Great Tennis and a Great Drink

Wimbledon is considered to be the oldest tennis tournament in the world. The first Championships were held at the All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club in Wimbledon, 1877. Since 1971, when the first Pimm’s Bar opened at Wimbledon, the Pimm’s Cup has been their signature drink. Each year an incredible 300,000 Pimm’s Cups are served during the 14 days long tennis tournament.

THE PIMM’S CUP
James Pimm was a shellfish monger born in Kent in Southern England. At the age of 30 he was already the owner of five London oyster bars, often frequented by the Royal Family. Sometime between 1823 and 1840 he invented a herbal tonic to help digestion. The “house cup”, as it was called in the oyster bar, was made with gin, quinine, caramelized orange and a carefully selected secret range of herbal botanicals and spices. It was so popular Mr. Pimm bottled it, as Pimm’s No.1 Cup, named after the cup (a small tankard) it was originally served in, and started marketing it as a health tonic. With sales on the rise Pimm branched out and in 1851 he started making a Pimm’s No.2, with Scotch whisky, and No.3 with brandy. By 1859 Pimm started selling his own gin, and six years after that Pimm’s was available all throughout the British Empire. Before his death in 1866 James Pimm had sold his company and the rights to his name to a Fredrick Sawyer who, after 20 years, sold it to the Mayor of London, Lord Horatio Davis.

Alongside the original, No.2 and No.3, through the years there has been a No.4 with rum, No.5 with rye whiskey, No.6 with vodka and lastly No.7 with tequila. Today, only the No.1 and No.6 is left on the market with the No.3 brandy version appearing seasonally as Pimm’s No.3 Winter Cup.

THE DESIGNER
The Tank Highball glass was designed by the British designer Tom Dixon in 2014.

Finnish Design at its Best

Alvar Aalto was Finnish architect and design pioneer born in 1898. Known for his organic designs, Aalto's career was marked by a blend of architecture, furniture, and glassware, making him a key figure in Scandinavian modernism. His innovative approach to materials and forms, particularly his use of laminated wood and glass, set him apart in the design world.

One of Aalto's most iconic creations is the Savoy Vase, also known as the Aalto Vase. The story of this vase begins in 1936 when Aalto, alongside his wife Aino, entered the Karhula-Iittala Glass Design Competition. Their oflyt named entry "Eskimoerindens skinnbuxa" (Eskimo woman’s leather trousers), won first prize. The vase's design, was inspired by various sources, including the leather breeches of a traditional Sami woman, waves in water, and the contours of Finland's lake-rich landscape. The name "Aalto" itself means "wave" in Finnish, adding another layer of meaning to the design.

The Savoy Vase, created for the interior of the Savoy Restaurant in Helsinki, which the Aaltos were designing at the time. The vase's production posed significant manufacturing challenges, using a wooden mold that was slowly burned away, a technique that highlighted the vase's organic nature. Today, each vase is still hand-blown at Iittala, maintaining the original hand-crafted quality.

The vase gained international acclaim when it was presented at the 1937 Paris World's Fair, thereby cementing Aalto's reputation as a master of modern design.

In 1935 Aino and Alvar Aalto founded the company Artek together, with the aim of producing and selling their designs. Aino Aalto was the head designer and at Artek she created both glassware and furniture design.

To this day the Savoy Vase remains one of Alvar Aalto’s most famous and best appreciated designs. It is a great symbol of thee Aalto legacy.

Happy King Kamehameha Day!

King Kamehameha Day was proclaimed a national holiday on December 11, 1871 by King Kamehameha V to celebrate his grandfather, King Kamehameha the Great, the father of the Hawaiian Kingdom. Originally the people of Hawai’i wanted to honor Kamehameha V on his birthday on December 11, but being a humble chief he chose a date as far away from his own birthday as possible, June 11. Every year, a statue made in Italy in 1883, honoring King Kamehameha I in downtown Honolulu is draped with 90 thirty-foot flower leis. King Kamehameha Day is celebrated all over the Hawaiian islands with parades, dances and flower decorations.

