A PASSION FOR PASSION

It's no secret that we love a good trend in Toronto.

I've recently been obsessing for the first  time ever, over a tropical fruit.

Passion fruit and all of its tangy goodness.

Turns out, I'm not the only one. I keep seeing it in drink recipes everywhere. There's no point in trying to claim ownership over a trend or its birth in this city. I can at least attest to the fact that when the love affair started it felt organic. I did not realize I was following a trend. I really wanted burgers and bitter beer in 2009, I was genuinely craving tacos in 2011 and I've even gotten down with kale lately.

I was also on board when everyone here lost their s#*t because we all new that Loblaws (a Canadian grocery chain) had been selling croissant/donut hybrids long before the American one that became such a famous food trend. There was outrage here. Outrage! (well, Canadian outrage so nobody said anything, but we all knew...)

My point was supposed to be that we have a weakness for trends and that weakness has fallen on the passion fruit. If you haven't been seeing it yet, now that you've read this you're going to start noticing it everywhere. The trend is on.

PHOTO: GIUSEPPE PORZANI/FOTOLIA.COM

If you can get them like this, go for it!

I normally urge everyone to buy fresh but in this case, unless you are somewhere that Passion fruit is grown or so close to it, that it ships well, just use juice or puree. Any whole fruit I'd be able to get would be mostly dead, overly sour or flavourless, not what I want to add to this delicious drink. I happened to have a bottle of the puree from Sicoly in my freezer, but I have used an 100% juice from other brands and they will work as well. You can find several brands at any major grocery store.

This Tiki recipe is one I overlooked until I decided I needed to live a passion fruit lifestyle. It's Beachbum's Own and it's one of Beachbum Berry's original creations. I have no mind to mess with an already great recipe but as I have talked about before, it's important to know how to make confidant substitutions based on what you have available. Even Beachbum himself, published the recipe twice, once with passion fruit puree and once with passion fruit syrup.

I didn't have OJ or pineapple juice, but I did have clementines and frozen pineapple chunks. These both seemed reasonable. Also in the original, there is a mix of Demerara and Puerto Rican rum. However, I had just gotten a brand new bottle of the El Dorado 3yr white rum and was dying to mix something up. Technically speaking I've used two Demerara rums, a white and a dark.

When I'm working with existing recipes, I usually approach substitutions this way. Keeping the spirit (see what I did there?) of the original recipe, while working with what I've got. You should do the same. I fully encourage you to take my recipes and make them using what you've got as a staring place.

I still think of drink recipes as formulas, very much like recipes for baking. You can easily switch walnuts for almonds but trying to change the amount of baking powder will take some trial and understanding of the possible reactions.

Since I had the pineapple chunks anyway, I thought it was best to use the opportunity to break out the torch. What's more Tiki than fire?

You don't have to torch the pineapple garnish for this to be an amazing drink. I really love sweet & sour, this is one of the best examples of that in a Tiki drink. The other being a Zombie, my absolute favorite Tiki of all time. This passion fruit drink offers a full, round flavour, but at the same time it's very refreshing. That's a really difficult combination to create. So, let's all enjoy the genius of Beachbum Berry and jump on the passion fruit bandwagon by making this awesome Tiki drink.





Beachbum's Own
1 1/2 oz light rum, El Dorado 3yr
1 oz Demerara rum, El Dorado 5yr
3/4 oz Licor 43
3/4 oz fresh lemon juice
3/4 oz pineapple juice or 4 thawed chunks
3/4 oz fresh clementine juice (or OJ)
3/4 oz passion fruit syrup ( mix 2 oz passion juice with 2 oz sugar)




Method
Add all ingredients to a shaker, fill 3/4 full with cracked ice. Shake well, strain into a tiki mug or 12 oz tumbler filled with crushed ice. Garnish with fresh pineapple and orange slices.










Have you jumped on the passion fruit trend? Is it happening where you live too?
Let me know in the comments below.

IT'S SIMPLE, SYRUP.

It's called Simple Syrup because it's so simple to make.

When you're reading drink recipes, as you do, they often call for simple syrup.

