Mixology at Home - The French Connection
RAPID CITY, S.D. (KEVN) - A hint - You don’t ever want to swim with the fish. But what about drinking like a mobster?
Today, we celebrate the start of the Prohibition Era and the birth of the modern mobster. Yes, a couple of days early since prohibition didn’t begin until Jan. 17, 1920. It lasted until Dec. 5, 1933.
There was a good reason that the Volstead Act was passed. America had a drinking problem, including beer breaks for construction workers. Also, before prohibition, there wasn’t a legal age limit for drinking.
Maybe that’s one of the reasons that this month has been dubbed Dry January. Dry January started in the UK in 2012; not sure when it spread across the Pond. Some of the health benefits cited are better sleep, more energy, and weight loss.
When the month ends, if you return to whetting your whistle, do it in moderation. There is no making up for lost time. Also, if you find that your health has taken a turn for the better ... maybe continue abstaining.
Full disclosure, I am not participating in Dry January. Now ... back to the bar.
Prohibition gave birth to the modern mobster. We already had gangsters (such as the Five Points gang called the Dead Rabbits) but prohibition took them to a whole new level. Off-topic, there is a good bar in NYC named The Dead Rabbit, well worth a stop.
So, let’s drink like a mobster.
How about “Say Hello to My Little Friend,” which is one ounce of vodka, half an ounce of rye, and half an ounce of triple sec.
Or “Death in the Afternoon,” an ounce of absinthe in a champagne flute, then topped with sparkling wine. By the way, this was invented by Ernest Hemingway and sometimes is just called the Hemingway.
Then there is “The French Connection,” an ounce of cognac and an ounce of Disaronno (amoretto liqueur) in a rocks glass with ice. We picked this one for today. Add the cognac and Disaronno to a rocks glass with a large ice cube, stir and enjoy.
A little history of the drink: In the 1960s, the Mafia was trafficking drugs from Turkey through Corsica and into the United States. An FBI tip helped New York City police bust the mob operation. You might remember the 1971 movie “The French Connection” starring Gene Hackman as Det. Popeye Doyle. The character is fictional but it is based on a real NYPD cop.
When the trials began in the early 1970s, they were dubbed “The Pizza Connection” because the drugs were distributed through pizza parlors, where the drug money was also laundered.
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