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Sunday, May 13, 2018

DRINK BOOK OF THE MONTH! * -- Julep by Alba Huerta (Ten Speed)

JULEP (Lorena Jones Books, Ten Speed Press, 2018, 214 pages, ISBN 978-0-399-57941-7 $24.99 USD hardbound) is by Alba Huerta, an experienced Houston bartender who was the featured mixologist at the Southern Foodways Alliance 2013 and 2015 Symposia which explores the food culture of the American South. She owns Julep, a bar in Houston. She's assisted by Marah Stets, writer-editor. It's an interesting book of crafted cocktails based on Southern USA influences. There's the usual primer on bar equipment and techniques, followed by chapters dealing with juleps, liqueurs, drinks in the rural areas and the Gulf areas, plus the classics such as Ramos gin fizz. She's even got some preps for bar snacks such as fried anchovy-stuffed olives, deviled eggs, pickled shrimp, crab-curry salad, and lobster ambrosia. Preparations have their ingredients listed in avoirdupois measurements, but there is no table of metric equivalents. At the end, there is a Resources page listing websites.
Audience and level of use: those who like some culture with their cocktail books.
Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: for food, try lemon icebox pies. For drinks, try the farmhouse Gibson or the amethyst flip or even vinegar and rye.
The downside to this book: no metric or even conversion charts.
The upside to this book: very easy to get enthusiastic about this book.
Quality/Price Rating: 90.
 
 

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