Tamarind Whiskey Sour

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Tamarind Whiskey Sour. Oil on panel, 12" x 12".

I had my first tamarind whiskey sour at an Indian restaurant in Portland, Oregon a year or so ago. Mixology (the project) didn't exist yet. It was so delicious, though, that later I looked for a recipe online. I found one on Bon Appetit's website, and noticed it was contributed by someone in Portland. That someone, it turned out, was chef Andy Ricker, owner of Portland's famous Pok Pok Thai restaurant. 

It was this drink that gave me the idea to start a second book of original recipes and twists on classics from the Pacific Northwest. I contacted Pok Pok, and they were kind enough to give me permission to use the recipe. A few weeks ago I went to the source and had the drink at Pok Pok's bar, looking for inspiration for the painting.

But this painting had been swirling around in my head for a while, and I already knew what I wanted to put in the painting. So in went the statuary Buddha hand and brass shaker, even though Pok Pok is modern and non-traditional. But hey. Their recipe, my painting.

Below is the 6" x 6" sketch that brought me out of my painting funk. It's for sale at Daily Paintworks.

Tamarind Whiskey Sour Study. oil on panel, 6" x 6". Sold. 

Pegu Club

Pegu Club. Original oil on panel, 12" x 12".

Mixology was supposed to have eighteen recipes. Now it has nineteen.

A delicious birthday dinner with my parents at Mizuna (home of the future Mixology release party) introduced me to a new (to me) drink: the Pegu. Jinkies! Where had it been all my life?!? Before the main course arrived, the Pegu was researched and found to be the house cocktail of the Pegu Club in 1930s Burma, and a perfect candidate for the vintage drinks collection.

The next day, armed with birthday cash and searching for a depression glass juicer at the always-amazing United Hillyard Antique Mall, I stumbled upon an antique Indian brass-and-enamel shaker tucked away in a dark corner of a low cabinet. I'd already looked for one of these for the next book, but the very few examples for sale online had been snapped up. Upon seeing this one, I just about fell over. Conveniently, Burma (Myanmar) borders India, so there you have it. 

I tested the Savoy version of the recipe on myself, loved it, and that was that. To include the Tasters, however, a Pegu Club dinner with curry soup ensued---after I finished the painting. To my regret. In my defense, there is a deadline. But Kate, it turns out, is an enthusiastic polisher of all things brass. She wiped the dust off of our ancient container of polish, and this happened:

Shaker pre-Kate

Shaker Kate-ified

Oh well. There will always be more paintings requiring an Indian shaker...

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