Hollywood Cocktails
by Tobias Steed, Ben Reed
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Book Summary Information
Author: Ben Reed, Tobias SteedEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Format: Illustrated
Published: 1999-09-01
ISBN: 1572232900
Number of pages: 128
Publisher: Willow Creek Press
Book Reviews of Hollywood Cocktails
Book Review: Creative Marriage of Cocktails and Old Hollywood Makes for a Most Entertaining Recipe Book
Summary: 4 Stars
I actually saw this book lying on a stand-up comedian's art-deco coffee table on a home-improvement program on the Home and Garden Network, and the cover piqued my interest. I bought it on a whim to discover the book reflects a novel idea, a cocktail recipe book in the guise of a Hollywood classic movie tribute. As someone who enjoys watching classic films and doesn't mind the occasional mixed drink, I was immediately drawn to this creative melding. After all, films of the golden era always had glamorous stars imbibing a smart cocktail to establish a mood or simply as a means to move the plot along.
Author Tobias Steed has an obvious love for old Hollywood and a wellspring of knowledge from which he writes fluidly (pardon the pun) matching classic films with classic cocktails. The presentation is appropriately sleek with silvery duotone, black-and-white print (though honestly the white type can be a bit difficult to read on the field of light gray tone). There is a two-page spread for nearly every drink recipe provided, which includes a photo from which the movie was consumed, a quick synopsis of the film, a relevant quote from the movie, sometimes an interesting factoid about the drink or its salient ingredients and naturally, the ingredients for the cocktail itself. Steed recruited Ben Reed, the manager of the Met Bar in London and the 1997 Cocktail Barman of the Year, to concoct the libations. The resulting recipes are very straightforward.
The author also organizes the cocktails cleverly into four sections - the first on the cocktail hour ("After Office Hours"), then aperitifs and digestifs ("Dinner at Eight"), drinks considered ideal for any occasion ("From Here to Eternity") and inevitably, drinks for the day after the night before ("Remember the Night"). It's all done in quite an entertaining way, and you'll discover trivia like (and see stills of) Bette Davis drinking a Gibson as Margo Channing in "All About Eve", or Rita Hayworth nursing a Rob Roy in "Angels Over Broadway", and Alec Guinness in a tropical bar serving mojitos, of course, in "Our Man in Havana". Steed has pulled together a delightful book, one that is far more creative than a standard cocktail recipe book.
Summary of Hollywood Cocktails
A debonair book about the great era of Hollywood classics and the cocktails typically served in films, from those in Rick's Bar in Casablanca to the vodka martinis in My Man Godfrey. Each chapter lists recipes for festivities or for an evening, pre-dinner cocktail hour. It also includes a compulsory section of morning-after concoctions. The recipes, with entertaining anecdotes linking drinks to specific films, give readers a true taste of Hollywood. Beautifully presented in period typography with elegant duotone, vintage photos of specific actors and drinking-related scenes.First, a disclaimer: drinking does not make you cool, and emulating people who drink in order to be cool is a foolish thing to do. That said, if you're going to be drinking anyway, why not do so with a little style? Hollywood Cocktails makes a good case for bringing back the swanky cocktail-party-as-an-event, complete with nattily dressed movie stars to set the example. After a few words on the best way to stir ice without breaking it and the absolutely crucial importance of proper garnish selection, we're off to a fantasyland of shiny dresses and muddled cherries. Each cocktail comes with a step-by-step recipe and sample movie scene to set the mood. We start, as God intended, with the classic dry martini and a scene from the Clark Gable/Constance Bennett caper After Office Hours. The book then moves on to now-rare classics like the Champagne Cocktail (Casablanca) and the Rusty Nail (The Lost Weekend--not recommended viewing for a cheerful cocktail party). In the event of a particularly good party, fear not: hangover cures are thoughtfully included, such as the entertainingly named Corpse Reviver, featured in the appropriately titled Remember Last Night? Ben Reed's recipes are well-proportioned for flavor and come annotated with tips for proper service, such as waiting until the mixing cup has frosted before pouring your martinis and using real, fresh lime juice for the perfect daiquiri. If making cocktails look this cool is wrong, you may not want to be right. --Ali Davis
Bartending Books
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