I’m willing to bet you’ll need this cocktail over the festive season. Why? Because we’re about to embark - if we haven’t already - on an assault of the tastebuds. A pleasurable bombardment. Pastry, cheese, chocolate, trifle and an endless assortment of ‘picky bits’. We revel in it, immersing ourselves in a plunge pool of festive flavours and leftovers reimagined. A jubilant drenching that leaves tastebuds, inevitably, needing a factory reset.
Ho ho ho, it’s Discount Santa! A reminder that you can subscribe to a whole year of Flavour Nuggets for 25% off the regular price. Subscribing helps me continue cooking and writing, plus it gives you access to the entire archive, subscriber chats, and weekly exclusive recipes. This festive onslaught is akin to the ‘palate fatigue’ experienced by people who taste lots of wine - at the end of a particularly long tasting, all they want is a beer. They crave the aggressive carbonation and the sting of bitter hops to re-awaken their mouths. So, once you’re done with that dusty bottle of Bailey’s for another year, may I suggest it’s time to knock up a spicy marg? The pleasant prick of spice and shower of citrus is just what you’ll need to kick that flabby palate back into action. When did spicy margs take over? The mid-2000’s in the US apparently, which seems to ring true in my memory (as if that’s a reliable fact-checking source, lol). They were then popularised here thanks to the cult status of Soho House's ‘Picante’ - a drink so feverishly consumed and marketed it even has its own website. This iteration is a spicy marg with a festive touch of clementine, but the real nugget is the Clementine, Lime and Chilli Salt. It’s incredibly easy (and fast) to dry out grated citrus peels in the oven (Six! Minutes! Only!), which makes them perfect for combining with salt and chilli to use as a seasoning (or to rim a cocktail glass). This is a much better alternative than fresh zest which is too pungently oily for this purpose and will spoil.
I’d suggest this cocktail for any moment during your holidays - this is a non-judgmental space - but NYE does seem to present itself as a salient moment on the horizon. Me? I’ve been knocking them back since the 20th. Some other uses for the Clementine, Lime and Chilli Salt
The spice level of this will depend on the heat of your chilli, of course! Jalapeños tend to be fairly hot as standard, while your regular green chillies vary wildly. Clementine Spicy Margaritas 200ml tequila Clementine, Lime and Chilli Salt Preheat the oven to 150°C (fan). Place the zests on a baking tray lined with baking paper and cook for 3 minutes. Give the tray a shake about to separate any big clumps then return to the oven for another 3 minutes, or until dried out. Allow to cool, then combine with the salt and chilli flakes. Rim your glasses by scattering the salt mixture over a plate and rubbing the rim of each glass with a wedge of lime. Dunk each glass upside down into the salt until the rim is covered to your liking. To make the cocktail, combine half the clementine and lime juice and half the jalapeño slices in a cocktail shaker and muddle together - give it some welly to really break down the chilli. You’re using half quantities here as most cocktail shakers won’t accommodate 4 drinks at once. Add half the remaining ingredients along with a few cubes of ice and shake until the outside is cold and starts to bead up. Fill the glasses with a few cubes of ice and strain the cocktail over two of them, then repeat the method to make the final two drinks.
ARE YOU ‘LEFTOVERS READY’? Allow me:
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Tuesday, December 24, 2024
Flavour nugget #8: clementine spicy margaritas
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