Bulletin Board 8

Sicilian cocktail riffs, luggage flair, and airing some dirty laundry

HAPPY HOUR 

Yolanda and I spent the end of June checking out a few properties in Sicily, and the trip brought many discoveries that I look forward to sharing over the coming weeks. Not least: Two new cocktail recipes for you (and me) to make at home, whether that’s in Sicily or Saskatchewan. Salute! 

The Sicilian Negroni

This is a very simple riff on the classic Negroni. The only thing I did was replace the sweet vermouth with the Sicilian amaro Averna, which you can easily find in the US. All you’ll need is…

1 measure London dry gin

1 measure Averna

1 measure Campari

In that order, over ice, and topped with an orange twist. For further guidance, here’s a video of me making it at the Villa Tasca in Palermo. 

The Sicilian Martini

Part of our Sicily tour was a visit to Capofaro on Salina, an Aeolian island Yolanda and I first visited 25 years ago. Salina is very famous for all of its capers, which inspired me to experiment with this caper-forward martini. I used the Sicilian gin Volcano as my base, and garnished with a simple pickled caper leaf (which you can get straight from Pantelleria on Amazon) to replace an olive. These are typically brined in olive oil, which is a nice addition to the flavor profile of the martini, but I also like to add a bar spoon of brine from a jar of straight capers (I always keep a jar of these on hand in the fridge!) to increase the salinity of this drink. It can go as dirty as you like here with the addition a few spoons of caper brine.

2 oz gin

.5 oz vermouth washed in glass and discarded if you like

Bar spoon of caper brine

Lemon peel to twist

1 caper leaf for garnish

Rinse out cocktail glass with a splash of dry vermouth. Stir gin well in a glass filled with ice until very cold. Strain into cocktail glass. Spritz with a twist of lemon, and garnish with brined caper leaf. (For a step-by-step visual aid, watch me make it on the island here.) 

LAUNDRY 101

Let’s start with a funny story: Not too long ago, at Faust vineyard in the Napa Valley, my friend’s kid dumped a full goblet of the deepest, reddest, most saturated California cabernet in my lap. There was so much liquid that it wrapped around my legs, drenching the same white Ralph Lauren jeans I talked about in last week’s newsletter. Many would have given up then and there, but I hate throwing away good clothes with a passion. Instead, I beelined it to a hardware store, bought a five-gallon bucket, a gallon of white vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, and some Dawn dishwashing liquid. I let the mixture (with the jeans) slosh around in the back of my car during the half hour drive to a friend’s place, where I washed them again with a little bleach, then hung them out in the sun. A few hours later, I was wearing them home, white as they’d ever been.

If that story doesn’t make it obvious: I am the designated launderer in our family. My expertise comes from two sources: the Italian roots of my mother, who was a stain magician, and my lifestyle as a very aggressive vintage shopper, oily food eater, and vintage car owner. Given that I’m assuming you’ve got a few tough stains in your own wardrobe, I thought I’d share my basic arsenal below:

Bicarbonate of soda

Simply pre-soaking clothes in bicarbonate of soda is great for brightening any whites and loosening up stubborn stains. Good for funky smelling items too! A few tablespoons added to you laundry load is good here.

Shout

This is an American product I love, which is great for ring around the collar and cuff stains, from sweat and body oils…as well as the occasional food mishap. (my mom’s fave)

Degreaser

Amway is an old mail-order brand, but their degreaser is the most genius grease oil stain remover ever made, it will even dissolve old stubborn grease stains. Just dab directly on grease or oil stain and then launder as usual.

Persil detergent

I used to bring this detergent back from Europe. Thankfully they import it now, but it’s great – it handles low-water capacity washing machines so well. Made in Germany since 1907, Persil is made with plant-based, biodegradable stain removers.

Hydrogen Peroxide

I’ll add about 8oz to a wash load to brighten colors and help remove stains. When you have really stubborn stains, a pre-soak in hydrogen peroxide along with bicarbonate of soda doesn’t hurt. (Neither does targeting the stains directly with something like OxiClean spot spray.)

Smacchiatore Spray

I know I have talked about this before but this aerosol spray that shakes like a can of spray paint is a wonderful quick fix for grease and oil stains without throwing a garment in the wash. I first discovered this at a restaurant in the Amalfi when Yolanda’s perfectly white poplin shirt was attacked by a rouge piece of spaghetti dripping in colatura (an oily anchovy based sauce) The owner, who has witnessed this kind of event many times, quickly came over with a little basket with this spray and a horse hair clothing brush. I quick spray on the stains (that foams up and then turns to a powder) is lightly brushed off when dry. Bam! Oil stain is gone! Think cleaning up a car oil stain on your garage floor with kitty litter - the oil is absorbed by the powder and then brushed away. I have used this in a pinch and it is a great thing to have on hand!!

Finally, don’t forget how useful sunshine is to bleach your whites white! An afternoon on the line in full sun can do wonders for those yellowing white oxfords you may have.

ON THE CASE

For me, aluminium luggage has always had two lives. The first is the period where I’m babying the case, and living in constant fear of that first dent. The second is after that dent has come, when I can at least embrace that it’s finally a unique model. But someone who’s recently inspired me to skip ahead to the second part is my friend, Angel Ramos. Ramos is the menswear designer behind Angel Ramos NYC, and he decorates his Rimowa with the same energy as the kids you see plastering their water bottles with Patagonia stickers. I absolutely love it. To me, it’s a throwback to an older era of travel, where hotels and national parks would give out beautiful stickers to decorate suitcases and diaries with. Here’s Angel on his philosophy:

“I travel a lot, especially to do trunk shows, and I always have my Rimowa trunk with me. I've always felt that the elegance and the fun and character of a Rimowa case, though, was the wear and tear on it, and also being able to use it to express yourself. In particular, I love the irony of having a 'Fragile' sticker on a trunk that is so obviously getting destroyed every time I travel with it. But my most popular sticker is probably the one that says "F The Diet" in Italian. Traveling as much as I do, I yo-yo in weight, and so I love that reminder to not take it all so seriously. People love it, especially when I'm going through Italy. One more thing I'll say is: I'm always looking for stickers, but I don't go online and buy them. I think that’s corny. I let myself come across them naturally — I like that they're a representation of the places I've been and things I actually love.”

Start plastering your suitcase with the Wm Brown or Yolo stickers!