Pearlie, with her husband Mattie, is responsible for two things. The biggest hangover I’ve ever had from a wedding and one of the most elegant weddings I have ever attended.
I met Pearlie through Damien about 10 years ago and we’ve flitted in and out of each other’s lives ever since. It’s been a friendship full of laughs, late nights and fabulous food… and Pearlie’s wedding reception was no exception.
From the Bollinger poured and liberally maintained on arrival, through to the traditional tea ceremony and culminating in the wedding cake made of cheese wheels, it was truly a feast in every sense of the word. It’s also where the only decent photo of Damien I was taken.
We popped in the other day for a lockdown Italian night to belatedly celebrate Pearlie’s birthday; nibbles of meat, tapenade and grissini, pizzas made by Mattie, and gelato. We were in charge of the booze.
What do you make one of London’s most elegant women to celebrate her birthday? You need something with a deep richness, a hint freshness, a powerful hit and a lot of elegance. It’s time for a one-way ticket to Cooperstown.
The Cooperstown is a delightfully easy cocktail with four ingredients and a lot of refinement. The deeply rich vermouth mix, cut with the gin, is pepped up with the undercurrent of mint whose flavour lingers longer than you’d imagine. It’s freshness begs you to take another sip… Here’s how you make it.
Music to listen to while preparing the cocktail: ‘Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu’ (Volare) by Domenico Modugno
Ingredients
- 1/3 Dry gin
- 1/3 Martini Rosso
- 1/3 Martini Bianco Extra Dry
- 2 Sprigs mint, plus extra for serving
Method
- Pour the ingredients over ice, add the mint and shake.
- Strain into glasses and serve with a mint top in each glass.
Despite having only four ingredients, there are many versions of this cocktail the three below are, top to bottom, from ‘The Cocktail Bar’ (1960), ‘Cocktails: How to mix them’ (1922) and .‘The Savoy Cocktail Book’ (1930)
Pug's Kitchen 