Preserved Lemon question.

I have a bartender question: If a drink recipe called for 1) Vodka, 2) Saffron, 3) Preserved Lemon and 4) Ras El Hanout (a dry spice blend), in what proportions would you use the 4 ingredients? Any ideas?

Wow - that's a pretty interesting cocktail there. I can't imagine putting much of any of those into a drink.

I guess my first attempt would be with a pinch of saffron, a 1/4" x 1/2" piece of preserved lemon, and 1/8 teaspoon of ras el hanout (plus maybe some to rim the glass?). Muddle those, stir well, strain. Maybe double strain through something fine if you don't want ras el hanout and saffron bits floating in the glass.

Of course, that's a totally wild and uneducated guess. I'll be very curious to hear what you find with this one, Jon.

I have a bartender question: If a drink recipe called for 1) Vodka, 2) Saffron, 3) Preserved Lemon and 4) Ras El Hanout (a dry spice blend), in what proportions would you use the 4 ingredients? Any ideas?

I would advise opening a nice bottle of wine instead.

Wow - that's a pretty interesting cocktail there. I can't imagine putting much of any of those into a drink.

I guess my first attempt would be with a pinch of saffron, a 1/4" x 1/2" piece of preserved lemon, and 1/8 teaspoon of ras el hanout (plus maybe some to rim the glass?). Muddle those, stir well, strain. Maybe double strain through something fine if you don't want ras el hanout and saffron bits floating in the glass.

Of course, that's a totally wild and uneducated guess. I'll be very curious to hear what you find with this one, Jon.

That's about what I was thinking. Lots of Vodka, very little of everything else. Someone is aiming at Moroccan flavors -- reminds me a little of the restaurant Aziza in SF. Great bar, good Moroccan style food but I don't remember such a drink there.

I have a bartender question: If a drink recipe called for 1) Vodka, 2) Saffron, 3) Preserved Lemon and 4) Ras El Hanout (a dry spice blend), in what proportions would you use the 4 ingredients? Any ideas?

I would advise opening a nice bottle of wine instead.

Now where's the fun in that? You might have to try four or five variants of this cocktail in order to get it right and it would be a sin to waste those early efforts by dumping them down the drain....

Each of those spices is exceptionally assertive. I can't see them in a drink, unless you make a pitcher full where you can appropriately dilute their intensity to a reasonable level for harmony in a recipe that is uncooked. I agree with Mike that you may want to take the saffron and/or Ras El Hanout to make a flavored salt (or perhaps sugar/salt) to rim the glass, then put a knick of preserved lemon in the bottom of the glass, perhaps shake the vodka over ice with a pomegranate simple syrup or a splash of rose water and strain into the glass, if you want to keep the North African theme. But, this doesn't sound like an very interesting drink to me.

Mike, thanks for your idea - as I read it, it sounded good so that'll be my starting point. Dave, I'll have a bottle of wine standing in the on-deck circle.
This drink was brought to my attention by Karen MacNeil (of the Wine Lover's Bible) a FB post while I was in Morocco late last month. It is called the Moroccan Knight.

It just struck me -- I have been hearing about infused vodkas. You can buy dozens of different flavored vodkas, but on The Splendid Table (radio show) Lynne Rosetto Kasper often suggests using one or two or a combination of flavors to infuse vodka -- for example use cardamom seeds and cinnamon sticks, it will taste like Christmas.

So one way to get those flavors into vodka is to put one or all of them into the bottle and let them sit. When you are ready to make these Moroccan cocktails, no straining required, just pour off the clear flavored vodka. For the saffron it might be best to first make the golden "tea" from saffron and hot water and then when that is cooled, mix into the vodka.

Mike, thanks for your idea - as I read it, it sounded good so that'll be my starting point. Dave, I'll have a bottle of wine standing in the on-deck circle.
This drink was brought to my attention by Karen MacNeil (of the Wine Lover's Bible) a FB post while I was in Morocco late last month. It is called the Moroccan Knight.

Be sure and let us know what you find with this. I've never tried a cocktail that was so heavily based on spices.

I was reading more about home infused vodkas -- and one that Lynne Rosetto Kasper seems to like is bacon infused vodka. Which leads to a really unlikely sounding cocktail -- the BLT Martini

http://www.splendidtable.org/recipes/blt-cocktail

I was reading more about home infused vodkas -- and one that Lynne Rosetto Kasper seems to like is bacon infused vodka. Which leads to a really unlikely sounding cocktail -- the BLT Martini

http://www.splendidtable.org/recipes/blt-cocktail

I've had Bloody Marys which were made with bacon-infused vodka. I thought that was a very good use for the stuff.