• 作者: dfmzhu
• 来源: 佛山展翅调酒咖啡西点培训学校
• 日期: 2016-07-17
• 浏览次数: 2665 次

The itinerant vodka cocktail that deserves to wander on to modern menus. By Seamus Harris. 这款四处流浪的伏特加鸡尾酒值得成为现代酒单的一员。Seamus Harris撰文。

从乔治•比才的卡门到夏洛蒂•勃朗特笔下乔装打扮的罗彻斯特先生，吉普赛人在欧洲人的想象中始终占据着一个小而生动的角落。在那个世袭君主制当道的时代，吉普赛民主选举首领的理念尤其令人神往。即使在今天，吉普赛女王这个名字仍然有着巨大的魔力，引发人们对那个逝去年代的无限遐想。在过去一个世纪甚至更为久远的岁月里，吉普赛女王曾被拿来给各种东西冠名，其中有烟草品牌、运河船、飞机引擎、无声电影、风信子、1970年代地下摇滚乐队的单曲、1920年代游遍美国的母马、众多英国夜总会、数不清的赛马，当然还有鸡尾酒。

From Georges Bizet’s Carmen to Charlotte Bronte’s disguised Mr Rochester, gypsies have long monopolised a small but lively corner of the European imagination. Especially captivating has been the notion of gypsy royalty, democratically elected in a time of all-powerful hereditary monarchs. Even today the name Gypsy Queen retains a nostalgic magnetism. Over the past century or more, Gypsy Queen has variously referred to a tobacco brand, a canal boat, an aircraft engine, a silent movie, a hyacinth, a single from a 1970s underground rock band, a mare famous for traversing every state of the US in the 1920s, multiple English pubs, countless racehorses and a cocktail.

这款稀有伏特加鸡尾酒的起源可以追溯到威士忌和金酒称霸的前伏特加年代。出于对装饰艺术的盲目崇拜，软呢帽狂人们对这种大众烈酒根本瞧不上眼，但这一值得复兴的伏特加风潮先驱定会让他们眼界大开。

This last is a rare vodka drink with pedigree dating to the pre-vodka age, when whisky and gin ruled unchallenged. Worthy of a revival, this trailblazer on vodka’s rise to pre-eminence is a perfect eye-opener for fedora fetishists seduced into sniffy disdain for the plain spirit by blind worship of Art Deco aesthetics.

吉普赛女王（有时简称为吉普赛）很可能诞生于禁酒令后的纽约，当时伏特加在美国充其量只能算是个新奇之物。William Guyer所著的《欢乐调酒师》（1933年）就是这种心态的真实写照。Guyer在原料部分不无讽刺地说伏特加 “在俄语中代表着‘糟糕透顶’”，通篇未收录一种伏特加鸡尾酒。即使是1930年代露天广场上最有先见之明的吉普赛占卜师，也无法透过水晶球预见伏特加会在二十年之后颠覆酒饮界格局。

Likely invented in post-Prohibition New York, the Gypsy Queen (sometimes simply the Gypsy) was born into a world where vodka was a curiosity at best. William Guyer’s The Merry Mixer(1933) summarises the mindset of the day. Guyer lists vodka in his ingredients section solely to glibly dismiss it as “Russian for ‘horrendous’”, and does not pollute his bible with a single vodka cocktail. Even the most prescient gypsy fortune teller working a 1930s fairground could hardly have peered into her crystal ball and warned that within two decades vodka would turn the drinking world on its head.

不过这在日后的确成为了现实，而这从吉普赛女王的丰富层次中可以窥见些许端倪。吉普赛女王一点也不单调乏味，充分展现了伏特加尤其是绝对伏特加的调酒潜力，换一种风味更佳的烈酒反倒会让它失色。它的出现还让一个棘手的难题迎刃而解。像法国廊酒和查特酒这样有益健康的草本利口酒味道甘美，但纯饮的话会太甜——黑咖啡可以起到很好的中和作用，不过餐后同时饮用咖啡和利口酒的传统现在几乎消失了。所以，这一类好喝的利口酒虽然不容忽视，却只在寥寥几款鸡尾酒中得到了运用，而且没有一款完整展现了它们的美妙风味。吉普赛女王以一种自由奔放的方式解决了这个问题；打破常规，把伏特加作为基酒。

But that is exactly what happened, and the Gypsy Queen’s luminous depths reveal hints of why. Far from a dull cocktail that would be improved by substituting something more flavoursome for the vodka, the Gypsy Queen showcases vodka’s mixological power. This is a drink that solves a real problem. Luscious herbal elixirs like Benedictine and Chartreuse are overly sweet if sipped straight – with black coffee they come into their own, but the tradition of after-dinner coffee and liqueurs is now seldom observed. So you have a class of liqueurs too delicious to neglect, yet showcased in only a few cocktails, which in any case obscure their full deliciousness. The free-spirited solution conjured up by the Gypsy Queen was to thumb her nose at convention and pour vodka as a base.

