Italiano
The Alchemist (2): Mauro Lotti and the Martini Cocktail
World-renowned bartender Mauro Lotti began his seminar at Hotel Adriano in Rome by observing that when “the sun sets and the violet hour of desire begins”. Today he is a consultant for Martini & Rossi but he spent the 1960s and ‘70s experiencing every instant of the Dolce Vita behind the bar at Rome’s Grand Hotel.
His manners are those of a bygone age: measured, theatrical and empathetic as were his words as he told the fascinating story of the Martini cocktail over centuries as it weaved its way through wars, art and literature, seducing the most demanding palates to become a status symbol.
Martini first came into the spotlight in 1880 when the American-born cocktail, like many of the time, had nothing to do with what we know now. It was made with red vermouth and sugar was added, giving it a color and flavor decidedly not the one of today, that limpid and minimalist mixture served and a classic Martini glass. In a way, there are many similarities with Champagne, which was blended to please the demanding tastes of the French court and had little in common to what it is today. Champagne was sweet in the time of Louis XV, when was it was served in glasses, legend says, made from a mold of Madame de Pompadour’s breast. Today it is served in a ‘flute’, one which is gradually becoming wider to exalt the greater roundness of a Liquid that is equally magical and rich in history.
Going back to Martini, it evolved to become increasingly dry thanks to the use of London dry gin and white vermouth. The variations today are countless, each with its own story and each with a more or less famous fan.
Roosevelt popularized the Dirty Martini, a version made without the classic three olives but with the olive brine to make the cocktail more pungent and give it an incisive briny taste.
Then came the Martini on the rocks, a version that makes gin purists’ eyes roll, similar to the reaction of bubbly lovers who consider adding an ice cube to a sparkling wine as sacrilege or pasta lovers who shiver when they hear of ketchup being used on spaghetti. However, a Martini with ice has an illustrious champion, Umberto Eco , who drank it this way to avoid getting intoxicated as do many intellectuals who love this cocktail and prefer it sip it slowly and thus avoid having a second.
It is impossible not to tackle the famous dilemma between shaken or stirred, an argument comparable in the wine world to whether to age in small barriques or large wood barrels. Here the “shaken not stirred” option appears to have won out thanks to James Bond , who actually preferred a Vodka Martini. Then again, the alternative of “stirred not shaken” has its paladin in Somerset Maugham who maintained that a Martini “should be stirred because the molecules of gin and vermouth need to sensually bed down together”. Last but not least is the ‘rested’ version which is neither shaken nor stirred but lets the ingredients sit on ice for a few seconds separately so they are less homogenous and more distinct.
Following are a traditional Martini recipe and a variation created by Mauro Lotti who has added a new ingredient to the power of the gin, the sensitivity of the vermouth and the freshness of the ice: an oyster.
Martini Cocktail (basic recipe)
Ice in a mixing glass
5cl of gin
Vermouth as desired
Mauro Lotti’s Oyster Martini (variation)
Ice in a mixing glass
5cl of gin
Vermouth as desired.
An oyster is speared on a toothpick and set over the glass. Gin is then poured over directly the oyster so that it become impregnated with the flavor of the gin and the gin with the saline sensations of the oyster. You then eat the oyster before consuming the Martini.
The sun is now setting, the violet hour comes and its playtime for adults.