THE ROYAL HAWAIIAN
Princess Ka’iulani was born in 1875 to Hawaiian Princess Miriam Likelike and Scottish-born businessman Arthur Cleghorn. At age 11 she lost her mother and at 13 she was sent to England to get a British education. While in England, in 1891, the King passed away and his sister, Lili’oukalani became Queen making Ka’iulani the heir apparent. When Ka’iulani finally came back in 1897 Queen Lili’oukalani had been forced to abdicate and a year later Hawaii was annexed by the US, something Princess Ka’iulani fought hard to stop. Having struggled with poor health during the 1890s the devastated Ka’iulani died in 1899, only 23 years old. Twenty eight years later, a pink palace, the Royal Hawaiian Hotel opened in Honolulu. During the 1920s they created a signature cocktail named Princess Ka’iulani as a tribute to the princess. The cocktail changed name in the 1950s to Royal Hawaiian, but the legacy of Princess Ka’iulani lives on as a symbol of strength, grace, and the rich cultural heritage of Hawai’i.

THE DESIGNER
The glass for the Royal Hawaiian is fittingly called Princess and was designed by Danish architect and designer Bent Severin in 1957.

THE ROYAL HAWAIIAN
3 parts Gin
2 parts Pineapple juice
1 1/2 parts Orgeat
1 part Lemon juice

Shake ingrediens with ice until well chilled. Strain into chilled glass. Garnish with an orchid.

Happy King Kamehameha Day!

Home Made Pasta From Sicily

The Casarecce pasta originated in Sicilia and got its name from the Italian word “casareccio” meaning home made. The distinctive scroll like shape is obtained by rolling small rectangles of dough round a thin wooden stick or metal rod called a “ferro”. This process creates a pasta with the perfect amount of nooks and crannies to evenly distribute the pasta sauce to every forkful. 

If the Casarecce isn’t home made the best  commercially made pasta is produced with a bronze die, creating a rougher pasta surface that is even better at catching sauce than the home made version. 

In Sicily, Casarecce is often served with traditional dishes from the region such as Sicilian pistachio pesto or seafood and fish like swordfish.

A New York Style Swedish National Day

LAUNCH OF SEX AND THE CITY
Based on author Candace Bushnell’s newspaper column and later book anthology the HBO comedy-drama Sex and the City, first aired on June 6, 1998. After 94 episodes and six seasons the last episode was released on February 22, 2004. As June 6 is also the Swedish National Day and that the Cosmo is made with Absolut Vodka it is a great reason to have a Cosmopolitan today.

THE COSMOPOLITAN
Even though the Cosmopolitan isn’t that old, the origin isn’t quite clear. It might have been invented in 1985 by Miami bartender Cheryl Cook at a South Beach bar called the Strand. Wanting to make a perfect cocktail for a Martini glass, Cook used the Kamikaze as a base, used citrus-flavored vodka and added a splash of cranberry juice.

Maybe more likely, it was first invented by bartender Toby Cecchini in 1988 when he was working at Odeon in New York’s Tribeca. Odeon was one of the trendiest bars of the 1980s, frequented by celebrities like Madonna, Robert DeNiro and Andy Warhol. An Odeon waitress had tried a new cocktail in San Francisco made with vodka, Rose’s Lime and grenadine. Liking the idea but hating the taste Cecchini wanted to make something less sweet and artificial. He used Absolut Citron, just released in 1988, added Cointreau, lime juice and a splash of cranberry juice. Soon Madonna, Basquiat, Lou Reed and Andy Warhol were sipping Cosmos and before long NY was flooded with them.

Ten year later, when New Yorkers were sick of them, in steps the characters of Sex and the City. The Cosmo didn’t actually appear until the second season, in 1999, but it soon became as important as the Manolos. The glamorous life of the “Fab Four” was unobtainable for most fans but anyone could afford a Cosmopolitan.

THE DESIGNER
The glass is called Margot and was designed by Ferrone in 2013.

