A gin cocktail for salad days
How was your May? I’ve been seeing sunny barbecues all over my friend’s news feeds in the UK. Thankfully our surfeit of summer sun here in Dubai seems to have left its usual cousin – humidity – at home for a while. So we’ve had suppers in the garden for a few more precious weeks, the farmers’ market season was extended and the beautiful local produce continues, particularly tomatoes.
I’ve had elder teen (who won’t be a teen for much longer) home and she’s been a joy, helping out a lot especially in the kitchen. It’s fun to have someone to bounce ideas off and we work well together. Veggie teen is immersed in full-on revision for her final exams and on a countdown to leaving me with an empty nest. I’m trying to feed her body with healthy foods so her brain can do its stuff to the max.
Early last Saturday I hopped in the car and drove 50 minutes to a farm near Abu Dhabi for my weekly organic local veg particularly their candy-sweet tomatoes. We got to pick some from the vine, inhaling the tomato scent deeply. I asked for quail’s eggs and some were whipped from out from under the birds, speckled and warm. That’s the way to buy eggs.
Buying veg at the farm
Denzel’s cocktail for me this month involves vegetables as a mini salad garnish to complement the savoury and herb flavours of the the drink. It’s refreshing and green with umami moreishness. The base is Gin Mare which is distilled from arbequina olives and laced with Mediterranean botanicals including thyme, basil, rosemary and juniper berries along with cardamom and coriander. Citrus is another dominant flavour using a blend of sweet oranges from Seville, bitter oranges from Valencia and lemons from Lleida.
The other main element is Mastiha (or mastika), a Greek liqueur flavoured by a resin from the mastic tree that also contains Mediterranean flavours of cucumber, fresh herbs, pine needles and green acorns. If you can’t lay your hands on some, while there is no 100% accurate alternative, Bianco Vermouth adds a similar texture and herbaceous flavours.
Denzel chose agave syrup for its health benefits. “It contains marginally more calories per serving than sugar, but it 1.5 times sweeter, whilst its glycemic index is significantly lower. It contains 90% fructose rather than sucrose and is an alternative to artificial or non-nutritive sweeteners.” Personally I’m more sceptical about agave and would choose raw honey any day, but we are talking about a cocktail here… so the health benefits are moot!
The inspiration for this summery herbal concoction came from the Tomatini by Zuma’s Jimmy Barratt and a Gin Basil Smash by Jörg Meyer hence the name.
Jimmy Meyer
Equipment
- A shaker
- A strainer
- Long glass or tin can
Ingredients
- Cubed ice and crushed ice
- 60ml Gin Mare
- 15ml agave syrup
- 30ml fresh lemon juice
- 15ml Skinos Mastiha*
- Garnish: 2 cherry tomatoes, 2 fresh basil leaves, 2 sugar snap peas, pink peppercorns, Kalamata olives, feta cheese (or to taste).
How to mix
Put all ingredients inside a cocktail shaker with a lot of cubed ice. Shake really hard for at least 10 seconds. Strain off the ice and serve in a glass or tin over new crushed ice. Add garnishes and serve with a spoon.
Madame Fromage is a cheese expert extraordinaire who I’ve followed for many years. Her writing is a joy to read and it seems she’s a dab hand with cocktails too. The New Cocktail Hour is coming back from the UK with me this summer and a gin basil smash party is in order. Cheese and cocktail matching sound strange? Try the Greensgrow Mule with goats cheese. Just magic.
If you are missing the farmers’ market too, find an updated list of other places to get local, organic veg in Dubai during the fallow months here.
Bring on June which involves two very different travel adventures for me – the Maldives and Moscow (a bit of contrast!). What does June hold for you?
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My Custard Pie 
My May made me feel in need of a gin cocktail to be honest, so your recipe is most welcome. I shall try your divine-looking concoction and hope for a better month of June! 🙂
Another post to make the mouth water! Here, finally, the rain and overcast skies have vanished, right at month’s end – judging by today’s sun, June is going to be glorious. It’s one of those days when the sky is so clear and blue that clouds hang like candyfloss and planes’ vapour trails cross above me – I’m reminded vaguely of this famous war painting (www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/20102). Days seem to be speeding by here, without a lot being achieved but it’s good to slow down at last!Some reorganisation is needed, however, to make space for the stuff being shipped from Dubai as well as my books and music that have been in storage here in the UK for more than a decade…
This looks amazing!! Can’t wait to try it!
Sounds delicious!
I am recently in my Gin phase, and I guess this would be an interesting mix to enjoy!
What a fun concept for a cocktail!
Really interesting. 🙂
Love gin and this looks like a fun drink. Kinda reminds me of all the veggie garnishes you can put on a Bloody Mary.
I love Gin Mare! Love the garnish of the cocktail and all those lovely tomatoes growing.
The cocktail sounds amazing! Lovely tomato pics, I can almost smell the candy sweet tomatoes from here. Enjoy your time with your elder daughter 🙂
Gin is my favorite liquor. This looks amazing!
Wow Sally the Maldives and Moscow – lucky you!! I’m heading to Bali next week which isn’t quiet as exotic but nevertheless I can’t wait to escape what’s been a cold start to winter in Sydney! Enjoy 😊
You will love the Maldives, and Moscow too, the husband has visited Moscow many times and says its fabulous. Expensive but amazing. Lovely review 🙂
I’m a bit of a baby when it comes to gin but I’m loving the styling and funky use of a tin can as a glass here. Be happy with your humid weather, it’s just miserable and raining here!
Such an unusual cocktail recipe – I’d love to try it. So pleased the humidity is abating!
Gin Mare – such a fabulous gin! 🍸
Gorgeous photos! I’ll have to get to that market in Abu Dhabi soon. Those tomatoes look divine 🙂
I’m with you on the honey over agave.
Hope husband will make me one of these soon!
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