I'm always surprised by the number of people who still ask me what simple syrup is. When I'm doing demonstrations or sampling for food and beverage events, I end up describing how to make simple syrup more than any other technique. It happens to be one of the basic tools of my trade. So, I'd like to give you all the information you could need to start making your own simple syrup.

Simple syrup is made of equal parts sugar and water.

That' it.

If you see a recipe that calls for simple syrup 2:1 it's  actually referring to heavy syrup, syrup that has double the ratio of sugar to water. For example, a small batch of simple syrup could call for 1 cup sugar & 1 cup water. A 2: 1 heavy syrup would call for 2 cups of sugar and 1 cup of water.

Why would you need heavy syrup?

Every drink recipe is different, some might call for more sweetness with less liquid. These recipes will use a heavy syrup instead.
Try to imagine that you're baking, one cookie recipe might call for more sugar than another. It will depend on the other ingredients in the cookie, what type of cookie you want to make, how moist it should be and so on.

Think of Simple Syrup as the base recipe from which all other syrup recipes are created.

There is a surprising amount of debate about how to execute this "simple" recipe. Which to me, seems counter to the name. I prefer to heat the mixture to dissolve the sugar, but there are purists who prefer to stir, using friction to create a homogeneous liquid.

I won't deny that sugar is a sensitive ingredient, subtle changes in technique will produce different results. I'll even concede to a detectable flavour and texture difference between stirred and heated. The heated version taking on more caramel flavour and it's a tad thicker. But, I don't think its as overwhelmingly important a difference to start writing recipes where I include instructions for stirred or heated simple syrup.

From the left; Powdered, Granulated, Quick Dissolve

I should also point out that they type of sugar will also affect the end result. If I was going to spend my time stirring simple syrup instead of cooking it, I would only do it with instant dissolve sugar. Its grain size is in between granulated sugar and powdered sugar. You might see it labeled as super fine sugar or dink sugar. You will pay a premium for it. As a business owner I shy away from that for obvious reasons and if you plan to cook your syrup, there is no need for it.

I would only use powdered sugar in recipes that call for it specifically, there are many classic recipes that do, but I rarely use it in new recipes. Maybe I should use it more, there is nothing wrong with it, it's just different, sweeter and softer flavour so it's not an equal substitute. The recipe would need to be adjusted slightly to accommodate for the extra sweetness and loss of liquid. Also, without heat it will be cloudy, which is fine, most recipes that call for sugar syrup are shaken, so they will be cloudy anyway.

Brown or demerara sugar is a whole other story, it has a higher moisture content, deeper molasses flavour and and of course will produce a darker syrup. It is very useful in rum drinks. Matching like with like flavours the molasses in the sugar and the rum will easily go together.

I used a cocktail glass to mold the sugar.

Simple syrup can then be turned into flavored syrup by using fruit, tea, spices, herbs and other ingredients to create an infinite variety of choices. The method for those is decidedly less simple. Each ingredient requiring a different treatment. Cooking times, temperature and ratio of water will be unique to the type of syrup being made. The method for mint syrup is not the same as one for bacon syrup.

You can see some of the different syrups already on the site;

There was a beautiful rhubarb syrup we made last year, this well be in season again soon.
I love anything with ginger and this Ginger Syrup  has gone into both the Coconut Shiver and The Second Coming.
Of course you could try one of the more complicated tonic syrups.

Or, you can just make your first batch of simple syrup and then reward yourself with this easy daiquiri.

Simple Syrup
1 C sugar
1 C water

Method
In a heavy bottom sauce pan over medium heat, combine both. stir frequently until sugar dissolves completely. Remove from heat and cool. Store in clean glass jar in refrigerator. Keeps well.

Easy Lime Daiquiri
2 oz white rum
1 oz simple syrup
1/2 oz fresh lime juice

Method 
Add all ingredients to a shaker, fill 3/4 with cracked ice. Shake vigorously for 20 seconds. Strain into a chilled coup.




Now you don't have to shy away from recipes that call for simple syrup. Questions about syrup? Ask away in the comments below.