scmrak's Full Review: Al Lucero and John Harrisson - The Great Margarita...
For a lot of years I avoided tequila, mainly because I'd gotten too sick too many times on cheap stuff; but that changed when I attended a tequila tasting a couple of years back. I learned that like good single malt whiskies, good tequila can be a thing of beauty. My reawakening yielded a couple of sixty-dollar bottles of tequila (XQ Gran Reserva Añejo, for instance) and for last Christmas, a copy of The Great Margarita Book. Within its pages, author Al Lucero (owner of Maria's Restaurant in Santa Fe) lists some ninety recipes served at his restaurant, plus information about tequila and tequila drinks.
If you're a margarita maniac, you probably already have a recipe of your own: a margarita contains tequila, orange liqueur, and lime or lemon juice; shaken vigorously with ice (you use a blender? GASP!); served in a broad-topped glass with a salted rim garnished with a lime wedge. Lucero obviously knows the recipe by heart - after all, he's repeated it - complete with the mixing directions! - ninety times in his book. The only difference from one recipe to the next are is which call brand tequila to use, which changes every time, and some variations in the orange liqueur. Out of curiosity, I checked: it's Cointreau sixty-four times, Triple Sec fifteen, Grand Marnier fourteen, Special Anniversary Grand Marnier three, and blue curaçao once (you've never had a bluegarita?). Other than the recipe's name, tequila brand and slight variations in the liqueur, ninety of the 136 pages are identical! If you don't already have a recipe of your own, here's Lucero's basic mixture:
1 lemon or lime wedge
Saucer of kosher salt (about 1/4-inch deep)
1-1/4 ounces [insert expensive tequila brand]
1 ounce [insert brand of orange liqueur]
1-1/2 ounces freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice
ice
Gee, thanks. I could have gotten that from my ancient Mr. Boston's Bartending Guide, along with another 600 recipes! In fairness, Lucero also includes recipes for other common tequila drinks (Also in Mr. Boston...) and six or eight fair recipes for rather pedestrian NewMexMex dishes.
You'll also find fifteen brief - usually about forty words - descriptions of the major distillers (Sauza, Cuervo, Cabrito, Herradura...), most of which seem paraphrased from company advertising. About the only part of the book that is truly informative is the introduction, with its ten-page discussion of the history of the drink and the cultivation of the blue agave. There's also a quick lesson on the difference between tequila, pulque, and mezcal (same raw materials, different processes - and the worm isn't always there). Otherwise, this book could have been shrunk to an advertising pamphlet with one basic recipe and a cross-reference between the tequila brands and the orange-flavored liqueur.
The Great Margarita Book's nicely done, for all its faults: it's well-designed and illustrated with a pleasant southwestern motif. Each recipe - all of which are on the drink menu at Maria's - is introduced by a brief discussion of the tequila used, the drink's origins and history, and some of the famous people who have ordered it over the years. Unfortunately, it's mostly window-dressing for a pretty repetitious set of recipes.
A parting thought: I have a friend whose father asks visitors how they'd like their single-malt. If the answer is "neat," they get the good stuff. If it's "on the rocks," they get the house brand. I'm with the guy: I think the good stuff - tequilas costing fifty, sixty, or a hundred or more dollars for a bottle - are meant for savoring, and shouldn't be adulterated by mixing them with fruit juice to make a margarita. A lot of these recipes are just plain wrong...
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