The Way of the Cocktail

In the time of Small Heat (小暑)

It can be unbearably hot and humid in Japan at this time of year --like a sauna sometimes. And people drag themselves around; the old fashioned sending out postcards to inquire after their friends and family members’ health in this time of dreaded heat. Dreaded? Yes, of the greater heat ahead.

It really can be enervating. And one of the many things people do to fight the heat is to eat eel--unagi believed to provide fortitude, strength and vitality.

Tomorrow is Eel day in Japan. 夏の土用 

I miss eel. I have not had it since leaving Japan. I can hardly bare to think of it, as it was one of my favorite foods--grilled on charcoal and served on a bed of rice with pickles. 

When I asked my son what he most wanted to do when he got back to Japan, he said, "Eat unagi!"

If autumn is for evenings, summer is for nights, says Sei Shonagon:

In Summer, the nights. Not only when the moon shines down, but on dark nights, too, when the fireflies flit to and fro, and even when it rains, how beautiful it is!

Yes, how beautiful it is. 

Anyway, I have this book I love so much called,

The Way of the Cocktail JAPANESE TRADITIONS, TECHNIQUES, AND RECIPES, By Julia Momosé

The recipes are inspired by the twenty-four micro-seasons that define the flow of life in Japan. Enter a world where the spiced woodsy cocktail called Autumn’s Jacket evokes the smoldering burn of smoking rice fields in fall, and where the Delicate Refusal tells the tale of spring’s tragic beauty, with tequila blanco and a flutter of sakura petals. Perfected classics like the Manhattan and Negroni, riffs on some of Japan’s most beloved cocktails like the Whisky Highball, and even alcohol-free drinks influenced by ingredients such as yuzu, matcha, and umé round out the collection.

Below are two of the drinks for this season.

I have not tried these two drinks yet…. I am still (still!!) trying to wrap my mind around the gin and mugi tea cocktail (bottom)

Kanpai! From the last day of the Sewanee Writers’ Conference….