As you may have noticed, I’m a bit infatuated with blood oranges lately. From the Vanilla Pavlovas with Blood Orange Curd earlier this week to the Blood Orange Mojito as part of the Let’s Get Blitzen: Cocktail Advent Calendar, and now this, Blood Orange Mezcal Sour.
I’m completely enamoured with the jewel tone of this stunning citrus fruit. It works so nicely in this take on a tequila sour.
Mezcal brings a smoky dimension to this variation on the classic cocktail. The blood orange dials down the acidity that you would get from the typical preparation, that calls for 1 1/2 ounces of lime juice, and brings a subtle sweetness.
It’s vital to do both a dry shake (without ice) and wet shake (with ice) to optimize that frothy topping. The end result is like a very adult take on a creamsicle, I mean, use your imagination.
Dot with a couple dashes of Angostura bitters and pull a cocktail pin or toothpick right through the centre to create a pretty heart-shaped design on the top.
As much as I disdain the near-constant reminder of my singledom with the nauseating chocolate/candy/card displays in the grocery store, this might make for a nice Valentine’s Day tipple.
You might have seen that the new Canada Food Guide dropped earlier this week. While I definitely support the transition toward a greener plate, both in terms of what’s on it and the environmental impact, I felt like some of the recommendations for healthy eating habits were a bit dictatorial.
For instance, one of the key recommendations was “Eat meals with others.” They go on to say, “Enjoying healthy foods with family, friends, neighbours or co-workers is a great way to connect and add enjoyment to your life. It can provide many benefits and contribute to a healthy lifestyle.”
Mmmmk, great. Is the Government of Canada about to furnish me with a companion who I can share meals with? No? PIPE DOWN. I look forward to seeing the Government of Canada’s new dating app to help us action their Food Guide directives. Hopefully its more functional than the Phoenix pay system; otherwise some of us will get 10 partners and the rest of us will go unloved for years.
This comes fresh on the heels of this CBC report on the detrimental physical health impacts of loneliness, stating, “Some experts have gone as far as to argue that being lonely for a prolonged period is more harmful to a person’s health than smoking 15 cigarettes a day.”
Okay, cool, should I just donate my organs now, or…? WHAT?! I need a hug.
What a depressing piece of science. Certainly, as a society we’ve seen a harmful shift away from face-to-face interactions toward those that are mediated by a screen, leaving us constantly connected but physically isolated. That being said, many of us who are lonely, are making concerted efforts, both from behind a screen or in-person to do something about it.
So, when the Food Guide comes out and decrees that we need to break bread (and by bread I mean an unsalted kale chip) with others and science rubs salt in the wound by saying that being lonely is equivalent to smoking a pack a day, it’s a pretty discouraging prognosis. Not only discouraging, but seemingly judgmental. As if the non-stop highlight reel of engagement announcements on Facebook and Instagram weren’t reminder enough of our relationship status, as singletons, the Food Guide comes out sounding like your aunt at family gatherings, “So, when are you going to settle down? You’re not getting any younger, you know.”
Well Auntie Food Guide, I’m planning to “settle down” when I find someone worthy of my goddamn delicious cooking.
Blood Orange Mezcal Sour
- 1 1/2 oz mezcal
- 1 oz Averna
- 1 oz blood orange juice, freshly squeezed
- 1/2 oz lime juice, freshly squeezed
- 1 large egg white
- 2 dashes Angostura bitters
-
Combine all ingredients except bitters in a cocktail shaker. Shake vigorously for 30 seconds until frothy. Add ice. Shake for additional 30 seconds or until shaker is frosty.
-
Strain into chilled coupe glass. Top with two dashes of Angostura bitters and use tooth pick or cocktail pin to create design by pulling bitters through egg white foam.
