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Food

Mission Chinese Martini with Crudités Recipe

One of the best aspects of a great martini is the bar snack that comes with it. Why not combine the two?
Mission Chinese Martini with Crudités Recipe

"I am always on the prowl for snacks, and since one of the elements of a great martini is the garnish, I decided that the snack would become the main part of the drink."

Servings: 1
Prep time: 10 minutes
Total time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

for the crudités:
pickled vegetables (cauliflowers, carrots, pickles, etc.)
fresh nuts and dried fruits (your favorite kinds)
lemon peel, for garnish
bitters and olive oil (optional, see note below)

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for the martini:
2 ounces|60 ml gin (Plymouth, Fords or Dorothy Parker)
1 ounce|30 ml Dolin dry vermouth

Directions

  1. First, prepare the crudités by sourcing your pickled vegetables, citrus, and whatever snacks you desire on the plate. Go to your local farmer's market and assemble a batch of fresh vegetables (I went to the Pickle Guys on Manhattan's Lower East Side for pickles), and I hit up Sahadi's and Kalustyan's for fresh nuts and dried fruits. Assemble a melange of great drinking snacks, and make sure they are colorful and bright.
  2. Next, it's time to make the martini. Use a well-chosen gin. I love classic, high-proof gins such as Old Raj, Plymouth, and Ford's. Another favorite is the locally-made Dorothy Parker from NY Distilling by Allen Katz, the owner and master distiller there. Second, a dry vermouth with vibrant botanicals is very important. I like to use Dolin from Chambery, France. It's very important to keep vermouth refrigerated and sealed as this preserves it from oxidation.
  3. The last element is mixing a martini properly. I prefer a 2:1 ratio of gin to vermouth. You can get the full expression of botanicals in harmony this way which is, to me, the beauty of a great martini. You also want to get that martini as cold as possible so it's super refreshing.
  4. Stir until ice cold. Spritz with lemon peel and discard. I prefer garnishing with citrus peel or some castelvetrano olives. An odd number of olives—either one or three, and never two—is the way to go. You can guess why: I'm a gentleman.

Optional: I mixed in some of the Terrarium Bitters I made before with olive oil. When dropped on the surface of the drink, they will form little balls and dance on the surface.

From Dirty Work: Martinis and Crudités with Sam Anderson of Mission Chinese Food

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