Spirit of Mardi Gras
29.12.2005, 20:12
"Fat Tuesday" -- refers to the last day of indulgence before the abstinence of Lent sets in.
But we all know that Mardi Gras is something different in New Orleans: parades, masked balls, Elvis impersonators and street parties.
At The Brown hotel, they're simpatico with the spirit of the Big Easy and will celebrate Mardi Gras by serving what is thought to be the first American cocktail, invented in the New Orleans.
The Sazerac, like many beverages, began in the hands of a pharmacist, Antoine Peychaud, who created a style of bitters that still bears his name.
Peychaud owned a pharmacy in the French Quarter in the 1830s and sold these bitters by day. By night, he would receive friends (according to the Sazerac company) and serve them a drink of brandy, absinthe and a dash of bitters.
He served the drink in an egg-cup, according to Jimmy Bannos and John DeMers, authors of "Big Easy Cocktails" (Ten Speed Press, $15.95). The cup is known as a coquetier in French, but "the pronunciation proved too much for the non-French who played a greater and greater role in the city's business and social life."
Coquetier eventually became "cocktail," and America's first cocktail was born. It became "Sazerac" after the name of the French brandy used in the drink. Later, the brandy was dropped and rye whiskey was used. The Sazerac name stuck.
Absinthe is a strong, green, anise-flavored liqueur of herbs perhaps made most famous by the group of artists that included Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec; Edouard Manet, who painted "The Absinthe Drinker"; and Vincent Van Gogh, who reportedly relieved himself of an ear under its influence.
For decades, absinthe was banned by various governments -- "absinthism" was blamed for soldiers deserting the French army in World War I -- for being highly addictive, a hallucinogen and more.
Though absinthe is available these days, many people use Pernod to lend the anise flavor to the Sazerac.
The Brown hotel will serve Sazeracs ($10) along with its ne plus ultra hot chocolate ($4) from 5 to 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday in the second floor lobby. They'll also give away samples of the famous Hot Brown sandwich. Bringing method to its Mardi Gras madness, The Brown will contribute all profits from the drinks to Home of the Innocents.