Inspired By Ugliness

Konstantin Grcic was born in 1965 in Munich but was brought up in Wuppertal, a city in the industrial part of Germany. The city is considered to be one of the ugliest cities in the whole country. “Growing up there created an awareness in me that there is beauty in ugliness” as Mr. Grcic describes it. 

During the 1980s he studied cabinet making at Parnham College in British Dorset after which he continued studying Industrial Design at the Royal College of Art in London and worked for a while with Jasper Morrison. In 1991 Grcic went back to his home country to start his own design studio, Konstantin Grcic Industrial Desig, in Munich. Throughout his career Grcic has been fascinated by the industrial process following the footsteps of designers like Marcel Breuer, Vico Magiatretti, Gerrit Reitveld and Achille Castiglioni. 

The Chair One was designed for the Italian design company Magis in 2004 and is a great example of Konstantin Grcic’s approach to design. 

From One Swiftie to Another

Considering that Stockholm is experiencing a total Taylor Swift craze with three concerts on May 17 through 19 why not celebrate with her alleged favorite cocktail, the French Blonde. It’s a summery blend of Lillet, Gin, Elderflower liqueur, pink grapefruit juice and lemon bitters.

As usual with cocktail history the origin is a bit murky. Even the year of creation is vastly different from one story to another. The French Blonde might have first been mixed at a Parisian bar in the 1920s. Inspired by the classic French 75 the bartender wanted to create a cocktail with a feminine twist, giving it the name French Blonde as the color of the drink resembles blond hair.

Another story is that it was made by a bartender in New York in the 1950s. Also in this version the inspiration came from the French 75 but the idea was to create a modernized version of the WWI cocktail by adding the elderflower liqueur.

This said, I have found neither any confirmation of these stories nor any early recipes of the French Blonde. Which takes us to the Difford’s Guide where you can read  that the cocktail was actually first published in Saveur.com in 2011, created by Caraline Bianchetto Chase. This might be the most plausible story of the three.

The glass is called Travasi and was designed in 2023 by Astrid Luglio.

By the way. Apparently Taylor Swift’s favorite color is purple, hence the sudden change of glass color.

Also, if you apply the discount code SWIFTIE at checkout you will get 20% off Taylor Swift’s favorite cocktail.

From Hawaii to Oakland

This drink is also known as the Scorpion Bowl as it was originally made and served in a communal bowl for up to 15 people. The Scorpion is attributed to tiki pioneer Victor Bergeron aka Trader Vic, but rather than inventing it Trader Vic found it on a trip to Hawaii at a bar called the Hut in Honolulu. At the time of Bergerons travel the base ingredient was the local Hawaiian spirit Okolehao, made from the fermented and distilled root of the Ti plant. The Hawaiians were taught the distillation process by British sailors in the 1790s. In fact, the Okolehao became so popular in Hawaii that King Kalākaoa had his own Okolehao distillery. On a side note, the king was often referred to as The Merrie Monarch thanks to his habit of entertaining his guests by singing and playing the ukulele. When King Kalākaoa died in 1891, his sister Lili’uokalani took over the throne and became the last monarch of Hawai’i. 

Back in California Trader Vic modified the Scorpion by changing the Okolehao to the easier to come by rum. He kept the idea of a communal bowl and had a custom bowl made specifically for the Scorpion. In Mr Bergeron’s “Book of Food and Drink” from 1946 the recipe contained 15 ingredients, like one and a half bottles of rum, gin, brandy and half a bottle of white wine along with the fruit juices. It was made for 12 people though. Over the years Mr Bergeron modified the recipe quite a bit, simplifying the long list of ingredients and even made a single serve option. The one thing Trader Vic kept throughout the recipes is the Gardenia as a garnish. 

The glass is called Iris and was designed in 2009 by the Swedish glass designer Ann Wåhlström.

The Flower and the Cocktail (Mimosa Day)

Being Mimosa Day, why not give the Mimosa an extra kick by adding some Grand Marnier to the drink, making it a Grand Mimosa. Since it’s supposedly a favorite aperitif in the British Royal Family (along with the Dubonnet Cocktail) it is a perfect drink to enjoy on a warm day in May.’

