There is, of course, a science to making a good martini. A good bartender knows this, and every now and then we pass along lessons from professional mixologists. Medical scientists are also studying the topic.
To celebrate the centenary of the birth of Ian Fleming, creator of the world’s most famous secret agent, Professor Charles Spence and Dr Andrea Sella will be unveiling the secrets of 007’s favourite drink and a range of other cocktails, at a lecture at the Cheltenham Science Festival next month.
Apparently, some martinis are better at breaking down hydrogen peroxide. If you don’t know whether you have hydrogen peroxide that needs to be broken down – well, better play it safe.
And Dr Sella believes that shaken martinis are not only healthier, but also taste better. This is due to what experts call “mouthfeel” - the shaken martini has more microscopic shards of ice, making its texture more pleasing.
I can already hear many of you grumbling that this “scientist” has it all wrong and doesn’t know what he’s talking about. But the science is only valid if it can be duplicated in independent tests. So, back to the lab.
(Image by Ken30684 - Creative Commons)
May 23rd, 2008
Posted by
Fitzroy |
Leisure |
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Eamonn Fitzgerald posted the following at Rainy Day and, at my suggestion that it fit nicely on this blog devoted to Arts and Ammo, he has graciously given permission to reproduce it.
There we were, at the Imperial War Museum in London, standing under the barrel of a 15-inch naval gun. In 1914, this was the most powerful of the big guns used by Royal Navy battleships. It weighed 100 tons and, at maximum range, could fire a 2,000 lb (876 kg) shell 16.5 miles (29 km). It was used on D-Day to shell enemy positions around Caen, but it also saw action in 1920 during the Greco-Turkish War. Which led to thoughts of that famous 1571 naval battle with the Ottoman Turks in which 32,000 died and Miguel de Cervantes fought alongside the “lean and foolish knight” he would later immortalize in Don Quixote.
“Cervantes on his galley sets the sword back in the sheath / (Don John of Austria rides homeward with a wreath.) / And he sees across a weary land a straggling road in Spain, / Up which a lean and foolish knight forever rides in vain, / And he smiles, but not as Sultans smile, and settles back the blade… / (But Don John of Austria rides home from the Crusade.)” Lepanto by G.K. Chesterton
May 23rd, 2008
Posted by
Fitzroy |
Ammo, Literature |
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