In past editions, we advised you that on occasion, we might offer a recipe or two in this Section. Well, this is that occasion. We waited for the foggy days of summer which now seem to be appearing in the fall. That fog and talk about the possible re-opening of Spats in Downtown Berkeley made us think about an old Bay Area favorite, The Fog Cutter. We’ve never had one. At Trader Vic’s in Emeryville the price is $10. It’s described as a “vaseful of rum, gin, brandy and sherry wine with orange juice and orgeat” and carries the admonition to “Let the drinker beware.” Yet, considering the checkered history of this somewhat famous drink, and the place it holds in Bay Area lore, we thought we should share with you the history and recipe for this Bay Area legend.
First, a little history.
There are a lot of claims as to the inventor of the Fog Cutter — we’ll go with the claim that seems to have the most adherents — it was invented by both Victor Bergeron aka Trader Vic and Ernest Raymond Beaumont Gantt (he changed it legally to Donn Beach) aka Don the Beachcomber. These two seemed to be “Tiki Bar” competitors during the 50’s and 60’s. Tiki Bars are just about what you would imagine — bars that are decorated with South Pacific-Hawaiian themes of torches, idols, grass mats and the like and which serve rum-based drinks in tall glasses garnished with everything from little paper umbrellas, small orchids, orange wheels and/or Maraschino cherries, sometimes, but not necessarily, all at one time.
Ernest Raymond Beaumont Gantt was a native of New Orleans who migrated to Los Angeles during the Great Depression. He did odd jobs and ended up building a bar in a vacant tailor shop just off Hollywood Boulevard. The bar was decorated with bits of scavenged boats from the waterfront (you see recycling does pay off) and other South Pacific type stuff. He invented rum-based drinks because rum was the cheapest alcohol around. One thing lead to the other and the place became Don the Beachcomber’s and he changed his name to Donn Beach. He served in the military in World War II and came home to find that his wife (who somewhere along the line had become his ex-wife) had grown the business to over 1,000 locations. He took off for Hawaii and opened another place, independently, in the then unknown location of Waikiki Beach. He died in 1989 at age 81 and his obituary in the New York Times is said to have portrayed him as “the Thomas Edison of the thatched roof bar and inventor of 84 bar drinks.” There is still a Don the Beachcomber’s in Huntington Beach, but there doesn’t seem to be a Fog Cutter on the current menu.
Victor Bergeron opened his first place, offering food and beer, on San Pablo Avenue. Some say it was in Berkeley, but actually it was close to Berkeley, on the northeast corner of 65th and San Pablo in Oakland. This was 1934 during the Great Depression, and he had to borrow $500 (actually a pretty big sum in those days) to get started. He called it Hinky Dink’s, across the street from his parents’ grocery store. The original building is said to have looked like a series of connected huts that gave an image of being in the South Pacific. Trader Vic was a gregarious host with a wooden leg that he would invite his customers to stick a knife in from time to time. His name, Trader Vic, came from his trading food and drinks for the supplies and services he needed for his restaurant. So, that’s how the place became known as Trader Vic’s and locations opened up all over the world. A popular East Bay Trader Vic’s is still in operation in Emeryville with the same Tiki bar theme for decor, food and drink. He lived until 1984 when he was in his early eighties. His San Francisco Chronicle obituary described him as the founder of a “San Francisco restaurant that became a Bay Area legend.” He is credited with inventing the Mai Tai cocktail and as mentioned above, the Fog Cutter is still on the menu in Emeryville.
Of all of the recipes that abound on the net, none seem to use dry ice as was done in Spats. (None even mention Spats.) The recipes mentioned vary in quantity of ingredients. The one printed below is the one that is mentioned most often:
The Fog Cutter — makes one drink
1 ½ oz light rum
½ oz gin
½ oz brandy
2 oz fresh orange juice
1 oz fresh lemon juice
½ oz orgeat (almond-flavored syrup)
½ oz sherry — Amontillado or sweet sherry
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add rum, gin, brandy, orange and lemon juices, and orgeat. Shake well.
Strain into an ice-filled Collins glass. Float the sherry on top. Garnish with an orange slice and Maraschino cherry.
Victor Bergeron is said to have remarked in his 1972 bartender’s guide (revised edition) that “After two of these, you won’t even see the stuff.”
That brings us to the dry ice.
“Dry ice” is the solid state of carbon dioxide (CO2). When carbon dioxide gets really cold (colder than minus 109.3 degrees F) it passes from a gaseous state into a solid state. In its solid state, it’s used in industry and to cool food. Food Grade Dry Ice can be purchased at grocery stores, we’re told in both chunk and pellet states, and enjoys a period of popularity particularly around Halloween for the obvious reason that it gives off a fog when mixed with liquids, i.e., it “sublimates” — it goes from a solid state to a gaseous state without turning into a liquid. That’s why it’s called “dry ice.”
When using dry ice, be careful, very careful
- Never touch it with your bare skin — use tongs and heavy gloves.
- Never, ever, ever consume it — it’s supposed to stay in the bottom of a drink glass, but if you use it in a drink or punch, the advice is to specifically warn people to sip the drink, not to gulp it down, or invert the glass, and don’t swallow it by all means.
- Don’t “smoke” the fog, i.e. inhale the fumes around the glass, and always store and use the dry ice in a well-ventilated space. Concentrated fumes can kill.
- When breaking up a chunk into smaller pieces, always use protective eye wear.
- Never store dry ice in a sealed container, it will probably blow up.
Well, BNC doesn’t recommend any of this — seems like a whole lot of trouble to us, but just think about all of the things you have learned by reading the BNC eNEWS!