From The Lies of Locke Lamora by Mister Scott Lynch:
Conté moved adroitly to fill this request, first selecting a tall crystal wine flute, into which he poured two fingers of purest Camorri ginger oil, the color of scorched cinnamon. To this he added a sizable splash of milky pear brandy, followed by a transparent heavy liquor called ajento, which was actually a cooking wine flavored with radishes. When this cocktail was mixed, Conté wrapped a wet towel around the fingers of his left hand and reached for a covered brazier smoldering to the side of the liquor cabinet. He withdrew a slender metal rod, glowing orange-red at the top, and plunged it into the cocktail; there was an audible hiss and a small puff of spicy steam. Once the rod was stanched, Conté stirred the drink briskly and precisely three times, then presented it to Locke on a thin silver plate.
It will be mine. Yes: I will make and have myself a ginger scald. After the success of Sausages a la Camorr, there is no way to avoid making the cocktail concoction that immediately made my mouth water when I read the description. There are a couple hurdles to overcome, of course.
Firstly, ginger oil is relatively expensive, ringing in at about twenty bucks an ounce. My reading of the above indicates that a ginger scald probably uses two ounces, and forty bucks for a cocktail is a little steep. Of course, I could make my own ginger oil — if I had an alembic, a run-of-the-mill piece of equipment that any good alchemist would have. However, as I am not a good alchemist, I will have to jury-rig an alembic using a light fixture.
Luckily, pear brandy is relatively easy to come by. What isn’t easy is ajento, primarily because it is a fictional liquor. Therefore I will just have to make my own. It’s a cooking wine flavored with radishes? Pah, that’s easy. I’ve got a jug of chablis infusing radishes as I type. It should be ready in a few days…
If I’m feeling especially puckish, I’ll video it for the amusement of the internets, but I am really looking forward to giving this a try!
Heya, Scott Lynch is on Livejournal, you should post him a link to this, and see what he says.
Posted on 20 September 2009 at 8:13 pm.