Cherry Blossom

A variation of a drink from the Barbary’s Coast upcoming menu, Schoonraad hit upon the idea of using salt-pickled flowers to balance and round off the earthy, heavier flavours of Denis Lucchi’s gnocchi. “The saline from the sakura adds a nice little bit of umami that will still bring out some of those umami flavours from the dish itself. The sakura blossom itself is delicate, but it’s punchy enough to break through the squid ink flavours. And so you have this well-rounded, visceral kind of taste experience in your mouth.”

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45ml salt-pickled cherry blossom gin1 15ml Mancino Sakura Vermouth

20ml lemon

10ml rich simple syrup

60ml soda

1 shiso leaf

1 sakura lollipop2

Fill a highball glass with ice. Add the gin, vermouth, lemon and simple syrup, then top with soda. Garnish with the shiso leaf and lollipop.

1Salt-pickled Cherry Blossom Gin 20g salt-pickled cherry blossom 1 litre Hendrick’s Gin

Infuse the mixture with an ultrasonic homogeniser for 15 minutes on 75 per cent output capacity and a constant output. Use a 50-micron Superbag to strain the mixture.

2Sakura Lollipop

250g rich simple syrup

125g butter

Pinch of salt (1g to be precise)

15g sakura powder

24 lollipop sticks, 3.5cm

2 lollipop moulds

Bring all ingredients to a boil, until the thermometer reaches 155 degrees Celsius. Remove from heat and carefully pour into the moulds with the sticks inserted. Let cool, then store in the freezer.