I know, I know, I know. It’s October. But I have a cocktail I associate with warm weather anyway. The Americano Cocktail is a sophisticated blend of Campari and sweet vermouth made light and sparkly with plenty of club soda. It conjures up exotic European warm-weather locales in my mind.
But you see I spent the weekend in Palm Springs. We drank Americanos because we got to talking about cocktail lore. What else do you talk about at cocktail hour?
So in honor of (yet another) poolside cocktail hour, I’ve got another wacky story from the crazy days of the American Prohibition. Now, remember, alcohol was pretty much illegal– that was the point of Prohibition– but there were loopholes and people found them.
This story starts with everyday Americans flocking for the first time in massive numbers to Europe for vacation. Prohibition played a role in their travel plans. For some, chasing the elusive cocktail was an important priority of their holiday. American visitors to Italy were introduced to Campari once arrived. Campari is a complex bitter aperitif that had the reputation of having some medicinal value. An elixir if you will.
Well, “ailing” Americans pretty quickly discovered their favored preparation of this elixir. It was a simple combination of Campari and sweet vermouth.
It was originally developed in the 1860s at Gaspare Campari’s bar in Milan, Italy where the drink was known at the time as the Milano-Torino because of the origins of its ingredients.
Well, the longer Prohibition went on the “sicker” Americans got! Pretty soon so many Americans were taking the “Campari Cure” that they renamed the drink the Americano.
It came to be that Campari was so well-accepted as a healthful remedy with medicinal purposes that those with willing “doctors” were even able to get “prescriptions” of the stuff to take back home with them– just enough Campari to help them ride out the sickness known as Prohibition.
Americano Cocktail serves 1 CLICK here for a printable recipe
- 1 oz Campari
- 2 oz sweet vermouth
- 3 oz club soda
- 1 lemon or orange twist as garnish
Stir the Campari and vermouth together in a mixing glass half-filled with ice cubes. Strain into an ice-filled old-fashioned glass. Top with club soda. Twist the lemon or orange slice over the drink, and drop it in. Serve with a swizzle stick.
SERIOUS FUN FOOD
Greg Henry
Sippity Sup
[…] 7. Americano Cocktail […]
Cough cough! I think I need a cure. 😉 I’ve read that people used to get doctor’s prescriptions for booze — for medicinal purposes — during Prohibition. Love this cocktail! Fun read — thanks.
I raised two sons and always had dogs. We had ‘scheduled’ poop patrol ‘dooties’ in our own yard, and of course, on walks. There is ALWAYS someone in the neighborhood who is not as considerate. Your hilarious post reminded me of those days. Thanks for the laugh 🙂
I just about peed myself reading this one! — S
Is “Quit trying to look at porn on my wifi, that’s what the library computers are for” too many characters? ha ha
Well who do you think you are? Me? Writing about my neighbors (which I did recently while dining on purple potato skins topped with artisinal somethingoranothers) has caused something of a bru ha ha in these parts. As soon as I read this I had to go to my iPad and check to be sure there were no messages there waiting for me. There weren’t and I was so relieved!
l‑o-l. That is a brilliant way of broadcasting to the locals to keep their fuzzy friends in check. Wonder if we can leave a message to whoever owns the cat that keeps leaving gruesome bird parts all over the place??
Oh, gee! I didn’t mind the topic at all–I enjoyed reading about your sleuthing. In my neighborhood, dogs are not the problem–horses are. Horses are revered here and there are trails for them all over the neighborhood. Very rarely, but it happens, they leave their mark on our street (it happened yesterday). Not a pretty sight, for sure!
Since all of us at school are on the same wireless router, there are none of funny, subtext-infused wireless names. But we all can see each other’s iTunes accounts. And playlists. So THERE is where the fun begins.
Maybe you should have introduced the new neighbor to the potential serial killer old dude neighbor. Then she would have thought that you were downright peaches-and-creamy.
I like the new direction: less food, more poo! And since poo starts out as food, it all works out in the end (literally).
So funny, I’m laughing out loud. I live in a suburb of a zillion dogs, and there is a guy I call Humpty Dumpty (his body) who walks this dog and allows said dog to “sh…) on anyone’s yard Picks a different one every day, mine, next door, never cleans it up. . As soon as I see him, I chase downstairs to run after him and always miss HD. I’m going to get this guy one of these days. Now just look at what I’ve turned into. A regular Mrs. Kravitz. Don’t underestimate the poo of a chihuahua. I have one of those yappers!
Riviting story! I’m not kidding — was on the edge of my seat through the whole thing. Love your writing and you are so incredibly funny! LOVE THIS!
writing stories after you’ve had too much to drink Greg??? very entertaining, now go have some black coffee
i was at the hollywood market today, walking around sulking… thought i might run into you, but no 🙁 then i thought wish i had your number, maybe you would be making some fab football food…
Hilarious — you are a talented writer. At first I thought I was reading an old post… isn’t there another post where you knocked on the neighbor’s door for something?
I’ve got a few things I’ve been meaning to tell my neighbors too — to the router edit screen I go! 🙂
Hilarious! I wonder what she *does* wear to weddings. Please find out for me. Oh, wait. You’re not welcome at her house because you are Unbalanced.
And you’re a great food writer, but this post is Fantastic. Bwah!!! (See there?)
I figured I could type that subject since we’re talking about poo. People who don’t pick up after their dogs drive me up the wall.
I take Charlie our little cavoodle to the beach every afternoon at 4 to toss the ball and play with his friends. If I wait til 4:01 he’s beside himself. How does he know when 4:00 is anyway? He just does. I go armed with poo bags and there are free poo bag dispensers at nearly every beach stairway about 250′ apart. There is NO excuse to find poo on the beach but we do. It drives me nuts. People like this will spoil it for everyone and we won’t have 2 miles of dog beach 5 minutes from our house.
Good luck sorting out the culprit. I think we need pics of Mogli.
thank you for that much needed laugh. I need to remember this when assigning a name to our next internet. and I need to get to know our neighborhood dogs better?
awesome!!
Great idea I had not thought of Greg. Time to name mine ‘I see your dog poo in my garden.’ Thanks for ending my day with a dose of giggles.
oh my goodness thats funny
You have such a gift of storytelling!
Now, that’s a hoot!
F*cking hilarious. I have two kids under the age of 6 and two dogs, so poop is a constant source of conversation over here. Lovely, huh? I will have you know, however, that we are very responsible poop picker uppers. I even spend extra money on scented nags. TMI? Happy Saturday to you, Greg.