Dunkirk Spirit: Paul Feig X The Rake Cocktail Column
THE RAKE’s cocktail general introduces a military-inspired tipple with which you can honour the sacrifices made by heroes of yesteryear.
When Tom Chamberlin, the Editor-in-Chief, told me this issue of The Rake would celebrate the 80th anniversary of V.E. Day, I was excited at the prospect of presenting a military-inspired cocktail. But as I sat down to write this column, I realised it was going to be a challenge. “War is hell,” the American Civil War general William Tecumseh Sherman famously said, and yet cocktails are supposed to be the opposite. (Though I had a few hangovers in my twenties that were definitely the work of the devil. Advice: never consume copious amounts of beer, tequila, red wine and grappa in a two-hour period. Ever.) Stories about cocktails should be fun, yet the subject of war, evidently, is anything but.
It's a delicious blend of boozy flabours that on paper look like they won't work together.
My father and uncle fought in world war II, and they had many heart-wrenching stories of lost friends and shattered lives. My mother grew up in Canada, and would wistfully talk about the young men she knew growing up who were killed flying combat runs over Germany. It was precisely because of the sacrifices made by so many that we’re able to give thanks to the brave men and women who made V.E. Day possible. What, then, is a better way to celebrate the heroes who fought for our freedoms than to raise a glass or two in their honour?
There’s a lot of cocktails that have military-inspired names. A glance through an old copy of the Mr. Boston Bartender’s Guide uncovers drinks such as Artillery, Depth Charge, Gunfire, the Army & Navy and the Jet Pilot, to name a few. They are inspired either by the fact they were drinks served during wartime (Gunfire is a cup of black tea with one shot of rum, served in the 1890s by the British army to lower-ranking soldiers) or because they pack a munitions-sized punch.
The most famous (and delicious) of these is the French 75. Named after the 75mm Pack Howitzer field gun used in world war I — famous for its accuracy and the kick it made when it fired — the French 75 is a delicious blend of gin, lemon juice, syrup and champagne. It earns its name because it’s quite a kick in the head: it goes down dangerously smoothly and with deceptive innocence. In other words, if you drink a couple sitting down, you’ll have an interesting time standing up, battlefield or no battlefield.
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Light Infantry • 2 oz. rye whiskey |
Since it’s V.E. Day, why not donate to one of the many worthy veterans charities out there, like the Fisher House Foundation (www.fisherhouse. org), which funds a network of more than 99 comfort homes where military and veterans families can stay at no cost while a loved one receives medical treatment. We owe our freedom to those who fought on our behalf, so let’s pay it back.