THE MIMOSA
The Mimosa got its name from the delicate yellow Mimosa flower. It is essentially a fruitier Buck’s Fizz and was created in 1925 by a bartender called Frank Meier at the Ritz Hotel in Paris. Interestingly, in Frank Meier’s own cocktail book “The Artistry of Mixing Drinks” from 1936 Meier listed 300 cocktails marking the ones he had created with a symbol. The Mimosa never got one. It might have been a printer’s error or he never actually invented it. The Mimosa calls for equal measures of champagne and freshly squeezed orange juice served over ice whilst the Buck’s Fizz uses 1 part orange juice to 2 parts champagne without the ice. Some suggest the Mimosa was first made in San Francisco in the 1940’s by none other than Sir Alfred Hitchcock but as it appeared in Frank Meier’s cocktail book in 1936, that’s not very likely. That said, Hitchcock was, along with Royal Family, essential in making the Mimosa popular in the United States. In 1961 the London correspondent of the Sydney Morning Herald reported that “The Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, and the Queen Mother all have adopted a champagne cocktail they call Mimosa.” Apparently the Queen had been introduced to the drink by Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, who in turn had picked it up on a visit to France. The Mimosa appeared on brunch menus in New York in the early 1970s and has stayed ever since. 

THE DESIGNER
Cesare Colombo, more known as Joe Colombo, designed the Smoke glass in 1964. It is made so that you can drink while keeping your cigarette at the ready in the same hand.

A World Filled With Cocktails

On May 13 in 1806 the first known definition of the word cocktail was published in an upstate New York newspaper, The Balance and Columbian Repository. The cocktail, as they wrote it, was described as “a stimulating liquor, composed of spirits of any kind, sugar, water and bitters”. This is also the date Giuseppe Cipriani opened Harry’s Bar in Venice in 1931, home of the Bellini.

THE BEE’S KNEES
The Bee’s Knees was possibly created by the Austrian Frank Meier, during the 1920s when he was the first head bartender at Cafe Parisian at the Ritz Hotel in Paris. During WWII and the German occupation of Paris, Mr. Meier kept the bar open but being half Jewish he started working with the French resistance and handed information about the Germans staying at the Ritz to British intelligence. He also helped Jewish hotel guests escape the concentration camp roundups by providing them with fake documents.

The first time the cocktail was mentioned was in a news article from 1929 where it was attributed to the American socialite Margaret Brown. The article was about women-only bars in Paris and Margaret Brown, being a wealthy widow, shared her time between her home in Denver, Colorado and Paris where she was a frequent guest in these women-only bars. On a side note Margaret Brown also went by her nickname “the Unsinkable Molly Brown” after being one of the 712 people surviving the Titanic in 1912. Yet another background story is that  the honey used in the Bee’s Knees was added since it is a great way to hide the harsh taste of cheap bathtub gin. Putting it all together Margaret Brown might have had the cocktail in an American speakeasy and brought the recipe to Paris where Frank Meier made it his own. If so, all three origin stories could be true. But that, of course, is just mere speculation.

THE DESIGNER
Astrid  Luglio designed the glass called Travasi in 2023.

Hear the Sound of Pasta

This very original pasta from the southern Italian region of Puglia, the heal of the boot if you will, is called Orecchiette, “little ears”. It is believed to have originated in the 8th or 9th centuries when Puglia was under Norman-Swabian rule, or Normanno-Svevo in Italian. With the origins this far back in time however, it is very hard to be absolutely certain how the pasta came about. Similar pasta is found both in Provence in France and in the northern parts of Liguria, the home of the Trofie, but the specific shape and the pasta seems to be a very Pugliese thing. Locally, the pasta is said to be made to look like the roofs of the Trulli houses, a very particular type of round, hut-like houses found in Alberobello in Puglia and nowhere else in the world.

The pasta is made without eggs and it is shaped by pressing your thump print into the dough to create a small bowl. This sauce-cup makes a perfect vessel to catch the pasta sauce, traditionally a tomato sauce, “orecchiette al sugo.”

