Dilution solution
Every great bartender's secret is also the key to great salads, ceviches, hummus, pasta and more
Happy Friday, concentrated cook!
Last weekend, Thierry and I were in a cool cocktail bar, contemplating the enticing assortment of drinks on the menu. A guest sitting at the bar pointed to the one I had my eye on, and said “that one’s good, but it’s strong.” It was a tequila, rye and vermouth concoction. I went for it.
The gent was right: It was strong. In fact, “strong” was its most notable quality. So I did something that scandalized Thierry: I tipped my water glass into it, added just a few drops of ice water and swirled it around.
Then tasted again: outstanding.
It was a lesson I learned a few months ago, when I was fortunate to take part in a cocktail training for a client, led by one of the best barmen in the business: Nick Mautone. Nick taught us something every top-level bartender knows: A well mixed drink involves a certain level of dilution with water — usually about 20%. It smoothes everything out and pulls the drink together. The way you achieve the right dilution is either stirring the cocktail on ice long enough so that the stirring glass is almost too cold to hold, or shaking it until it’s that cold. Voilà — you will have achieved optimal dilution. Strain it into the glass and it’s ready to go.
So counterintuitive! Doesn’t a watery drink sound like an epic fail? Well, it is — but a drink will taste watery only if it’s over-diluted. Proper dilution, on the other hand, is the cocktail gold standard.
Once I understood this, my cocktails at home stepped up in class. In the past, I had a particularly hard time making a brilliant margarita. Now I nail every drink, every time. Just shake it or stir it much longer: That small amount of added water — the right dilution — changes everything.
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Recently, it dawned on me that there are a bunch of analogies in cooking — a realm in which water, and the idea of dilution, are not just under-appreciated, but kind of stigmatized.
Think about it: Water is such a lowly ingredient that it’s usually not even listed as an ingredient; when a recipe wants you to add water, it just tells you how much within the instructions. The stigma gooses us when a recipe gives us a choice of water or something else. “Deglaze the pan with stock, wine or water,” says the recipe. What serious cook would choose water?! More water equals less flavor, right? Why would you want to water things down?
Because sometimes it’s the best thing to do.
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