吉普赛女王用伏特加对法国廊酒进行了慷慨的洗礼。法国廊酒让伏特加变得有趣，而绝对伏特加的顺滑和饱满将法国廊酒的甜腻变得平衡和清新怡人。正如后退几步可以更好地欣赏画作，绝对伏特加为法国廊酒打开了一个更为广阔的视野。相比后来出现的伏特加鸡尾酒，别出心裁的吉普赛女王更加符合手工鸡尾酒的精髓，即使是最激进的反伏特加狂热分子也无法抗拒它的魔力。

The Gypsy Queen baptises Benedictine liberally with vodka. The Benedictine makes the vodka interesting, while the vodka chisels Benedictine’s saccharine excess into a balanced and bracing aperitif. Like stepping back from a painting, the vodka opens a more panoramic perspective on the Benedictine. This innovative cocktail is craftier than most subsequent vodka creations, a magic potion to spark reflection from even the fiercest anti-vodka zealot.

顺便提一下，那匹母马吉普赛女王的环美之旅无意间蒙上了一层怀旧色彩。它的主人Frank M Heath在日记中详细记载了这次历时两年的旅程，当时汽车逐渐兴起，大篷车慢慢被淘汰，对吉普赛人来说在这个世界上生存越来越艰难。他们的其他生计也逐渐步上了大篷车的后尘，如采摘啤酒花和豌豆（现在都是靠机器完成），或者贩卖手工编织的冬青树花环及木制衣夹（现在都是中国制造的塑料制品）。吉普赛人的生活失去了游走在日常生活边缘的多姿多彩，如今那只存在于人们的想象之中。

Incidentally, the journey across the United States by the mare christened Gypsy Queen proved unintentionally nostalgic. Painstakingly recorded in diary form by her rider, one Frank M Heath, this two-year trip coincided with the rise of the automobile, the disappearance of the horse and cart, and the transformation of the world into a place inhospitable to gypsies. Other mainstays of gypsy life have gradually gone the way of the horse and cart, such as picking hops and peas (now done by machines), or selling hand-woven holly wreaths and wooden clothes pegs (now plastic and made in China). From colourful figures roaming the fringes of everyday life, gypsies have retreated into the imagination.

不过，历史的车轮滚滚向前，无人可挡。吉普赛人的时代一去不复返，而伏特加即将步入更光明的未来。没有必要把前伏特加时代浪漫化：如果心存偏见的手工调酒师像驱赶吉普赛流浪者一样，傲慢地将伏特加排除在鸡尾酒单之外，那就太可惜了。伏特加在调酒天才的妙手中可是魔力无限。

But progress cannot be halted. Just as gypsies are not returning, vodka is not on the verge of decamping for greener pastures. There is no point romanticizing the pre-vodka age and prejudiced craft bartenders miss an opportunity when they snootily banish vodka from cocktail lists as if shooing away some gypsy loiterer. Used adeptly, by one with the gift, vodka has plenty of magic to offer.

The Gypsy Queen / 吉普赛女王

60ml 伏特加
30ml 法国廊酒
1滴 安高天娜苦精

加冰搅匀，滤入冰过的鸡尾酒杯。以一小片柠檬皮卷装饰。

60ml Vodka
30ml Benedictine
1ds Angostura bitters

Stir over ice, strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a small lemon twist.

上述配方比例是1930年代俄国茶室的版本。David Embury建议可以调得更干一些。15毫升法国廊酒和75毫升伏特加的比例也能打造出一款出色鸡尾酒。

吉普赛女王改编版本众多。David Embury推荐使用橙味苦精。也可以用其他草本利口酒代替法国廊酒，如查特酒 。有些老配方甚至加入柠檬和橙汁把它做成酸酒。如果将15毫升伏特加换成干邑，同时减少法国廊酒的用量，风味会更加丰富—— 几乎就是更微妙的B&B。

These proportions are from the original Russian Tea Room version of the 1930s. There is room to go dryer, which is what David Embury suggests. A ratio of 15ml Benedictine to 75ml vodka still yields a very distinctive drink.

