TOMATOES
Great chefs – just like the best home cooks and cocktail creators – celebrate the seasons. MR. WHITE’S GIN, the spirit created by star chef Marco Pierre White, is embracing the abundance of seasonal produce available with a series of savoury cocktails, each using seasonal produce) as the hero, alongside this superb London Dry Gin.
These cocktail creations balance elegance with the unexpected and are a nod to Marco Pierre White’s culinary expertise. First up, as September arrives, we celebrate fresh, ripe and fragrant heirloom tomatoes.
Whether you buy your tomatoes from a farmer’s market or store, or have an abundance in your garden or allotment, Mr. White’s Garden cocktail is a delicious concoction. Get ahead by making a homemade Tomato Shrub in preparation for serving this drink.
Mr. White’s Garden
Ingredients
● 50ml Mr. White’s Gin
● 25ml homemade heirloom Tomato Shrub (see recipe below)
● 10ml dry vermouth
● 5ml sugar syrup (optional, depending on shrub acidity)
● Garnish: basil leaf
Method:
Tomato Shrub:
● 1 large heirloom tomato, very ripe, cut into 1-inch pieces (you want about 2 cups – about 360 gms)
● 235ml white wine vinegar or Champagne vinegar
● 200gms granulated sugar
● 8 basil leaves
● 8 black peppercorns
Mix everything together in a bowl and cover it tightly. Let it sit for 2-4 days, stirring every day to help dissolve the sugar. Once the sugar has dissolved, strain into a sterilised glass or ceramic container, and keep in the fridge for up to two weeks.
Method for the Cocktail: Shake all ingredients with ice and fine strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with a basil leaf.
Look out for MR. WHITE’S GIN – with its aptly tomato-red wax topper – at selected Sainsbury’s stores, Sainsburys.co.uk, Thresher’s, Fine Wines Direct, Master of Malt and other good online retailers priced at around £32.99 for a 70cl bottle
