Bartenders Shaun Byrne and Nick Tesar teach us how to prepare
cocktails, cordials, syrups and cold-brew with fresh, seasonal ingredients
first sip
of spring!
banana refashioned
20ml banana caramel
(see recipe, right)
20ml muscat
20ml dark rum
20ml cold-brew black tea
(see recipe, p145)
Ice cubes, for stirring,
plus extra, to serve
Orange twist, to garnish(^1) Combine all the ingredients
and stir over ice (just a short stir,
as you’re not looking to dilute
the drink very much).
(^2) Strain over a large piece of
ice; dress with an orange twist.
Banana caramel
Makes 200ml
400g (1¾ cups) caster sugar
4 bananas, peeled, chopped
and peels reserved (see note)
150ml pouring cream
5g salt
(^1) Combine the sugar with 200ml
water in a saucepan over medium
heat. Stir until sugar has dissolved,
then cook, without stirring, until
the sugar begins to caramelise.
(^2) Add the bananas and cook
for a further 15 minutes, without
stirring, until it darkens. Remove
from heat and add cream, being
careful as it will bubble and spit.
Stir to homogenise, then force the
mixture through a fine-mesh sieve
to remove banana pulp. (Reserve
the pulp for adding to breakfasts
or desserts, or freeze in ice cube
trays to make smoothie cubes).
(^3) Transfer to a sterilised glass
jar; seal, cool, then refrigerate.
It will keep for up to 2 weeks.
NOTE Both my mum and grandma
always encouraged me to eat more
bananas so they could feed their
tree ferns with the peels; staghorn
ferns break down the minerals in
the organic banana peel. Grandma
loved that they added a tropical
feel to her quite dry garden.
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