Signature · ABSOLUT TABASCO™

The Two-faced Hydra

Jasper Permentier

Whynot

THE TWO-FACED HYDRA WhyNot Gastrobar, Gent In Greek mythology, the Hydra was a monster with many heads, and every hero who faced it had to decide which head to take on first. Here there's no wrong answer. Start wherever you like, because every head leads to a different adventure. This drink is my Hydra, and you get to choose how to tackle the beast. WHERE IT STARTED When Absolut invited me to this competition, the brief was basically: no rules, let yourself go. For a bartender, that's a dream and a trap at the same time. So I started with one simple question: where do we Belgians use Tabasco most? The answer came faster than a waiter with a fresh plate of fries: steak tartare with fries. It's a Belgian classic, served in every brasserie from Gent to Arlon. Great idea, one small problem. I wasn't going to throw raw beef in a shaker and call it a day. So I set out to build a drink that tastes like steak tartare while still drinking like a proper cocktail. THE BODY: A BEEF CONSOMMÉ The base is a crystal-clear beef consommé. It's a classic kitchen technique for turning a cloudy stock into something as clear as glass. The catch is that a traditional consommé takes forever, which makes it useless behind a busy bar. Then Chris Young (Chris Young Cooks on YouTube) showed a method that gets it done in about three hours. Suddenly the impossible was possible. The consommé goes in unseasoned, and I build all the flavour on it cold, like a gazpacho made from beef: La Tomato liqueur for the tomato and ketchup notes of a good tartare sauce Mirin and liquid shio koji for umami and a gentle sweetness Worcestershire sauce, the secret weapon in every tartare Worcester sauce for depth and a rich backbone A touch of sugar syrup to round it all off On top float three drops of oil: parsley, wild garlic and chives. They stand in for the fresh herbs you'd mix into a tartare, and they're a wink at the three coffee beans on an Espresso Martini. This time they're just made of oil. THE SECOND HEAD: THE SHOT Next to the Nick & Nora glass sits a shot of Absolut Tabasco. That's a nod to the Pornstar Martini and its famous side shot, but this time the side shot has some fire in it. Why not just pour the vodka into the drink? Because the clarity of the consommé is the whole point. Add the alcohol and that beautiful clear ruby colour goes cloudy. So the two stay apart, and that's where the magic happens. YOU CHOOSE YOUR HEAD On its own, the glass is almost non-alcoholic, under 1% ABV. The alcohol comes only from a small amount of 12% liqueur and a few bitters. The guest decides what happens next: Shot first, then the glass: the chili heat and vodka hit first, then the savoury consommé cools everything down. Glass first, then the shot: you taste the tartare in all its umami glory, and then the Tabasco kicks the door in. Sip, sip, sip: mix it in your own mouth, one sip at a time. Skip the shot: you get a full-flavoured, almost alcohol-free drink. Every guest ends up with a different drink. The cocktail isn't finished in the shaker; it's finished in your mouth. That's why I call it a hybrid "non-cocktail". It starts almost alcohol-free, and you decide whether it becomes a cocktail. This is the part I'm most proud of. I'm sure plenty of brilliant cocktails will be entered in this competition. I wanted to show that the most exciting drink on the bar can start with almost no alcohol at all, and still hit harder in flavour than most. It's for the guest who wants to drink less, for the guest who wants the full ride, and for everyone in between. The Hydra works for all of them. THE FRIES: THE GARNISH No steak tartare without fries. So on the side sits a Pringle as my crispy "friet", topped with a small spoonful of freshly hand-cut beef tartare. Underneath the tartare hides a drop of Gentse mustard, because this is Gent and I wasn't going to use any other kind. WHY THE HYDRA A Mexican bartender once said something that stuck with me: "If you can think it, you can make it. But that doesn't mean you should take the obvious choice." The obvious choice here would have been a spicy Bloody Mary. Instead I asked: does it have to be this way? And then I flipped the formula on its head. The Hydra has two faces, one clear and gentle and one fiery. You choose which one to face first. That's what WhyNot is all about. Curious? WhyNot try it. Tackle the beast however you want.

Absolut Tabasco, Beef consommé, 1/6 sugar syrup, La tomato liquor, Mirin, Shio Koji liquid form, Worcestershire sauce, Amaro chuncho, Parsley oil, Wild garlic oil, Chives oil

Whynot · Nieuwland 1, Gent