The Bloody Mary: It's Not So Hard

Posted by Erin Hollingsworth, Tuesday, March 25, 2008 at 02:20 AM by Erin Hollingsworth

Of all the foods and drinks that I really love, a good Bloody Mary ranks pretty high on the list. I specify a good one, because a bad one, well, that ranks pretty low on my list. True of a lot of things, I know (good things are better than bad things), but it is especially true of the Bloody Mary.

What's so upsetting about this is how relatively easy it is to make a good Bloody Mary. And I'd argue that the ability to make a good Bloody Mary (people often use the omelet example) proves something of a chef's abilities. Not because it's hard, but because the ability to make a good one requires some knowledge or proportion of what constitutes a good ingredient, basically of how something should taste.

The first thing to consider, I suppose, is what to put in the drink. Many restaurants in New York make a house mix, adding vodka to the mix as each Bloody Mary is ordered. At home I make a mix, fill half a pitcher with it and top with vodka. I put ice in each glass, then top it with the mix. Whatever the situation, you'll start with the mix.

Use good tomato juice. I like the organic hippie stuff. It seems to generally taste better. Get low sodium if you can. The truth is you'll probably add most of the salt back that the low sodium lacks (a good Bloody Mary is nice and salty), but you can do it to taste and you can add better quality salt. Speaking of which, I like just basic kosher salt, which dissolves nicely, and some celery salt. You'll also need finely ground fresh black pepper. You'll need Tabasco (or your favorite hot sauce, this is where you can add some personality), Worcestershire sauce (I like Lea & Perrins--use what you like but make sure it has anchovies in it because that makes it taste good), FRESH lemon juice and horseradish. These are the basic components.

Now to proportion them correctly. Start with whatever quantity of tomato juice you want to use. Add enough lemon juice so you can taste a difference (that will be an ongoing theme). Then add salt, celery salt, pepper and Worcestershire. It should now taste good, though not complete. Next add horseradish, Tabasco and anything else that's going to add heat. Taste and adjust to make it spicy enough. If something's missing, try adding salt, that usually helps. A little more lemon juice can also be helpful. The point is, in the end it should taste full, spicy, balanced and strong. Remember, it's going to be diluted by almost half with vodka.

Once it tastes good, consider variations. Variations could include switching FRESH lime juice for FRESH lemon juice or using a bit of both. You could add flavored salts or minced roasted garlic. You could add some raw garlic if you like that sort of thing, but I don't. I like to add something pickled and vinegary like the juice from pickled jalapenos. You'll need at least one garnish, which could be as simple as a lemon, but celery is nice however old-fashioned, as are pickled vegetables like green tomatoes, asparagus and peppers. Some people like a rim of celery salt, but I'm not much intro rims.

That's your mix and it's the most important part. Use a decent vodka, but save the really good stuff for your martinis. I like Stoli, but it's not that important. I use about half vodka to mix ratio. You get a little hit and flavor enhancement from the vodka (alcohol is always a flavor enhancer, even supposed-to-be flavorless ones like vodka), but it doesn't overwhelm the drink. If your mix can't stand up to this much vodka, it doesn't have enough "stuff" in it. If you like less vodka, that's fine, I suppose.

Yes, a Bloody Mary has lots of ingredients, but they're all readily available and if you're one of those people more into savory than sweet (me), this is a great cocktail option and is really fun to play around with and impressive to your friends to perfect.

If you're a recipe person, there are tons out there. My advice is you'll probably need a little more of everything the recipe calls for (except tomato juice, including vodka), but trust your palate.

Erin Hollingsworth