The soft tomato cocktails of Ambrose Heath transformed into Bloody Marys by the addition of vodka
Ambrose Heath apparently had not heard of the Bloody Mary when he wrote Good Drinks during 1939. He did, however, create three unaccountably soft cocktails based on tomato juice, all of them good so long as, seventy years on, vodka joins each mix.
“Tomato Cocktail (I)” is a sort of mild Creole take based on the Louisiana trinity of celery, onion and pepper.
- 3 cups tomato puree or sauce
- 2 chopped celery stalks
- 1 Tablespoon minced onion
- 1 tablespoon minced green pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- Simmer everything in a covered pot until the vegetables soften, usually in about 20 minutes.
- Strain the mixture and chill it before service with vodka over ice.
“Tomato Cocktail (II)” includes bracing doses of acid and raw onion. The formula yields a single drink and may be increased at constant proportion.
- 1 cup tomato juice
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 Tablespoon malt vinegar
- a severely bruised celery stalk
- ½ teaspoon celery seed
- 2 teaspoons minced onion
- dash of powdered bay or a crushed leaf
Notes:
-Heath squeezes his own tomato juice but canned will do. Clamato would be even better.
-He does not specify any particular, only “mild,” vinegar, omits the celery seed, specifies half the onion, adds 2 teaspoons of sugar and appears to have been unfamiliar with powdered bay.
-The original formula only steeps the mixture for 15 minutes, but if you are going to make the effort let the flavors marry and settle.
-A splash of hot sauce or chili vinegar improves the drink.
-So would Outerbridge Sherry Pepper Sauce, and you need not make it yourself.
-Chili vinegar, however, is easy to make. Just steep the chilis of your choice in the vinegar of your choice. Taste the vinegar each day to determine the level of heat you prefer or, for an evolutionary effect, leave the chilis in the vinegar. The heat level will increase over a fair amount of time before topping out.
The third, simplest, formula deserves full quotation:
“Tomato Cocktail (III)
Tomato juice
Dash of Yorkshire Relish ( see the Note)
Suspicion of Cayenne Pepper
Spot of Chilli Vinegar”
And, of course, the vodka.
Notes:
-The Yorkshire Relish likely refers to Henderson’s Relish, an inadvertently vegetarian (no anchovy) alternative to Worcestershire, which is a suitable substitute.
-Use the instruction in the notes for “Tomato Cocktail (ii) to make chili vinegar.
-The suspicion and the spot are characteristic of the playful Heath.