Let the good times ROULEZ
CELEBRATE MARDI GRAS WITH NEW ORLEANS STYLE COCKTAILS, FOOD
New orleans boasts america’s most beloved food and drink culture. easy then to understand why big easy spirits warm chilly faraway cities such as boston each Mardi Gras. that means plenty of traditional Sazeracs, sweet rocket-fuel hurricanes, herbsaint frappes and other Southern-inspired cocktails for you, the thirsty, hard-drinking and winterweary bostonian.
“Mardi Gras is one of the high holidays of the american cocktail calendar,” boasted “cocktail savant” Palmer Matthews, the bar manager at the townshend in Quincy Center.
he’s serving plenty of french Quarter classics, like the legendary Sazerac, featuring whiskey, bitters and anise spirit (absinthe or herbsaint), the sophisticated Vieux Carre (the french name for the french Quarter) and the eccentric Ramos gin fizz, a frothy mixture of egg, cream, sugar and citrus juice (also known as the New orleans fizz).
fat tuesday rolls around this year on feb. 28. but the Mardi Gras festivities kick off Saturday at Dorchester brewing Co. on Massachusetts avenue. Les bon temps roulez at 2 p.m. and end at 11 p.m. the hugely popular 6-month-old beer maker offers live jazz, costume prizes, free king cakes to the first 50 guests and authentic cuisine from the Revelry boston food truck, operated by boston chef and New orleans native brian Ledet. Revelry revelers will enjoy shrimp po’boys, muffulettas and jambalaya, among other flavors.
Wash it all down with spirited Dorchestivus, a muscular German-style dopplebock; seasonal Kool thing Mint Stout, flavored with cocoa nibs and fresh mint leaves; or yang Imperial IPa from internationally celebrated guest brewer evil twin.
Star boston chef Jason Santos believes the famous flavors of New orleans should not be limited to fat tuesday.
he’s opening New orleans-inspired buttermilk & bourbon this week in the back bay, offering Cajun and Creole cuisine and craft cocktails amid rooms inspired by various New orleans neighborhoods, from the Garden District to the french Quarter. buttermilk & bourbon’s Mardi Gras bash kicks off tuesday at 4 p.m.
the Sazerac is a landmark of american cocktail culture. It was first mixed on the streets of the french Quarter by Creole immigrant pharmacist antoine Peychaud, featuring the blend of bitters that still bears his name.
the Sazerac brand is owned today by Louisiana-based spirits maker Sazerac Co. (It also owns, among other labels, the old Mr. boston brand, a former boston distiller founded here on Massachusetts avenue in 1913.)
Company lore, often disputed, credits Peychaud’s Sazerac for inspiring the word “cocktail.” the mixologist used a doubleended egg cup, called a coquetier, to measure his booze. the term coquetier, according to the story, soon evolved into the word cocktail.
you’ll find additional Mardi Gras celebrations across town next week at such locations as the barking Crab, beat brasserie in Cambridge, Cask & flagon near fenway, Rosebud american Kitchen in Somerville, Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse in Waltham and South Street Diner, among many others.
THE CLASSIC SAZERAC
1 cube sugar 1A oz. Sazerac rye whiskey
D oz. Herbsaint 3 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters Lemon peel
Pack an old-fashioned glass with ice. In a second old-fashioned glass, place the sugar cube and add bitters. Crush the sugar cube into the bitters. add whiskey to the sugar and bitters. empty the ice from the first glass and coat it with herbsaint. Pour the sugar, bitters and whiskey mixture into the chilled herbsaint-coated glass. Garnish with lemon peel. Makes 1 cocktail.