Properly Sauced: Forget The Bronx Silver, Try A Bucktown Silver Instead
By Staff in Food on Jul 8, 2014 7:00PM
Naturally, that made me want to sample this cocktail, but I found myself without the requisite orange juice. By chance, I had procured a small bag of citric acid, which has been called a chef’s secret weapon, and hit Stanley’s Fruit & Vegetables (1558 N. Elston Ave.) for seasonal produce the day prior to my experimentations. To mimic the sweetness of orange juice, I liquefied a ripe nectarine in a food processor. The resultant juice was thicker than good old OJ, so I thinned it with water. To recreate the acidity of orange juice, I added ¼ teaspoon of citric acid to the nectarine juice. The result was delicious on its own.
(Ed. Note: Citric acid, aka "sour salt," can be purchased at The Spice House, 1512 N. Wells St. in Chicago and 1941 Central St. in Evanston or at Epic Spices at 1725 W. Chicago Ave.)
Armed with a neat substitute for orange juice, I assembled my ingredients in a shaker, first for a dry shake, added ice, and then shook again before straining into a coupe.
The finished cocktail was velvety, heavy, and delicious. Because the recipe strays a bit far afield of the traditional Bronx (Silver), I redubbed it the Bucktown Silver.
A few days later, I picked up some orange juice to give Burke’s Bronx recipe a try—the difference was startling. Thanks to the egg white, Burke’s Bronx had similar velvetiness, but that’s where the similarities ended. Compared to the modified nectarine juice, store-brought orange gave a limp and sorry performance. Using citric acid also permitted for adjusting the tartness to suit the palate as well as open the flavors of the vermouth. With orange juice, the drink was off balance and effusively boozy. The Bucktown Silver made with fresh fruit easily beats out boxed orange juice.
Bucktown Silver
2 ounces Gin
1 ounce Cinzano Biano
1 ounce Cinzano Rosso
1 ounce water
1 ounce nectarine puree (approx. 1 nectarine)
1 egg white
¼ teaspoon citric acid
Combine nectarine puree, water, and citric acid, adding additional citric acid to taste. Dry shake. Add ice, shake, strain into a cocktail glass. I garnished with a dehydrated grapefruit peel, freeze-dried raspberry, and cilantro.