The Savoy Cocktail Book

When I was eighteen, my father was extremely generous about all that "rites of passage" stuff. This included a pint of warm bitter at our local pub in Buckinghamshire, The White Hart, where by chance, a troupe of retired civil servants from Slough, masquerading as bearded Morris Men in skin tight breeches, pranced around to the strains of "zummer-is-a-cummin-in".

More promising, was my first visit to the Savoy Hotel, where my father introduced me to the now legendary Peter Dorelli, the head barman at The American Bar. We had Dry Martinis- of course we did. And Dry Martinis, mixed properly; none of that bizarre Fleming "shaken not stirred" rubbish. Instead, the iced gin was poured into a pitcher with ice, stirred around with a few drops of Noilly Pratt, and then strained out into a small iced tumbler, with a twist of lemon. If you want to learn more, the bible of choice is: Stirred not Shaken, the History of the Dry Martini, written by my father's old colleague, John Doxat, with an introduction by none other than Kingsley Amies.

If you're fascinated by cocktails, the best book on the subject is The Savoy Cocktail Book. This was first published in 1930, with recipes compiled by Harry Craddock, and the "decorations" by Gilbert Rumbold. The first edition's got a fabulous Art Deco cover, and, for antiquarian book nuts, is eminently collectable. The 1999 revised edition has a number of new cocktails by Peter Dorelli. If you come across a first edition in a second hand book shop, buy it immediately, as the grander rare book dealers sell it for big bucks. Over and Out.

Comments

[chefjp]

I'm a fan of this book as well as IMBIBE by David Wondrich. Huzzah!

[chefjp]

I'm a fan of this book as well as IMBIBE by David Wondrich. Huzzah!