The Daiquiri Jackie Kennedy Drank
Plus – how to make lime-cumin vinaigrette for summer salads, and quick-cooking spicy, saucy shrimp
I’ve just finished reading The Editor, a fiction novel from Steven Rowley, the author of Lily and the Octopus. Fans of Rowley’s – of which their are many – I think almost all of his books are national best sellers and are generally picked for famous people’s book clubs – will love, adore, and cherish this fictionalized portrait of a bust-out newbie author and his editor … Jackie Kennedy Onassis.
Me? I was less captivated. The book was good enough that I read it in about a week, but I thought it could have ended two-thirds in; the final 100 pages or so were anti-climactic and… just sort of a conversation that didn’t know how to end (you hang up! No, you hang up!) Again, I am clearly a tough audience of one, most people gush about Rowley and his writing, including this novel which has something like 14-thousand five-star reviews on Goodreads.
One of the more interesting elements of the book is Jackie’s penchant for cocktail hour. The fact that this little detail is what caught my attention will come as a shock to absolutely no one. I love, love, love books with clearly defined scenes involving food and drinks. Fiction or not. (See last week’s recommendation for Dinner with Edward as further proof.)
As dreamed up by Rowley, Mrs Onassis is quite the bartender, and since Rowley clearly did his research on the former first lady’s life, maybe she really was, though I seem to think she would just have people to do that for her. Anyway, in one of the early scenes between the main character and Jackie, she whips up a few champion daiquiris from expensive rum she had rolling around in her office desk drawer and a few limes she swiped from the Doubleday cafeteria. And she hands him his drink on a demure silver tray – as one does when drinking in the office.
Not long after, she treats him to a bright red Cape Cod at her Martha’s Vineyard beach house. When they clink glasses, fictional Jackie says to her young author, “When in Rome.” I must admit this irks me a bit. Martha’s Vineyard is as Cape Cod as Nantucket. Which is to say it’s close, but no cigar. I doubt Jacqueline, who was once the wife of the most powerful man in the world, then the wife of the richest, would make such a gaff.
Classic Daiquiri
Makes: 1 drink
Bartender level: well…. you’ll never be as good as Jackie O making magic out of cafeteria limes, but you can try.
Ingredients:
2 oz light gold rum (most recipes call for white, but I prefer a light gold as it has more interest and flavour without overwhelming the nature of the daiquiri.)
1 oz fresh lime juice
¾ oz simple syrup (if you really want to be authentic use Demerara sugar or coconut sugar)
How to Make It:
Fill a cocktail coup with ice and place it in the fridge to chill whilst you prep and make the drink.
Into a shaker filled with ice, pour the rum, lime juice, and syrup. Shake until the tin frosts up and you get an ice cream headache in your elbow. About a count of 30.
Dump the ice from the coup.
Strain the shaker into a chilled coup and serve.
*to make simple syrup, dissolve equal parts sugar into water over low heat (eg. 1 cup sugar into 1 cup water), allow to cool and store in the fridge.
Today…
We’ve just wrapped up the first heat “event” of summer, where most days felt like a heavy, hot, wet blanket. Temperatures stagnated in the low 40’s, and the muggy air felt like being cocooned in a foil-wrapped burrito.
Naturally, this week’s poolside meal focused on no-cook and quick cook options.
Black bean and corn salad with pickled jalapeños and lime-cumin vinaigrette
Spicy Costa Rica shrimp with citrus
Fresh bread
My current house pour: an $18 Sicilian Rosé
Lime-Cumin Dressing
This is a fantastically refreshing, multi-purpose dressing that wakes up summer salads. It’s versatile enough to work with Mexican, Thai, or Indian, and I love it soaked into the black bean and corn salad for fresh flavours on hot days.