To celebrate the arrival of our Classic Martini Glasses we share with you two warming winter Martini recipes from Yotam Ottolenghi. One vodka, one gin. Both beautiful. Using the deep tones of sumac, and the sweet notes of roasted fruit these drinks are a perfect match to our Spiegelau glass sets which are elegant and essential to the home. So, whilst its pouring with rain, lets pour these!
The Sumac Martini
Ingredients—
For the Sumac infused Vodka:
3 tablespoons sumac
1 bottle (750 ml) of high-quality vodka
For the Sumac Martini:
60 ml sumac-infused vodka
40 ml Velvet Falernum liqueur
50 ml lime juice
40 ml pomegranate juice
A few pinches sumac, to garnish
To make the infused vodka, place the sumac in a large glass or ceramic bowl and pour over the vodka. Cover and set aside for 2 hours, stirring from time to time, then strain back into the bottle through a fine-mesh or muslin-lined sieve.
When ready to serve, place all the ingredients in a shaker with some cubed ice. Shake really hard for 10 to 15 seconds, then double-strain (through a strainer and into a fine-mesh sieve) into two chilled glasses. Serve at once, with a sprinkle of sumac on top.
The Roasted Pineapple and Sage Martini
Ingredients—
1 bottle Tanqueray London dry gin
20 sage leaves
4 cardamom pods, roughly crushed by hand or in a mortar and pestle
1 large pineapple, unpeeled, leaves trimmed and discarded
3/4 ounce lemon juice
3/4 ounce clove syrup*
Garnish: 2 sage leaves
Preheat the oven to 200°C.
Wrap the pineapple in foil and roast in the oven for 3 hours. Remove and set aside to cool.
Peel the pineapple and cut it lengthwise into 4 wedges. Cut out and discard the core, then place the flesh in a blender. Blitz to form a purée and set aside.
Add the crushed cardamom pods and sage leaves to the bottle of gin and set aside for at least 3 hours, swirling the bottle from time to time.
Strain through a fine-mesh sieve, discard the cardamom and sage, and return the gin to the bottle.
Pour 3 1/2 ounces of infused gin into a shaker with 1 3/4 ounce of the pineapple purée, 3/4 ounce of lemon juice, and 2/3 ounce of the clove syrup.
Add ice, shake vigorously for 10 to 15 seconds, and strain into pre-chilled martini glasses.
Garnish each with a fresh sage leaf and serve at once.
Clove Syrup*
1 1/4 cups superfine sugar
4 whole cloves
Place the sugar in a medium saucepan with 1 cup of water. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to low. Add the cloves and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring from time to time. Lift out and discard the cloves, then set the syrup aside until completely cool.
Recipes from NOPI Copyright © 2015 by Yotam Ottolenghi, LLP. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC.