In the Cupboard

Avery and Janet Glasser, prodigal makers of Bittermens Bitters, have relocated their facilities to the ever-more boozy borough of Brooklyn—or re-relocated, as Bittermens started out in Brooklyn before spending a few years transplanted in Boston. Burlesque Bitters is the first new concoction since the Glassers’ return to the fold.

Goings on about the Bitters

The new concoction was released just ahead of Valentine’s Day with what I take to be an appeal to blushing lovers to undertake mixological experiments on one another. Avery says the “burlesque” preceded the bitters:

“This is one of those flavors that just came about based on a friend mentioning the word burlesque during our first big bottling session after we restarted Bittermens. As soon as we started talking about Burlesque, it evoked a color and texture—red velvet, like a curtain at a stage show. Once the color and texture were decided upon, we started thinking about flavors that would evoke that feeling, and eventually developed this formula.”

Avery describes the flavor as floral and tart, though to me there’s a bit more to it than that. The bitter element is very strong, with a long, pitchy-peppery flavor that comes through clearly in the aroma, and more subtly in the taste.

The simplicity of the production process belies the complexity of the product: “steep herbs, roots, peels and spices in high proof neutral grain spirits, filter and dilute.” Hibiscus flowers and açaí berries comprise the main ingredients of these bitters, though they are bolstered by over a dozen other flavor components. The Burlesque Bitters are a unique concoction and a new endeavor for Bittermens:

“This is the first time where we attempted to play with bitter and tart flavors together, so coming up with a working balance that made tart a supporting flavor, not the dominant component, was necessary. However, once we figured out how to layer the flavors, it was just a matter of tweaking some of the components.”

Cocktail Recipe with Burlesque Bitters

But what to do with this tarty new addition to the cocktail world? The Glassers recommend gin, genever, rum, vermouth, and Italian amaros.

But Lord God above, putting bitters in amaro evokes for me some turducken-like contraption made by stuffing dynamite into a firecracker. Avery insists “these all play extremely well with these bitters. Certain scotches and tequilas also work extremely well.” Tequila has not worked out so well for us, with several attempts at cocktails coming off discordant and odd. Avery insists that he finds that the smokier mescals or richer reposados make for a good tryst with the Burlesque. I’ll grant that Burlesqued tequila evokes a border town saloon with high-kicking ruffles and smoke and player pianos—and that conjures a thirst.

Generally speaking, Bittermens Burlesque Bitters is a distinctive–or maybe seductively weird is the word–and absolutely necessary addition to the bitters world; elements of razzle-dazzle ricocheting off a sophisticated reserve… what I might venture to call the hallmark of the Glassers’ expertly crafted products.

Thomas Waugh of Death + Company in New York offers this recipe inspired by Bittermens Burlesque Bitters:

The Gold Baron

1½ oz bourbon (Eagle Rare 10)
½ oz Laird’s 100 Proof Applejack
½ tsp grenadine
½ tsp sugar cane syrup
1 barspoon* Burlesque Bitters

Stir and serve on the rocks (or on one large rock if possible) without any garnish.

These bitters would also be an excellent complement for a Negroni, for those of us with more modest home bars. Equal parts gin, sweet vermouth, and Campari topped off with a dash or two of Burlesque Bitters and garnished with a slice of orange – voilà!

You can buy the entire line of Bittermens bitters from The Meadow, retail and wholesale.

*A barspoon is a long handled spoon designed to reach the bottom of a tall glass. The measurement is equivalent to a teaspoon.

markbitterman :: Mar.02.2011 :: Drink, Recipes :: No Comments »

Next Monday is Valentine’s Day!

The Meadow has everything you need to shower your loved one with affection and deliciousness. Our Portland, New York, and online shops are offering plenty of new arrivals, as well as some romantic gift sets curated to make your Valentine’s Day bright and lovely.

• Classes: A few spots still open for the next three Portland classes:
  • Tonight! Introduction to Artisan Salts – $20
  • Feb 10, Artisan Chocolate from Bean to Bar (including Moonstruck’s Fortunato #4 bar written up in the New York Times!) – $30
  • Feb 17, Himalayan Salt Block Class – $30
• Heart-shaped salt cellars by the Portland-based ceramic artist, Chayo
• Alaskan sea salt – crunchy, clear and fresh – a dazzling new American salt
• Sparkling wines and Champagnes aplenty (Portland shop only)
• Cocktail bitters selection is growing – and Cherry Bark Vanilla by Bittercube is back in stock!
• Stylish chocolate and caramel boxes from the inventive mind of Michael Recchiuti
• Artisan du Chocolat – just off the boat, a huge spread of wild new chocolate bars, from a lustrous Tobacco-infused bar to the silky-deep Costa Rica dark bar
• Olive & Sinclair – try the beautifully wrapped Salt & Pepper chocolate bar by this new chocolate maker out of Nashville
• A variety of gift sets orchestrated from choice chocolates, salts, wines, bitters, and flowers

Featured Chocolate: The beautifully boxed bars by Cacao Atlanta are not to be missed. This bean-to-bar chocolate maker from the South takes a laudably personal approach to chocolate. Kristen Kard, founder and chocolatier, meets the growers of the beans she selects and takes great care in producing each bar to create a chocolate she calls “dreamy, delicate and like nothing ever tasted before in the world of chocolate.” We love them. Both of her “Straight Up” dark bars and the Hispaniola bar with dried cherries have stunningly rich profiles, with deep notes of cherries, tobacco and exotic spices. You can tell that these bars are made with immense love.

Valentine’s Day Cocktail Set: Letting our mixological minds run wild, we’ve concocted a Valentine’s Day Chocolate Manhattan that upholds all the ideas of the classic cocktail, but with complex chocolaty twist. This set is ideal for cocktail enthusiasts or anyone whose perfect Valentine’s Day involves wooing their loved one with a top-notch cocktail at home. we’ve assembled everything you’ll need to make Valentine’s Day Chocolate Manhattans, except your bourbon or rye of choice. The set includes a bottle of the fabulously herbaceous Vya Sweet Vermouth, Robert Lambert’s Dark Cherries soaked in Merlot, the Fee Brother’s Aztec Chocolate Bitters, and a jar of Mark’s very own Chocolate Fleur de Sel. (To stay on the right side of New York’s liquor laws, The New York shop offers a tasty variation, substituting Bittermens’ legendary Xocolatl Mole Bitters for the vermouth and Fee Brother’s.)

Ingredients for one serving:
2 oz Bourbon or Rye (approximately one shot)
1 oz Vya Sweet Vermouth
3 dashes Chocolate Bitters
1 Robert Lambert Dark Cherry soaked in Merlot, plus a few drops of the cherry
juice
Bitterman’s Chocolate Fleur de Sel for the rim

To prepare the glasses:
Chill each glass
Moisten the rim with vermouth and coat with chocolate salt

To mix the drink:
Mix the bourbon, vermouth, bitters and cherry juice. Stir, then immediately pour. Garnish with a cherry and serve. Be sure to breathe in deeply, savoring the chocolate-spice aroma before imbibing. Prepare for an outbreak of adoration.

Happy Valentine’s!

XOX – Mark & Jennifer

markbitterman :: Feb.07.2011 :: Newsletter Archive :: No Comments »

Savor the New Year at The Meadow!

• 6 New Classes on salt, chocolate and cocktail mixing in New York and Portland (below)
• Off the boat: tons (literally) of new Himalayan Salt Blocks to wow your unsuspecting dinner guests
• Introducing Napiers Bitters! & Intriguing new cocktail bitters favors: Bittermen’s Burlesque Bitters & Dr. Adam Elmegirab’s Spanish Bitters
• New Kala Namak rocks for shaving – you’ll never view popcorn the same way again
• Dazzling new chocolate bars: for example Patric (Dark Milk, 70% Blend, & PB&J!) and Askinosie’s Tanzania 72%

Popular Himalayan Salt Block sizes back in stock! From the adorable and practical 4x4x.75 inch dish to the impressive and versatile 10x10x2 inch plate. We even finagled a few of the truly immense 9x18x2 inch platters. All are available in budget-oriented Tableware Grade (serving fruits, vegetables, charcuterie, cheese, sashimi) and premium Cookware Grade (searing fish, game, beef, etc).

Napiers Bitters, Scotland’s famed remedy for what ailes you and an unexplored vista of flavors for cocktail mixing, now available in the USA at The Meadow! Napiers Best British Bitters, Napiers Detox Formula Blend, Napiers Dinner Mint Mixture, and the traditional blend Hangover Hotchpotch. And if you’ve ever spent a night barhopping your way through 20 lowland single malts with mad Edinburgh bike messengers, there’s the beautifully packaged duo of liquid salvation: the Napier’s Vintage Overindulgence Set.

Salt, Chocolate & Cocktail Classes at The Meadow – Portland & New York

Bitters and Vermouth Class – Portland
Mon, January 24 - 6:30 to 8:00 – $30.00
Bitters and vermouth, the two powerhouses of flavor in the world of cocktail mixing. Gone are the days when a sticky bottle of supermarket-industrial vermouth gathered dust in the back of the cupboard, and the bitters bottle lurked eternally, an ancient thing forgotten in the shadows.

Himalayan Salt Block Cooking Class – Portland
Wed, January 26 – 6:30 to 8:00 – $30.00
Join us for an evening at The Meadow learning the fundamentals of preparing food on 600 million year old salt blocks from Pakistan. Cook and taste a variety of foods, from the familiar to the eccentric. Includes snacks and wine.

An Introduction to Artisan Salt – New York
Sat, January 29 – 7:00 to 8:30 – $30.00
Selmelier Mark Bitterman is your guide on this world tour of artisan-made finishing salts. Learn the ABCs of NaCl in its many forms, marvel at the synergy of food and salt unfolding on your palate. We’ll also sneak peek at cooking on Himalayan Salt Blocks. The event includes wine. Space is very limited, so sign up quick!

Himalayan Salt Block Cooking Class – New York
Mon, January 31 – 7:00 to 8:30 – $30.00
Learn the principles of creating, cooking, and presenting on your salt block; from cold appetizers and snacks to sautéed vegetables and meats, and even unusual salty-sweet desserts. Class includes snacks and wine, and everything you ever wanted to know (or never knew you always wanted to know) about cooking on plates, bricks, and bowls of Himalayan Pink salt. Wine sipping included.

Artisan Chocolate, from Bean to Bar – Portland
Thurs, February 10 – 6:30 to 8:00 – $30.00
Chocolate bars are the ultimate way to experience the full complexity of chocolate, and the only way to explore the innumerable variations in color, aroma, mouth-feel, and flavor. Join us for an exploration of chocolate, from the humble bean to the polychrome-clad masterpieces calling like parrots from the shelves of your favorite chocolate shops. Wine will be sipped.

Himalayan Salt Block Cooking Class – Portland
Thurs, February 17th – 6:30 to 8:00 – $30.00
Learn and take part in the most unique way to serve, cook, and cure your food on blocks of primordial pink salt. Heating, freezing, cleaning, and storage will also be discussed. We will also explore the opportunity to create new flavor combinations by shaving Himalayan Pink salt with salt graters. Includes snacks and wine.

Happy New Year!
Mark & Jennifer

markbitterman :: Jan.13.2011 :: Newsletter Archive :: No Comments »

Come to The Meadow in New York (yes, our new shop is open!) for tasting and talk with two of the world’s chocolate legends: Francois Pralus and Stephane Bonnat. Both vanguards of the fiercely dedicated world of bean-to-bar chocolate making, their chocolate bars are at once dazzling and refined, innovative and classic. Francois and Stephane will share their passion, perspectives, and unique expertise on Friday and Saturday this week. Sorry for the last minute notice, but the opportunity just came up! Both classes are at our just-opened New York location at 523 Hudson Street. A third class at the New York shop, the Chocolate + Salt Exploration with Michael Recchiuti and Mark Bitterman, has sold out before we could get the announcement out, but we’ll do it again soon.

On the other coast, this Sunday at the Portland Art Museum Mark will investigate our primal obsession with salt, from humankind’s first salty bite to salt’s use in modern industry to the resurgent interest in artisan salts. Based on his new book, SALTED – A Manifesto on the World’s Most Essential Mineral, with Recipes. Registration is required, but tickets are free!

Later this month at The Meadow in Portland, you’re invited to join chocolatier David Briggs of Xocolatl de David and selmelier Mark Bitterman for a deliciously informative class on the art and alchemy of the salted caramel.

