Recipes

Sherry Cobbler

Posted by Fiona Beckett (Google+) on May 24 2013 at 07:13

Given the growing popularity of sherry cocktails and the fact that it's World Sherry Day this weekend here's a recipe for a sherry cobbler from Hawksmoor at Home (my son's restaurant, I have to confess).

Will and Huw write: "As the discerning drinker’s pre-air conditioning coolant of choice, this was, according to the New York weekly New World in 1840, ‘the greatest “liquorary” invention of the day’. Its popularity continued, leading Harry Johnson to observe in the 1888 edition of his Bartenders’ Manual, that it is ‘without doubt the most popular beverage in the country, with ladies as well as gentlemen’. A description in The Gentleman’s Magazine explains why: ‘[The cobbler is] a light vinous punch, exceedingly well iced, and grateful to the delicate æsophagus’ (William Burton, 1840.)

Sherry seems to have had a rather different image back then as it was deemed the perfect match for an evening of debauchery: ‘[at a San Franciscan saloon] we find the governor of the State seated by a table, surrounded by judges of the supreme and superior courts, sipping sherry cobblers, smoking segars [cigars], and reveling in all the delights of anticipated debauch’ (Dreadful California, Hinton Helper, 1855).

Early recipes call for it to be made with slices of orange. We think it makes for a more refreshing drink if lemon and lime are added as well.

For each person

2 slices each of lemon, lime and orange

100ml manzanilla sherry

50ml freshly squeezed lemon juice

25ml sugar syrup (gomme)

crushed ice

Dice one slice of each fruit into small pieces (about 3cm x 3cm) and put these at the bottom of a large glass tumbler

Add the sherry, lemon juice and sugar syrup, then fill the tumbler 3/4 of the way up with crushed ice. Churn the drink until well mixed and top with a little more crushed ice. Add a straw and garnish with the other slices of lemon, lime and orange.

If you’d like be able to check out all the food and wine pairings on the site you can buy a bundle of credits here to access my premium content.

And/or for regular updates on what and where I’ve been eating, drinking and travelling sign up for my weekly newsletter Eat This, Drink That, Live Well.