ACCIDENTAL ENGLISH by P.B. Lecron

In the French spirit. . .


Suffice it to say that English words have always had a way of creeping into the French language. Like week-end, e-mail or the less likely white spirit for paint thinner.

A French friend told me about a charming blooper she made in her younger, more innocent days when on a balcony having apéritifs before a dinner party, she accidentally brushed her skirt against some wet paint, peinture fraîche. (People are the same everywhere, always sprucing up at the last minute before having guests over.) 

When her host noticed the smudge on her skirt he asked her if she wanted some white spirit. Voulez-vous du white spirit? Thinking that it was a cocktail, she replied, "Oui, si vous en prenez un, aussi."  Yes, if you have one, too. . .

At apéritif time every Frenchman's grandmother used to serve Guignolet, a sweet cherry liqueur originating in Dijon. Gabriel Boudier, a French reference in fruit liqueurs, is given credit for creating Guignolet in 1874,  which is obtained by macerating the guigne cherry variety. Once a lady's apéritif of choice with its delicate cherry parfum and pretty ruby robe, the old-fashioned Guignolet which has long been relegated to the back of liquor cabinets, is inching its way forward as an inventive ingredient in cocktails and recipes.



For a very vintage apéritif, serve chilled at 8°C (46°F); or frappé poured over shaved ice. In cooking, lightly sautéed cherries are glazed with Guignolet for dessert toppings and fillings, or to accompany turkey, pheasant or duck.
 
Dessert idea: I think chilled Guignolet is best served over vanilla ice-cream.


Recipe for a Guignolo cocktail: 
In a champagne flute mix 3/10 natural cherry juice, 2/10 Guignolet, and 5/10 Champagne. Decorate with a preserved cherry or une cerise à l'eau de vie.
 

Apéritif, in French a masculine noun, is a drink taken before lunch or dinner to stimulate the appetite. Attention, there's the adjective form used to say une boisson apéritive. Or for short, the more youthful apéro (masculine noun).

For another easy cocktail recipe, see Recipe for a Hypocrite in the blog archives. http://a-french-education.blogspot.com/2009/09/recipe-for-hypocrite-by-pb-lecron.html

Text & photos ©2009 P.B. Lecron

RECIPE FOR A HYPOCRITE by P.B. Lecron

Courts 'n cocktails

When my friend, a kicky Parisian architect, and I heard on the news yesterday that a court had suspended a controversial restoration and renovation of the Hotel Lambert on the Ile Saint-Louis, we decided to celebrate.


My friend had been among the first to sign the petition to defend the elegant 17th century hôtel particulier (private mansion) against certain renovations that had been authorized this past June by the former Minister of Culture. Architects and historians maintain that the new owner's proposed excavation for an underground parking in the courtyard and the installation of an elevator and bath rooms would weaken the structure and denature this exceptionally beautiful, classified historic monument.


The Hotel Lambert, situated on the point of the Ile Saint-Louis, has long been a symbol of French refinement and culture, one where figures such as Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, George Sand and Frederic Chopin once lived and worked.

For our impromptu cocktail celebration we made a really simple but tasty drink, one my friend and a well-known French decorator (whose name I also decline to drop) say they invented and dubbed a Hypocrite.


Was it really a new cocktail?  What they did was simply disguise or hide their whiskey with chilled pink grapefruit juice, which of course gave reason to the name.


Text and photo ©2009 P.B. Lecron