La Pasta Italiana: Pici

Made traditionally with just flour, water and salt, Pici is considered part of the “cucina povera” the poor cuisine, due to its lack of egg. The Pici pasta looks like a long, thick spaghetti curled up in bundles like tagliatelle. This Tuscan specialty is sometimes called “Pici Senesi” as it is believed to originate in Siena. Its roots however, dates all the way back to ancient Etruscan times. A pasta similar to Pici has been found depicted on a mural in the Tomb of the Leopards in Tarquinia, an Etruscan burial chamber from 540-470 BCE (that is technically in Lazio, not in Tuscany). From Tarquinia in the Viterbo region the Pici spread throughout Tuscany.

The rustic Pici has always been considered to be a rural, dish eaten by peasants (as opposed to the royal Mafaldine from Campania). In Tuscany it is often served with Cacio e pepe but one of the most traditional dishes is Pici all’aglione a recipe from the area surrounding Siena. The sauce is made with aglione, (a regional type of garlic), tomato, olive oil and peperoncino. Another typical way of eating the pasta is Pici alle briciole made with thin slices of Tuscan bread, peperoncino, garlic, salt, grated Tuscan Pecorino and, of course, olive oil.

Day Drinking In Disguise

The Tokyo Kaikan (meaning Tokyo Meeting Hall) was built in 1921, facing the Imperial Palace. It soon became a favorite spot for the city’s corporate elite with its restaurants, ball rooms and meeting rooms. The bar had five bartenders on its staff during the 1920s. 

From the surrender of the Empire of Japan in September of 1945 until the Treaty of San Francisco in April of 1952, Japan was occupied and administered by the Allied Forces. During this period the Tokyo Kaikan functioned both as the US military officer’s club and as the Tokyo American Club for expatriate businessmen. With the influx of American soldiers the Kaikan soon went from five to forty bartenders on the payroll serving up to 1000 customers per day. 

During the post-war occupation, people of Japan were living under hard conditions and rations while some of the American troops spent their free time in the bars of Tokyo. Overseeing the occupation was Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, US General Douglas MacArthur. Entering the bar at the American Club in Tokyo in April 1949, General MacArthur was horrified to find American soldiers having fancy cocktails long before lunch when the Japanese outside were suffering. 

After reprimanding his troops the American party stopped. That is until a crafty bartender, possibly Japan’s most famous bartender, Kiyoshi Imai, who worked the bar at Tokyo Kaikan, had a stroke of genius. He took a regular Gin Fizz, dialed down the seltzer, added an ounce of milk and called it the Kaikan Fizz. This made the drink look like a healthy glass of milk and no general could be opposed to something as wholesome as milk. So the soldiers could go back at it. 

When the American troops left Japan in 1952, and the need to hide your day drinking was gone, the Kaikan Fizz had already become a modern classic that has been enjoyed ever since.

The glass called Bamboo was designed in 2002 by Japanese designer Yukari Hirono. 

Finally, a tip. When making the Kaikan Fizz, make sure to shake it for a long time to make sure the milk and lemon juice doesn’t curdle. After a vigorous shake, stir while straining it into the glass.

The Saketini Just Turned 60

THE OPENING OF NEW YORK’S WORLD’S FAIR 1964

New York World’s fair ran two six-month  periods, April 22 – October 18, 1964, and April 21 – October 17, 1965. It was held in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in the borough of Queens, New York and featured over 140 pavilions and 110 restaurants, representing 80 countries. The fair was attended by more than 51 million people, but with an expected 70 million, it was far from an economic success. Meant to showcase the future many pavilions were built in a Mid-century modern style influenced by jet aircraft and the Space Age. The most popular pavilion was General Motors Futurama II, letting the visitors experience life in the “near future” with realistic 3D models. IBM featured a theater designed by Eero Saarinen showing a film by Charles and Ray Eames about computer logic. The most unexpected pavilion might have been the Vatican’s that incredibly brought Michelangelo’s priceless sculpture Pietà from St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Of course, there was also the Japanese pavilion where you could sample the novelty cocktail Saketini.

