SpiceLines

Atmosphere is important of course. Poet Susan Donnelly, cited in The Global Province Letter, captures the ideal moment:

“Sunday in late December/calls for one, with a celery stalk/ and faint taste of Worcestershire/to be sipped while eating/ poached egg and corned beef hash,/in a hotel dining room/with someone you love….”

But our resident drinking man—aka Mr. B—has also been thinking hard about the Bloody and its ingredients. In “Remaking Bloody Marys,” he lauds David Embury’s “commonsense…recipe – 6 parts tomato juice, 1 part vodka, a few drops of Tabasco, Worcestershire, or A1 Sauce, maybe a touch of lemon juice or lemon slice—[as] the right starting point.“

But even Mr. Purist says you can improve on these basics. This is where ingredients that tweak the formula just a little come into play. Mixes are absolutely verboten, but he has found that as a base, thin tomato juice—often a store brand that is 100 percent juice—makes a better Bloody than thicker ones. For one thing you can taste the vodka. For another, you can add pickled okra and other munchables without turning the drink into a meal.

B has also ditched the ubiquitous celery stalk for a spritely scallion. But his biggest discovery is the way that freshly grated horseradish revs up the drink, especially in winter.

Right now you can probably find the big, ungainly root, often encrusted with dirt, at your local supermarket. Originating in Central Asia, horseradish is a member of the Brassica family which also includes mustard, wasabi, broccoli and cabbages. According to Harold Magee in On Food and Cooking, grating fresh horseradish root damages the cells, activating defense compounds that create “pungency,” which he describes as "neither a taste nor a smell, but a general feeling of irritation that verges on pain.”

Pain of this sort is pleasurable, of course, making it a nifty addition to a cocktail. Taste freshly grated horseradish and, besides that “irritating” sensation, you’ll find a deep underlying sweetness, along with a hint of the brassy, bitter flavors we associate with its family of vegetables. You won’t get this kind of complexity in the bottled stuff, by the way.

As long as you start with the classic proportions and basic ingredients—one part vodka to six parts tomato juice—you can tweak the winter Bloody Mary to your palate’s content. In place of Tabasco, you might muddle a green Thai or serrano chile in the bottom of your glass. Pour in the vodka, let it sit for a bit, then remove the chile and proceed with a splash of lime juice, Worcestershire, horseradish and maybe a few thin radish slices. Stir and serve with a green scallion. This makes a brighter, fresher Bloody than Embury’s classic.

But my real winter favorite involves sassy Southern-style pickled veggies. Fill your glass with ice—big cubes will last longer than small ones and won't dilute your drink—and toss in a couple of pickled green cocktail tomatoes—the Tomolives brand is luscious—along with a few cocktail onions and a pickled okra or two. Splash a little of the vinegar from the okra jar into the tomato juice along with the vodka. Stir and pour over the ice. Let the flavors mellow for a few minutes before serving.

These are just two ideas. I’d also like to try adding a little blood orange juice to the tomato, for example, or freshly grated wasabi root, a cousin of the horseradish. And then I could sprinkle in a little of the soy sauce-infused sea salt that's been languishing in the pantry. The possibilities, if not infinite, are many.

Once you’ve made the perfect Bloody, where will you drink it? Today, we enjoyed ours, nibbling on thin prosciutto sandwiches, sitting at the kitchen table, looking out at the “Vesuvius” plum tree which we planted this morning. A howling wind buffeted the little sapling, tossing its slender branches to and fro.

In time the tree will be covered with frilly mauve blossoms and deep purple leaves. But from the vantage point of the kitchen table, Bloody Mary in hand, the view was perfect today.

Here’s looking at you, kid.

Winter Bloody Mary with Fresh Horseradish, Thai Chile and Scallion

To make one cocktail:

Ingredients:
1 green Thai or serrano chile, halved and seeded, if desired
1 ounce vodka
6 ounces tomato juice
½ teaspoon freshly grated horseradish root, or to taste (see note)
6 drops Worcestershire sauce, or to taste
Squeeze of lime juice, to taste
Pinch of sea salt (optional)
Freshly ground black pepper (recommended)
One scallion, roots trimmed, for garnish

Method:
1. In a mixing glass, muddle the green chile and pour in the vodka. Let the mixture sit for about 5 minutes so the chile can release its heat.
2. Pour in the tomato juice and stir. Add the horseradish, Worcestershire sauce, lime juice and sea salt (if using) and stir. Remove the chile, if you like.
3. Fill the serving glass with 2 to 3 large square ice cubes. (See note) Pour the tomato-vodka mixture over the ice. Grind a little black pepper over the drink.
4. Smash the white bulb of the scallion with the back of a chef’s knife and add to the Bloody Mary as a garnish. Let the drink sit for a minute or two before serving so that the flavors can mellow.

Note: For freshly grated horseradish, cut a one-inch piece from the root, peel and grate using a microplane. You can find Tovolo's King Cube ice tray at Amazon.

Southern Bloody Mary with Pickled Okra, Green Tomatoes and Onions
At the last minute, I added a little Turkish urfa pepper to the drink. I like it because it is flaky and it adds a slightly smoky heat to the Bloody Mary. But you could substitute freshly ground black pepper if you prefer.

To make one cocktail:

Ingredients:
1 ounce vodka
6 ounces tomato juice
½ teaspoon freshly grated horseradish, or to taste
6 drops Worcestershire sauce, or to taste
1-1/2 teaspoons pickled okra juice (see below), or to taste
Pinch of sea salt (optional)
2 pickled green tomatoes (Tomolives brand) (see note)
3 bottled cocktail onions, in vermouth (Miss Scarlett brand) (see note)
1 pickled okra, mild or spicy (Talk O’ Texas brand) (see note)
Pinch of Turkish urfa pepper or freshly ground black pepper (optional)
1 pickled okra on skewer, for garnish

Method:
1. In a mixing glass, combine the vodka, tomato juice, horseradish, Worcestershire sauce, pickled okra juice and sea salt, if using, and stir well to combine.
2. Fill the serving glass with 2 to 3 large square ice cubes. Add the pickled green tomatoes, cocktail onions and pickled okra to the glass.
3. Pour the tomato-vodka mixture over the ice. Sprinkle a little urfa pepper over the drink if desired. Garnish with the skewer of pickled okra.
4. Let the drink sit for a minute or two before serving so that the flavors can mellow.

Note: Tomolives, Miss Scarlett's Drunken Cocktail Onions and Talk O' Texas Okra Pickles can all be purchased on line. You may also find the okra pickles in your local supermarket.