Mardi Gras at Bayou Bar
It may be hard to imagine America’s deep south when you’re no further down the Northern Line than Tooting. But things are changing in what is rapidly emerging as the new foodie heart of the capital.
Bayou Bar promises to bring a New Orleans party to Tooting Broadway Market, and boy do they deliver on that bold claim. It is the first permanent restaurant site from the team behind Street Food Union and Slingin’ Po Boys, and their combined experience really does show when it comes to giving the punters what they actually want.
The vibrant, buzzy venue has a casual dive bar vibe, with jazz, rhythm and blues bands playing live at the weekends, but nothing is left to chance when it comes to the booze, which these lads are clearly taking very seriously indeed.
The small but perfectly formed drinks menu, created by the team’s clever in-house mixologist Toby Steinberg, includes authentic American cocktails like The Hurricane, The Sazerac and frozen Daiquiri’s from a grown up slushy machine.
Do yourself a favour and check out this vibrant new addition to the market, but if you can’t make to London’s deep south then you can follow these simple recipes and celebrate Mardi Gras on March 5th in your own kitchen!
The Hurricane
Ingredients:
× 1 x shot measure of dark rum
× 1 x shot measure of spiced rum
× 1 x shot measure of lemon juice
× 1 x shot of passion fruit syrup
Method:
× In the tallest fanciest looking glass you can get your hands on, pour in the dark rum, the spiced rum the lemon juice and the passion fruit syrup.
× Fill to the top with crushed ice, and furiously muddle (covering the top of the glass using your hand and a napkin will aid in not making too much of a mess). (This must be done with the longest and most decorative family spoon you have.)
× Top up the glass with crushed ice, then garnish with the orange.
× The final and most important step – take the umbrella and pull it through your hand to mimic a hurricane struck umbrella.
× Sit back, relax, repeat.
The Sazerac
Ingredients:
× Half a tablespoon of sugar syrup
× 5 dashes of Peychauds bitters
× 1 dash of angostura bitters
× 60ml of Rye Whiskey
× 10ml Absinthe – to wash glass
Method:
Grab yourself a fancy short class, with plenty of decoration and fill with ice cubes. Pour in the absinthe – this is just used to add fragrance to the drink
× While the glass chills, add all the other ingredients into a cocktail shaker (or a tall pint glass you’re not feeling too fancy).
× Top to the brim with ice cubes, and with the longest most decorative family spoon, stir 30 times. No more, no less. Doing this give you the best dilution of water from the melting ice.
× Grab your chilled fancy glass, chuck the ice and absinthe away – have a sniff of the glass at this point, you’ll be able to smell the lingering absinthe.
× Strain the drink into the absinthe rinsed glass, and garnish with a twist of peel – to give that orange aroma.