THE SAKETINI

The origins of the Saketini cocktail are not entirely clear. It is said to have been invented by Matsuda-san, a chef from Queens who introduced the drink at the Japanese pavilion at the New York World’s Fair in 1964.

After the World’s Fair the recipe for the Saketini was lost and the cocktail led an all but forgotten life until the Martini craze of the 1990s. Even though the Saketini was invented long before this the cocktail historian David Wondrich still puts the Saketini (maybe a bit unfairly) in “that sickly and dismal tribe” of chocolate martinis, mango martinis, and appletinis. Another possible origin story is that the Saketini was invented at the first Benihana restaurant on West 56th Street in New York City. Benihana was founded by 25-year old Hiroaki Aoki the same year as the World’s Fair, in 1964, and the cocktail is said to first having been made the year they opened.

THE DESIGNER

The Japanese glassware designer Masakichi Awashima as born in 1914. After graduating from the Japan Art School in Tokyo he worked for Kozo Kagami who had learned western glass blowing techniques in Germany. The sake cup was designed by Awashima in 1958.

La Cucina Casalinga

TROFIE

The region of Liguria is basically the continuation of the French Riviera. Known for the picturesque villages called Cinque Terre, (Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore), but also Portofino, San Remo and, of course, Genova. Genova rose to power as a maritime republic in the Middle Ages, dominating trade in the Mediterranean Sea thanks to its prowess in shipbuilding and banking. During the city’s prime in the 16th century Genova rivaled Venice, attracting many artists including Rubens, Caravaggio and Van Dyck. Still to this day the city is filled with more beautiful palaces than they know what to do with, and visiting the city you often stumble upon incredible 16th century frescoes in shops, restaurants and bars. Liguria is also known for its pasta. 

The pasta of choice in Liguria is the Trofie, a type of pasta originating in the Ligurian cities of Recco, Sori and Camogli m, on the so called Golfo Paradiso. This short pasta is made by hand rolling small pieces of dough,  creating tapered ends. Then twisting the pasta into its final shape. It is thought that it was originally made from leftover dough from other types of pasta, rolled by fishermen’s wives while waiting for their husbands to come back from sea. The name probably comes from the Ligurian verb strufuggiâ meaning ‘to rub’  or ‘to twist’ which is essentially the technique used for making the pasta. 

The Trofie didn’t make it to the port city of Genova until the mid 20th century but has since then been the go to pasta when making a Pesto alla Genovese in Genova always eaten with potatoes and green beans that are cooked together with the trofie. By the way, the best place to have a real Trofie col pesto alla Genovese is at the fabulous Trattoria da Maria in a back alley in Genova. Not fancy at all but this is a great place to have original Ligurian Cucina Castling.

Welcome To the World of Pasta

Here is the first in a brand new series of original artwork. This time we’re taking on the fabulous world of Italian pasta, one (or possibly more) from every Italian region, because all regions has their very own special pasta, fitting perfectly with their particular sauces. For instance Trofie from Liguria on the Italian riviera, that fits like a glove with the Pesto Genovese. For the first in the series however, we’re traveling down to Napoli and the region of Campania to try their pasta fit for royalty, the Mafaldine. 

Mafaldine was originally called Fettuccelle Riccie and was created in Naples, next to one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world, Mount Vesuvius. When Princess Mafalda of Savoy, the daughter of Italy’s King Vittorio Emmanuele III and Queen Elena of Montenegro, was born in 1902 the royal baby was honored by changing the name of the pasta to Mafaldine. Princess Mafalda happened to have wavy curly hair just like the the pasta, so the pasta fitted her perfectly.

On a side note, to honor the occasion of the royal wedding between Vittorio Emanuele and Queen Elena, specifically to honor Queen Elena of Montenegro, amaro maker Stanislao Cobianchi changed the name of his Elisir Lungavita to Amaro Montenegro. Still today you will find Amaro Montenegro in most Italian bars. 