Numerous variations exist. David Embury recommends orange bitters. Other herbal liqueurs, like Chartreuse, can substitute for the Benedictine. Some old recipes even add lemon and orange juices to reinterpret it as a sour. Finally, the cocktail can be enriched by replacing 15ml of the vodka with cognac and cutting back the Benedictine – it becomes almost a delicate take on the B&B.

Five dates to remember / 不可不记的五个时间点

1913

Mack Sennett执导、Mabel Normand和Roscoe Arbuckle主演的无声电影《吉普赛女王》发行。的确有几款鸡尾酒从电影和音乐剧中获得灵感，但没有证据表明吉普赛女王鸡尾酒与同名电影有什么瓜葛。

Release of The Gypsy Queen, a silent film directed by Mack Sennett and starring Mabel Normand and Roscoe Arbuckle. While movies and musicals inspired a few cocktails, there is no evidence linking our Gypsy Queen to its cinematic namesake.

1927

具有传奇色彩的俄国茶室在纽约开业。它更像是一家酒吧兼餐厅而不是茶室，据说是俄罗斯皇家芭蕾舞团的退休成员专门为了招待身在纽约的俄国人而创办的，不过目前所知最早的老板其实是Albertina Rasch——这位出生在奥地利的波兰籍犹太人曾在维也纳国家歌剧院学艺，但后来在百老汇成名。因为她的百老汇背景，俄国茶室很快吸引了众多娱乐圈人士，并逐渐成为纽约上流社会经常光顾的场所。

The iconic Russian Tea Room opens in New York, being more bar and restaurant than tea room. Reputedly established to serve New York’s Russian expat community by retired members of the Russian Imperial Ballet, the earliest recorded owner was actually Albertina Rasch – an Austrian-born Polish Jew who studied at the Vienna State Opera but gained fame on Broadway. Her Broadway connections soon attracted entertainment types, and gradually became a fixture of New York high society.

1937

WJ Tarling在《皇家咖啡馆鸡尾酒手册》一书中提到了吉普赛女王，但是令人遗憾的是并未给出配方。这本著作有一个附加章节，标题是《其他鸡尾酒索引——限于篇幅恕不一一赘述》，读者可以写信索取配方，一个配方要价一先令。而我们要想写信只能等着时光机发明的那一天了。

WJ Tarling’s Cafe Royal Cocktail Book refers to a Gypsy Queen, but frustratingly gives no recipe. The cocktail appears in a supplementary section titled “Index to names of cocktails too numerous for inclusion of recipes in this book”, with readers directed to request recipes by post, at a shilling apiece. Taking up this tempting invitation will have to await the invention of a time machine.

1938

纽约的俄国茶室出版了一本名为《俄国菜肴及原料》的家常菜谱手册。鸡尾酒部分的重点是伏特加，这在那个年代实属罕见，我们在这里面找到了已知最早的吉普赛女王配方。这款鸡尾酒的起源至今不为人知。David Wondrich将这本手册从历史的尘埃中挖掘出来，他猜想吉普赛女王可能是俄国茶室自创的酒品。俄国茶室主打1933年的伏特加鸡尾酒——禁酒令正是在这一年解除。不过，WJ Tarling之前也提到过吉普赛女王，让人不禁怀疑它是从其他地方流入纽约的。

New York’s Russian Tea Room releases a booklet of house recipes entitled Russian Dishes and What They Are Made Of. Uniquely for the time, the focus of the cocktail section is vodka, and here we find the earliest known recipe for a Gypsy Queen. The cocktail’s origins remain mysterious. David Wondrich, who unearthed this recipe booklet, reckons it was a house invention. The Russian Tea Room made a feature of vodka cocktails from 1933 – the year Prohibition ended. But the tantalising earlier mention by WJ Tarling invites speculation that the drink drifted into New York from elsewhere.

1950

随着伏特加逐渐成为美国人酒杯中的宠儿，吉普赛女王——以一个真正流浪者的姿态——仍然在鸡尾酒世界的边缘保持着低调。它会偶然出现在配方手册里，不过永远不会威胁到莫斯科骡子或伏特加马提尼的至尊地位。它也可以简称吉普赛（取代了更早出现的以马提尼为灵感的吉普赛）。David Embury在1958年版《调酒的艺术》中同时用了这两个名字来称呼它。

As vodka rolls on towards becoming America’s favourite spirit, the Gypsy Queen, in true traveller fashion, maintains a low profile on the fringes of the cocktail world. It crops up in recipe booklets, but never threatens the popularity of the Moscow Mule or Vodka Martini. The drink also becomes known simply as the Gypsy (replacing the earlier Martini-inspired Gypsy). David Embury lists the drink under both names in the 1958 edition of his The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks.