DELICIOUSLY fresh and zesty, Sanpellegrino Italian Sparkling Drinks are sparking cocktail inspiration and innovation, as premium mixers with the perfect acidity balance. Chef Paul Thinus Prinsloo, sous-chef at Gåte Restaurant and S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2019 Africa and Middle East Regional winner, has created two vibrantly layered cocktails appealing to the professional mixologist, which are part of the newly launched autumn seven-course dinner menu at Gåte on Quoin Rock wine estate.
“Anyone can mix Sanpellegrino Italian sparkling drinks with some gin and MCC to create a cocktail,” says Prinsloo, “but me being me, it had to be complex, the flavour profile had to be something nobody had used before.” Inspired by the autumn/winter earthiness of the Jerusalem artichoke, which has a short season of about two months in South Africa, he immersed himself in the mixology process and created his own artichoke extract using slow sous-vide cooking. “You have the flavour of the artichokes coming through, a bit of smokiness and cardamom, as well as the flavour of the gin, with the MCC that Quoin Rock produce,” he says. “The Sanpellegrino Limonata has a really good flavour profile, it gives a very nice mouthfeel and activates the salivary glands, both important factors in mixology. You’re triggering all the taste buds in the mouth, so you want to savour every sip.”
This cocktail, pictured above, is served as a welcome drink for guests at Gåte Restaurant before their seven-course autumn dinner menu. Paul says it also pairs well with the earthy flavours of the springbok or the lamb dishes on their newly launched menu.
Although this cocktail is designed as a showstopper for a bar or restaurant with the professional mixologist in mind, you can re-create it at home if you have a sous-vide bath and the patience to wait 24 hours to produce the artichoke extract.
Prinsloo’s second recipe uses Sanpellegrino Aranciata Rossa and is a play on the traditional Old Fashioned. “I wanted to do something we could serve with the petit fours, like a digestif. We crush ice with Angostura and add whisky to it. The Sanpellegrino Aranciata Rossa is very fresh but has no bitterness so works really well here. Then we add Timut pepper to get that strong flavour that we would get from adding more Angostura, we garnish with a dehydrated slice of blood orange to accent the orange notes.”
With the ideal balance of acidity, real fruit freshness and just enough sweetness, the Sanpellegrino Italian Sparkling Drinks are available in four distinct flavours: Aranciata made from the finest Italian oranges, Aranciata Rossa has a ruby colour with the depth from blood oranges, Limonata from Sicilian lemons with its refreshing flavour profile and Pompelmo from grapefruits, opaque in yellow colour with a bittersweet profile.
You can find more cocktail recipes here, and shop online here.
Sanpellegrino meets Jerusalem Artichoke
INGREDIENTS
25ml Knorhoek gin
15ml triple sec
80ml Quoin Rock MCC Festive
95ml Sanpellegrino Limonata
60ml Jerusalem artichoke extract
For the Jerusalem artichoke extract:
1kg unpeeled Jerusalem artichokes
5g cardamom
5g juniper berries
half a stick fresh liquorice
3ml liquid smoke
500ml water
*Vacuum pack all artichoke extract ingredients and sous vide at 85C for 24H. Squeeze to extract the liquid.
METHOD
Mix gin, triple sec and artichoke extract together, add Sanpellegrino Limonata, add MCC and stir slowly, pour in a glass.
Quoin Rock Jack
INGREDIENTS
5g sugar
3 dashes Angostura bitters
3g Timut pepper, toasted
90ml Sanpellegrino Aranciata Rossa
45ml bourbon
1 slice dehydrated blood orange
METHOD
Add sugar and bitters to a glass and slow stir until sugar is dissolved.
Add bourbon and stir slowly. Toast Timut pepper and add to bourbon mix.
Top up with Sanpellegrino Aranciata Rossa and serve with three blocks of ice and a slice of dehydrated blood orange.
