Alcohol-free Limoncello Ginger Ale - Salty Brittle - Duck Prosciutto
Recipe, Food-Styling, Styling, Photo: Oliver Schwarzwald
It´s Gingertime.
While surfing the internet, I came across an old cocktail pairing card. A limoncello-vodka-ginger ale cocktail was described as "joyful ginger" and served with duck breast prosciutto, pistachios and candied ginger. That definitely sounded exciting enough to try an alcohol-free pairing of it. Limoncello is fortunately available as a non-alcoholic alternative, and ginger ale goes without saying. To give our drink more depth, two bitters are added to the glass, classic Angostura and Feebrothers Black Walnut Bitters. Angostura is available everywhere. You have to search a little for the Feebrothers bitters, or order them from Amazon, for example. If you don't want that, you can also use ginger juice (ginger shot, which is now also available from dicounters) to give the drink a different, slightly spicier note. Or you can opt for bitters plus ginger shot. You can't really go wrong here. Only with Angostura bitters should you be careful, because too much of it and it will become overpowering. If you like explicit acidity, simply increase the amount of lemon juice. When it comes to ginger ale, there is a choice between the shallower Schweppes and the, in my opinion, somewhat more intense offerings from Fevertree or Thomas Henry, etc. The latter fits better here.
The cocktail menu described the components of the pairing, and that's probably exactly how it was served, in the individual components. It actually works very well together. At first, I wanted to do the pairing this way, because it's super simple. If you don't have time to prepare, feel free to serve the drink with a small "snack platter". Duck prosciutto, if it's a milder variety a pinch of salt can't hurt. Add pistachios and candied ginger. Here it is also worthwhile to see if there are "handmade" alternatives. Candied ginger from small-scale production is also offered in shapes other than just square. And that always looks good. Maybe there's a stall at the weekly market or something. All in all, I find this single-ingredient variant somewhat inappropriate for the idea of Highlevelzero. That's why we have a salty pistachio-ginger brittle with it. And here it doesn't matter where the candied ginger comes from, it's chopped up anyway. From a purely visual point of view, broken cork brittle pieces are of course the hammer. And it goes perfectly with the duck breast, I swear. Since the candied ginger cannot be homogeneously incorporated into the sugar mass, you have pieces that are saltier and others in which the spiciness of the ginger is in the foreground. A nice interplay of sweet, salty and spicy. Accompanied by the savoury ham. Rounded off by the refreshing long drink. Have a sober Gingertime!
Snack
120 gr. duck prosciutto
Pistachio-Ginger Brittle
At least 4 persons
75 g sugar
1 tsp butter
70 g pistachios, chopped
40 g candied ginger, finely chopped
Sea salt
Baking paper
Put the sugar in a wide pan and melt over medium heat. Do not stir at first, otherwise the sugar will not caramelise evenly. As soon as the sugar is liquid, stir (best with a wooden spoon), add the butter and caramelise until light brown. Make sure that the mixture does not get too dark, otherwise it will taste bitter. Now quickly add the chopped pistachios and ginger and season with a good pinch of sea salt. Once everything is coated in the caramel, pour the mixture onto a piece of baking paper and spread flat. Place more baking paper on top of the caramel mixture and roll it all out flat with a rolling pin. Either use a knife or your hands to shape the cooled caramel into the desired size.
Drink:
Drink 1 Protion:
6 Cl Limonzero ( Non-alcoholic Limoncello).
¼ lemon freshly squeezed
3 dashes Angostura
3 dashes Black Walnut Bitter
0.5 Cl ginger juice Optional
Giner Ale
Ice
Slice of lemon
Lemon zest
Stir ingredients in glass over ice until well chilled, then top with ginger ale.
Garnish with lemon slice and zest.