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| Pisco Sour | |
| Type | Cocktail |
|---|---|
| Primary alcohol by volume | |
| Served | Straight up; without ice |
| Standard drinkware |
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| Commonly used ingredients |
|
| Preparation | Shake hard or blend with ice and strain into glass. The bitters are an aromatic garnish topping the finished drink, put on top of pisco sour foam. |
| Recipe adapted from The Joy of Mixology by Gary Regan | |
A Pisco Sour is a cocktail containing pisco, lemon or lime juice, egg whites, simple syrup, and regional bitters (like Amargo bitters, though Angostura bitters work if regional bitters are unavailable).[1][2]
Contents |
Culture
With the increased availability of Pisco and regional bitters outside South America, the Pisco Sour, like the Mojito and Caipirinha, has increased in popularity in the United States. Peru has a National Pisco Sour Day which is celebrated on the first Saturday of February.
The national origin of the pisco sour is debated if from Chile or Peru.[3] In both countries, the variety of lemon used has a flavor similar to key lime. In the United States, the drink is usually made with commonly available Lisbon or Eureka lemons.
History
The roots of Pisco itself reach back to the 1500s and stem from Colonial rule. The Spaniards brought the grape to the region from Europe, but the King of Spain banned wine in the 17th Century, forcing locals to concoct a different kind of alcohol from the grape.[4]
Guillermo Toro Lira in his book "Wings of cherubs"[5] discovered that the precedent of the drink is in the Viceroyalty of Peru, which had pisco mixed with lemon around the 18th century near the "Plaza de Toros de Acho" of Lima. It was called a "Punche" and it was a predecessor of the Pisco punch of the Bank Exchange Bar of San Francisco which contained pisco, lemon and pineapple in the early 1900s.[6][7]
Peru
The Pisco Sour cocktail is a variation of the Whiskey Sour, invented in the early 1920s by American expatriate Victor V. "Gringo" Morris at the Morris' Bar in Lima. The cocktail quickly became a favorite of locals. Soon many of the grand Lima hotels at that time such as the Maury and the Hotel Bolivar began serving pisco sours to their international guests, helping the drink become an international hit. The oldest known advertisement of Pisco Sour in the world was published in 1924 by the Morris' Bar of Lima.[8]
Chile
Different variations from the ingredients contained in pisco sour have been produced within Chile. There can be found in Santiago pisco sour recipes that include Ají Sour (with a spicy green chilli), Sour de Campo (with ginger and honey), and Sour Haas (with avocados, pineapple, and mint).[9]
Eliott Stubb
In 1962 the Universidad del Cuyo (Argentina) published a story on the basis of "El Comercio de Iquique" where it indicates that Eliott Stubb was the creator of "whisky sour".[10][11] "El Comercio de Iquique" was a Peruvian newspaper published by Modesto Molina between 1874 and 1879.
The story told of an English steward of a sailing ship named "Sunshine". In 1872, Elliot Stubb obtained leave to disembark in the port of Iquique, which was a Peruvian city, with the aim of settling in the city and opening a bar. In his bar, he experimented with many aperitifs and drinks, of which a fundamental ingredient was the limon de Pica, a small lime grown in a populated oasis nearby. In order to offer new varieties of alcoholic beverages, the Englishman experimented with many combinations, trying to create pleasant drinks. One day, Stubb mixed whisky with his most valued ingredient, lime, and added a good dose of sugar. Fascinated by the delicious result, he made it the specialty of the house, and dubbed it "sour" for the acid touch which the lime gives it. "Onwards" - said Elliot - "it will be my drink of battle, my favorite drink, and it will be called Whiskey Sour" (sour, for the acid of the lemon). The new drink spread to social clubs and bars throughout the port of Iquique, and from there it spread through the region and to the United Kingdom.