Francois Pralus – Maitre Chocolatier
Friday, Nov 12: Francois Pralus will share his experience as one of the few chocolate makers who actually owns a cacao plantation. But his interest in chocolate extends far beyond his own crops, and we will learn about his pursuit of the finest chocolate from across Latin America, Africa, East Asia, and Oceania. Francois obsession with chocolate has left little room for learning English, but his charm and smile more than make up for it, and we will have with us his two very capable assistants Valerie and Chloe Le Gaillard, who are proficient in both chocolate and English. Chocolate and wine included.
Friday, November 12 - 7:30 to 9:30 - $30.00 - 523 Hudson St., New York
Classes are very intimate, so please sign up immediately! Sign up here>>

Bonnat – Chocolatier à Voiron
Saturday Nov 13: Stephane Bonnat’s speaking almost rivals his superb chocolate.
Stephane’s English is very good and he infuses his talks with a lightness that makes the wealth of knowledge and precision most entertaining. He always speaks of the chocolate making process as a part of the broader world of cacao: the regions, the stories of the farmers, the long relationship of the Bonnat family and the growers (and governments) in Venezuela, Mexico, and Peru. Bonnat has just released four new, incredible chocolate bars (including a new bar from Haiti made with cacao harvested after the hurricane!), and we expect to have them on hand for the event. Chocolate and wine included.
Saturday, November 13 - 7:30 to 9:30 - $30.00 - 523 Hudson St., New York
Classes are very intimate, so please sign up immediately! Sign up here>>

Reading
from Salted : A Manifesto on the World’s Most Essential Mineral, with Recipes
Mark Bitterman will take you on a tour through the mysteries and majesty of salt. This lecture and reading is based on Bitterman’s new book, SALTED – A Manifesto on the World’s Most Essential Mineral, with Recipes, and surveys the historical, minerolgical, and culinary dimensions of salt.
Sunday, November 14 - 2:00 to 3:30 – FREE – Portland Art Museum. Register here>>

Recchiuti & Bitterman – Chocolate + Salt Exploration
Tuesday Nov 16: SOLD OUT Master chocolatier Michael Recchiuti and selmelier Mark Bitterman combine forces for an intimate class at The Meadow’s new West Village shop where they’ll show you what happens when chocolate and salt meet. The evening will include a discussion of the complex, powerful, and sometimes unexpected ways salt combines with chocolate and other sweets to create new, profound flavors. Chocolate, wine, and more included.
Tuesday, November 16th, 2010 – 7:30pm to 9:30 pm – $40 Per Person
SOLD OUT

Salted Caramels with Xocolatl de David
Tuesday Nov 30 & Thursday Dec 2: The amazing and ever-inventive David Briggs of Xocolatl de David will share his expertise in the art of making fine caramels, and Mark Bitterman of The Meadow will discuss the startling ways salt brings flavor to confections. David, whose love of chocolate is complemented in unexpected and delicious ways by an almost equally powerful attraction to savory flavors, always brings something new. We will sip a little wine, taste caramels with various quantities and types of salt, then sip a little more wine, and then taste some more. At the end of the evening, you will be taking home a little pot of freshly made salted caramel sauce!
Tuesday, November 30th, 2010 – 7:00pm to 9:00 pm – $25 Per Person
Thursday, December 2, 2010 – 7:00pm to 9:00 pm – $25 Per Person
Classes are very intimate (i.e small), so please sign up immediately! Sign up here>>

We hope to see you!

Mark & Jennifer

admin :: Nov.10.2010 :: Newsletter Archive :: No Comments »

Hi folks! All Himalayan salt blocks soon to be stacked in the courtyard in front of our shop will be marked half off our retail prices for one day. Come by this Sunday, August 15 to pick out your own lovely Himalayan salt block.
We’ll also have a whole field of fresh-cut locally grown dahlias. Buy your flowers by the bucket!

For those of you wondering… A Himalayan salt block is a 500 million year old slab of luminous pink salt quarried from a primordial salt deposit in Pakistan. Use your salt block to serve fruits and cheeses, or sashimi and pickled plum, for a beautiful presentation and a delicate salt-inflected taste. Heat your Himalayan salt block on the stove or BBQ grill and sear some ginger and chili marinated shrimp or dry aged hanger steak to salt-glazed perfection. More here>>

We’ll have huge piles of salt blocks in most popular sizes like 8x8x2 inches, and 9x9x2 inches, 9 inch round plates, a stack of our uniquely huge 8x16x2 and 9x18x2 salt platters, and some smaller pieces like our 4x8x2 bricks. All blocks in the sale are offered “as-is,” meaning you are free to use them for either serving and cooking (or both), but our normal replacement guarantees against breakage do not apply. This sale is at our shop location only.

We hope to see you this Sunday!

Mark & Jennifer

P.S. In the meantime, try our latest recipe: Thai Snapper with The Meadow Flake Sea Salt.

markbitterman :: Aug.13.2010 :: Newsletter Archive :: No Comments »