Well, I apparently paid way too much for it, having embroiled myself in a bidding war on eBay and being too stubborn to back out, but I finally have a copy of Ted Saucier’s saucy 1951 cocktail book, Bottom’s Up! For those of you who don’t know the book, it’s a hefty thing, at a pound and a half, 270 pages, and a trim size of 10.25 by 7 inches. (Yes, I’ve worked in publishing, why do you ask?)
I mention the book’s (ahem) ample nature to point out that it’s a serious volume, with a lot of recipes and a bunch of really good ones, to boot. One thing I love most, though, is the index. Arranged, in part, by main ingredient, it’s very handy. Want a gin drink? Find the Gin subheading and eat your heart out. It is, unfortunately, not cross-referenced, so if a recipe has, say, gin and rum, but rum is the main ingredient, you won’t find it under Gin.
“Whazzawha? Recipe with gin and rum?” you sez? Well, yes. And it’s a good drink. Well balanced, with the rum and gin complementing each other rather than fighting. Saucier terms this drink the Baroque, but given the political season in the USA, I’m calling this, rather obviously, the Baroque Obama, although it’s the same recipe as appears in Saucier (although I’m converting his 1 part lime, 2 parts rum, etc. into ounces).
Baroque Obama
Courtesy, The Baroque Restaurant, New York City
- 1 part [3/4 oz.] fresh lime juice
- 1/2 t. sugar
- 2 parts [1-1/2 oz.] Jamaican rum
- 1 part [3/4 oz.] gin
- 1 dash maraschino
Technique: Shake lime juice and sugar well. Add rum and gin [and ice]. Shake well and serve in iced glass. [As you can see from the picture, I served ours up, in a cocktail glass.] Float maraschino. [No garnish.]
I’ve learned very little about Ted Saucier. It appears he was once the publicist for the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in Manhattan, and he lived from 1896 to 1970, but beyond that, I’ve learned nothing.
Except that I shouldn’t get excited and overbid on a cocktail book.
OH, I almost forgot! There’s another reason Saucier’s book is so well-loved. I’ll share that tomorrow.
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Hi!
In lieu of overbidding on cocktail books, check out http://www.abebooks.com. It’s a website that compiles 100s of used book stores. THey almost always have what I’m looking for, including several cheap copies of “Bottoms Up.”
Hope that helps,
Marty
i say you update the cocktail one more notch by replacing one of the liquors with ‘kumi kumi,’ the oft-poisonous homemade liquor popular in Kenya, not only to underscore Obama’s heritage, but as a nod to the twin decline of the US dollar and the Kenyan shilling. yummers!
Both rum and gin in the same cocktail, while rare, can have a great result. Take the old Maiden’s Prayer, for example.
Thanks for the Obama cocktail and a great blog! We are just discovering cocktail blogs and can’t believe we’ve been missing out on so much! Thanks!
I worked for Ted Saucier in his PR office from February,1965 – May, 1966. He was quite an imposing individual. He was a very large man and loved to eat. We were in the process of putting together a cook book. I don’t think it was every published but I still have some of the recipes. They are very classic – just like the recipes in “Bottoms Up”. While I worked for him, he did PR for a clothing store called Lynn’s. They sold very inexpensive clothes. His big account was Norway Sardines. It wasn’t as glamorous as he may have wanted, but it paid the rent. He lived in Manhattan with his wife and I don’t think they had any children. He also maintained a friendship with Walter Pigeon. Walter was in the movie “Week-end at the Waldorf”. Ted was a “technical advisor”on the movie. It seemed to me that he lived in the past and missed his days at the Waldorf. Hope this gave you some insight into the man.