Chef just walked in from Indyk farm where we picked up some really terrific strawberries: The first of the season! The rain last week really delayed things down on the farm but they were worth the wait! Fresh local strawberries are radically different than the California Driscolls we get year round. They're amazing.
What to do with a strawberry?
Daiquiris need be neither silly nor slushy. The daiquiri pre-dates the ubiquitous use of the blender. Hemingway drank many a daiquiri for heaven's sake (even had one named after him). You can be certain that if any barman ever served him anything slushy Papa H would have punched him square in the nose.
A daiquiri is rum, lime and sugar. From there you can make any sort of variation. The key is to use great rum and then add great flavor to it.
Modern "daiquiri mix" (don't get me started) is designed to completely mask the flavor of the rum. When using this stuff, it doesn't matter what kind of industrial swill is used off the speed rack. You can't taste it anyway. It's a child's slushy that tastes neither of real strawberries, nor of rum.
Good rum, flavored with great strawberries is an entirely different story.
Our strawberry daiquiris use Banks 5-Island Rum and fresh strawberries from Indyk's Farm. We mix them by hand and there is be no blender involved.
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