The Food Maven Diary
[Archives]

[Previous Entry] [Diary Home] [Next Entry]

08/04/2001 Archived Entry: "Sangrita"

I was recently asked on the radio about where to buy, or in which restaurant one can get Sangrita, a drink that is served as a chaser or sidecar to a shot of Tequila. The idea is to down one – the Tequila – then the other – the Sangrita. Or, if one must imbibe more politely, one takes sips of the Sangrita between sips of Tequila.

The word Sangrita means “little blood” because, I suppose, the portion is little and the drink is blood red from a base of tomato juice, to which is added tart citrus juices and heat from either dried or fresh chiles or from hot sauce. The drink Sangrita is not at all related to Sangria, but the words obviously are.

After a couple of weeks of book and practical mixology research – I made a lot of different recipes for Sangrita -- I’ve come to the conclusion that this is one of the things that everyone who knows anything about it will have an opinion on, and in the end everyone will make to their particular taste – with or without pommegranite syrup (grenadine), with lime juice or only with sour oranges available only in the winter, etc.

My two favorite recipes are below. But before I threw out what was left, I poured what was left together in one glass – just to see and taste (it was already feeling like chemistry lab). That final concoction may have been the best.

Sangrita
Makes 4 1/2 cup servings

This recipe comes from a wonderful book, "365 Easy Mexican Recipes" by Marge Poore (out of print).

1 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons grenadine syrup
1/2 cup caned tomato juice
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
12 dashes Tabasco sauce, or to taste

Mix all ingredients in a pitcher and allow to stand for an hour in the refrigerator before serving. Serve chilled in small glasses along with a shot of high-quality tequila.

Arthur’s Note: At first, in my neighborhood, I found only a Jamaican brand of grenadine syrup that was completely artificially flavored and colored. When I found the real stuff – at a Middle Eastern market, although it is available in many supermarkets, too – it made a big difference.

Vampiro
Makes one drink

My good friend Zarela Matínez, restaurateur and author of Food From My Heart. says that if you like Bloody Mary’s, try mixing Sangrita with tequila for a drink called a Vampiro or “Vampire.” Or make the recipe leaving out the tequila and use the alcohol-free result as a chaser for shots of sips of Tequila.

1/4 cup white Tequila, preferably Sauza or Herradura
1/4 cup tomato juice
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon or more pure chile powder, or cayenne pepper or Tabasco sauce to taste
Dash of kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 cup crushed ice
2 lime wedges

Combine all the ingredients, except the lime wedges, in a shaker. Mix thoroughly.

Squeeze the lime wedges into a tall glass and fill with the tequila mixture.