8 ounce glass.

You can leave out the egg white without hurting the taste of the cocktail, but that is what gives the drink its famous fizz.  The Ramos Gin Fizz makes a delightful after dinner beverage on a warm day, just as Café Brulot is perfect in the winter.  Bon appetite ~

Header: Perhaps the first "night club" in the U.S., "The Cave" was a hot spot in The Grunewald Hotel, which would later become The Roosevelt