In 1884 Iquique became a Chilean city. In 1985 Orestes Plat narrates the same story changing whiskey by pisco based on Peruvian newspaper "El Comercio de Iquique".[12]
However, the oldest historical mention of a whisky sour prepared in the world comes from a newspaper published in Wisconsin, USA in 1870.[13][14]
In the media
The famous American chef Anthony Bourdain filmed an episode for the Travel Channel program Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations in Chile, and during the episode expressed his disgust for the Chilean version of the Pisco Sour. Jorge López, the episode's Chilean producer and travel partner of Bourdain in Chile, explains that chef Bourdain found the Pisco Sour he had in the Valparaiso restaurant "La Playa" as boring and not worth it. Lopez adds that chef Bourdain had just recently arrived from Peru where he had drank and enjoyed several Pisco Sours which he thought were better tasting than the Chilean version. A critic counters that chef Bourdain's visit is a double edged sword because he's a celebrity that generalizes the quality of a country's food by only tasting in a few places.[15] In November 17, 2009, Adal Ramones, a Mexican television show host and comedian, made a reference to the Pisco Sour when he expressed his opinion in regards to the 2009 Chile-Peru espionage scandal: "What do the Chileans want to spy from Peru? How to make a good Pisco Sour?"[16]
In 2009, the Chilean journalist Patricio Tapia, writes the article "El Otro Pisco" (The Other Pisco) in the Chilean journal El Mercurio, in which he expressed that Pisco Sour from Peru is much better tasting than the Chilean one. The article also shows the big differences between both drinks called Pisco.[citation needed]
The comedian Zane Lamprey host of the show Three Sheets filmed an episode in Chile which featured various beverages such as the Pisco Sour.
In 2003 Fernando Olvera, lead singer of the popular Mexican rock band Maná, publicly declared in the Viña del Mar International Song Festival that Chile was the land of the Pisco Sour.[17]
See also
- Drink topics
- Regional topics
References
- ^ http://www.go2peru.com/pisco.htm
- ^ http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1194627
- ^ A summer twist on pisco sour, caipirinha cocktails - Los Angeles Times
- ^ Daulerio, A.J. & Eric Gillin (2004-02-19). Throw Yourself a Pisco Party. The Black Table. Retrieved 2006-12-22.
- ^ Wings of cherubs. Guillermo Toro Lira
- ^ [1] Los orígenes del Pisco Sour se remontan, pese a todas las versiones modernas, a fines del siglo XVIII, tal como se confirma en una edición del diario El Mercurio Peruano que menciona la preparación de pisco con limón, a consecuencia de la prohibición de la venta de aguardiente por las peleas que originaba cerca a la Plaza de Toros de Acho. En el diario limeño se relata que allí nació un producto denominado Punche, vendido por los esclavos y preparado en base a pisco y limón, que sería el antecedente más antiguo que conocemos sobre el delicioso pisco sour.
- ^ Feliz día, pisco sour
- ^ http://www.piscopunch.com/morrisPiscoSourAd1924.jpg
- ^ The Pisco Sour Wars | Travel Stories | Lonely Planet
- ^ Historias de la Pampa Salitrera. Comité del Salitre (Chile). Page 49. ¿Sabía usted que el exquisito whisky sour, hoy trago de acaudalados, es de origen iquiqueño?. Cuentan las tradiciones y en algunos párrafos del periódico "El Comercio de Iquique" que vimos en viejos archivos del Club Chino de este puerto que un buen mayordomo del velero "Sunshine" determinó anclar en este puerto...
- ^ Anales del Instituto de Lingüística. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Vol. VIII. Mendoza, Argentina. Página 385. 1962. Cierto dia Elliot Stubb estaba haciendo algunos experimentos en la en la "coctelera" con whisky y limón de pica y su sabor alcanzó delicias superiores a todos los otros menjurjes que acostumbraba a dar a sus clientes. "Voy a ponerle un poco de dulce", se dijo. Echó azúcar a una porción de jugo de limón de Pica, un poco de hielo, whisky en proporción y batió algunos segundos Y probo el mas exquisito drink que habia preparado. En adelante dijo Elliot — éste será mi trago de batalla, — mi trago favorito — , y se llamará Whisky Sour (sour, el ácido del limón). Luego dominó las fronteras y hacía su aparición en Inglaterra, donde ya estaba cimentada la fama del limón de Pica, el que hasta ahora se continúa exportando a la capital del Reino Unido y otros puntos de las Islas Británicas.
- ^ Oreste Plath. La Estrella de Valparaíso. March 22nd 1985.
- ^ Waukesha Plaindealer. January 4th 1870. Source: newspaperarchive.com.
- ^ Waukesha Plaindealer. January 4th 1870. Source: newspaperarchive.com. Magnified section
- ^ http://www.peru.com/noticias/portada20090718/45353/Chef-Anthony-Bourdain-El-pisco-sour-chileno-no-vale-la-pena
- ^ http://www.peru.com/espectaculos/portada20091117/66702/Adal-Ramones-considera-injusto-que-ex-sonador-Frank-Aching-no-haya-ingresado-Los-reyes-del-show
- ^ (Spanish)http://www.wow.cl/prontus_wow/site/artic/20070110/pags/20070110121623.html
External links
- Go2Peru.com - Tourism site with information about Peruvian Pisco along with a recipe.
- Food Network - A less traditional recipe that uses ingredients more common outside Peru and Chile.
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