The Mafaldine is made of 1 centimeter wide pasta ribbons, las ong as spaghetti, with wavy sides that are slightly thicker than the middle part. This to make the sides sturdier, a feature that supposedly enhances the flavor of the pasta and its sause. Because of its royal connection Mafaldine is often used for special occasions, served with ragù or ricotta.

The life of Princess Mafalda however was very tragic. She married a German prince, Philipp of Hesse who worked as a Nazi intermediary between Germany and Italy during WWII. Adolf Hitler and Joseph Goebbels mistrusted the Princess and believed that she was collaborating with the allied forces. Mafalda was arrested and was sent to Buchenwald concentration camp, where she died. 

Easter With An Italian Easter Egg

Celebrating Easter with some amazing Italian design, Gaetano Pesce’s classic chair Up from 1969. Happy Easter to you all!

The Day of Waffles

In Sweden, the day of Annunciation is called Marie Bebådelsedag, (Mary’s Annunciation), or Vårfrudagen (the Day of our Lady). Vårfrudagen pronounced quickly became Våffeldagen, meaning Waffle Day, and all of a sudden this Christian celebration became a very secular waffle feast instead. At least that is the commonly accepted theory. 

Waffles came to Sweden from Germany during the 17th century and have been enjoyed by Swedes ever since. Considering how expensive a waffle iron was in the olden days it remained a treat for the upper class for a very long time. 

The first time waffles became associated with Annunciation was in 1867, in the region surrounding Gothenburg. It seems to have been a bit of a joke connecting the two, even from the beginning and the rather more plausible reason for the waffle feast was that it was a holiday and during holidays everyone tends to treat themselves to something nice.

Sixten Sason is one of Sweden’s most recognized industrial designers, mostly known for his streamlined designs for the Saab 92 and Saab 99. He also made several products for the kitchen ware company Husqvarna, amongst others the Waffle Iron, designed in 1957. 

World Vermouth Day

Today is another day worth celebrating, it is World Vermouth Day. It was created by Giancarlo Mancino to celebrate this particular type of fortified wine. Vermouth is an aromatized fortified wine, flavored with various botanicals (herbs, bark and roots). The name comes from wermut, the German word for wormwood. The vermouth as we know it today originated in the Italian city of Turin in the late 18th century and was made popular by the Italian distiller Antonio Benedetto Carpano. In fact, his vermouth was so popular that his shop was said to have been open around the clock.

A great way to celebrate is to make an Algonquin created sometime during the 1920s at the Algonquin Hotel in New York.

The Algonquin
2 parts Rye Whiskey
1 part Dry Vermouth
1 part Pineapple juice
1 Maraschino cherry

Shake all ingredients with ice. Strain into a chilled glass. Garnish with a Maraschino cherry.

Taking the Leap

The Leap Year Cocktail is one of the few with a very clear and concise history. It was made by the bartender legend Harry Craddock, head bartender at the American Bar in London’s Savoy Hotel. More specifically it was created for the hotels Leap Year celebration on February 29, 1928. 

Two years earlier Harry Craddock had taken over as head bartender after another legend, Ada Coleman, was pushed out of the bar when The Savoy wanted to install an American as head of their American Bar. In reality Craddock was just American sounding. He was a Brit that had been working in the US, where he picked up an American accent. It was however good enough for Savoy. 

The cocktail is presented in Craddock’s Savoy Cocktail Book with a note “It is said to have been responsible for more proposals than any other cocktail that has ever been mixed.” Maybe because of the Irish tradition that on this rarest of days women could propose to men. According to the tradition, if the man refused the proposal, he had to buy the woman a silk dress, or from the mid 20th century, a fur coat. In the upper classes of other European countries, taking over the Irish custom, any man refusing a woman’s Leap Day proposal had to buy her 12 pair of gloves. Possibly so that she could hide the fact that she was not carrying a ring. 

The glass was designed in 1999 by the Italian designer Ettore Sottsass, inspired by Greek mythology.