We love Cinco de Mayo. We love festivals that celebrate our friends’ heritage, especially when there is good music and beer and food involved. This year, we had an excuse to have a four-day festival of chips, salsa, tacos and tequila. What’s not to love?
The margarita is a very interesting concoction, and like most people who love great drinks, we have lots of stories about this particular cocktail. For example, we recently ordered Cadillac versions at Javier’s. Later, we realized that no one was the least bit tipsy. After four or five cocktails, someone should have felt something. We feel that if we ever go back, we will complain and ask that they bring our tequila in a shot glass so we can see the booze. Not something we expected from a higher-end joint.
Then there is our pride and joy: the industrial-strength frozen margarita machine.
This was a gift from a boss, and a generous gift at that. We’re sure it was a few thousand bucks, and we love it. We have purchased mixes and over the years made margaritas, strawberry daiquiris, bellinis, hurricanes, pina coladas….It’s like an instant party when we fill the thing up. It’s currently unplugged and empty, but soon summer will be here, our friends will begin to knock on the door, and we’ll conduct our polls to see which will become the flavor of the weekend.
One of our favorite places for margaritas is Rosa Mexicano in New York. Their pomegranate margaritas are perfect, tart and delicious and wonderful with the made-at-your-table guacamole. Of course, we also love the margaritas in New Mexico. Take Maria’s Kitchen, for example, where they have more than 100 margaritas on the menu. We think we’re going to plan a trip to Santa Fe this very minute. That’s how far we’ll go to get a perfect margarita.
We have friends who don’t like the salt on the rim of their margaritas. Sometimes, they object to the taste. Others think it’s unhealthy. One insists that the owner of Tommy’s in San Francisco swears that it was only added to mask the taste of bad tequila.
Bah! we say (and other wise bloggers, too). All the old recipes we’ve ever seen have used the salt, and we think the salt makes the drink. Keeps it from being too cloying and making us feel all mucklemouthed and thirsty.
No matter how you like them — straight up, shaken, icy, slushy, with mix or with fresh-squeezed lime juice, salt or not — today’s the perfect excuse to pour yourself a margarita.
It’s Cinco de Mayo, after all. When better?
1 response so far ↓
Rachel // May 6, 2008 at 2:13 pm |
Salt on the rim really depends on the margarita itself for me. I find that with sweeter drinks, I like the salt more. Like you said, it keeps it from being too sweet.
PS – I’m almost done with that cookie thing. I just have to roll it out, fill it, and bake.