THE MOCKTAIL BAR

Au Contraire

Recipe & Photos by Stefan Vallee

Hailing from the cold, dry winter season on the coast of Maine… by way of our northern brothers and sisters in Quebec, “Au Contraire” is here to bring all our favorite winter flavors together in one glass. This mocktail may require a few more

Ingredients

1 ½ oz - Honey Syrup with Ginger Root & Lemon Zest*

1 oz – Cranberry & Juniper “Tea”**

3 oz – White Cranberry Juice

The base of our mocktail…. A classic.

1 Egg White LINK steps than you are usually used to, but it will make all the difference when you take your first sip and discover the power of texture & mouthfeel in a drink. Featuring the spicy notes of ginger root, bittersweetness of cranberry & juniper, familiar zest of a lemon and the luxurious fluff of an egg white, this mocktail is sure to impress you and all your family or friends. method servings 1

1. First, add your favorite “cocktail” glass to the freezer and let it get happy in there.

2. Combine all ingredients to your shaker and add ONLY ON E (1)c ube of ice

3. When utilizing egg white in a cocktail or mocktail, it must be “dry” shaken beforehand. (Full disclosure… I cheat a bit and add the 1 cube rather than a true dry shake, I find it creates a much fluffier foam.)

4. Shake HARD until you can no longer hear the 1 cube dancing around in there.

5. Once the cube has disintegrated, fill ¾ of the shaker wit h ice and shake until cold

6. Strain into chilled glass & enjoy!

*SO easy!!! This was prepared in a standard mason jar. Shave the skin off a palm sized ginger root (more ginger=more spice) and slice into small chunks, add to jar. Next, take a knife and slice off the peel of 1 lemon, add to the same jar. Now you want to add in your honey, I’d say about 1 cup or enough to fill ¼ of your jar (I used

Naturoney from Quebec… so good!). Lastly, fill the jar with hot, hot water & mix. Set aside & let cool.

**Also, so easy!! Add 1/2 cup of juniper berries and 1/2 cup of cranberries to a pot with water and let simmer for at least 30 minutes (up to 90 mins), strain and set aside.

My culinary experience fortunately began in the kitchen with my parents. As a child, my family had somewhat of a strict schedule on weekly meals. Although there would be a healthy rotation of options from week to week, each individual recipe was pretty much the same as the last time we had it on our table. This is where I found the #1 ingredient that I’d go on to use daily throughout my life, imagination. Fast forward a couple decades, mix in 7 years of bartending experience and “Au Contraire” is born. — Stefan Vallee www.555-north.com

Stefan Vallee