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Posts from September 2010

Skinnygirl: Margarita

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The poor margarita.  Once a near-perfect drink, in the family of cocktails known as "the sour" (not, you'll note, "the sweet"), blessed with a balance of natural sweetness, mouth puckering sour, and agave flavors, the margarita has become almost a joke in the hands of bartenders and regular folk across the land (and I suspect across other lands as well).  

You see, there was a time when a margarita would be enjoyed in a coupe, or cocktail glass (stemware which is now generally referred to as a "martini glass"), 3, maybe 5 ounces at a time. But I'm guessing most people, when thinking "margarita,"  picture a huge pint glass of a neon green, overly-sweet, vaguely tequila-y slushie, more fitting for a frat party or Bourbon street than for a restaurant or serious contemplation.  And that's the problem:  people don't know any better.  We've been brain-washed!

I've already noted here on this blog that a margarita's success is based almost solely on the use of quality ingredients, used in a proportion which you find appealing.  Those ingredients include:

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Westwood Prime Meats: Westwood, NJ

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I've been telling anyone who will listen.  I've been running through the streets.  Shouting on corners.   It's as if it's 1988, and I'm going on about Nine Inch Nails at frat parties whilst being ignored by the ladies who loved Cool J.  Or 1994, singing the phrases of D Generation at Newark's Studio 1, screaming over some horrible metal band's attempt at art.  Or 1997, rambling on about Belle and Sebastian at bars in Hoboken, as backward-baseball cap-wearing dudes put another dollar into the jukebox to play Seven Mary Three for the 10th time in a row. 

But it's 2010, and I have an internet connection and a blog (I forgot for a while), so damn it, my words will be heard!  Read!

Sal Petruso, the proprietor and butcher at Westwood Prime Meats, is doing things the right way.  And you can all be beneficiaries...if you would just tear yourself away from the supermarket for a few minutes.

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