well here we are, putting marinade in our cocktails. get into it.

a list of things i would straight up drink if it were – okay i think this is almost past being about social acceptability and more in the realm of whether it’s um – sane?:

  • the mustard mint sauce my mom has made to accompany salmon for as long as i can remember (i’m pretty anti-salmon but will eat the mint sauce on anything from blueberry pie to an empty can of cat food, probably)
  • valentina hot sauce
  • the miso gravy from allison day’s whole bowls
  • raita, tzatziki
  • chimborazo‘s aji criollo, or for that matter any kind of cilantro-based condiment-like thing

to name a few.

sauce is very good. and very “why are we not drinking this by the bottle”. or at least putting it in our cocktails.

for the sake of convincing you that i’m not the only one who’s been known to lose their entire mind over high-quality condiments, that it is, if nothing else, inherited, i present you with the facts: i’m not technically the one who came up with this. it was at the dinner table, over cuban-inspired bowls filled with rice and beans and plantains and drenched in mojo sauce that my mother, eyeing the half-empty gravy boat of mojo in a way where you just know she’s resisting dunking a finger in for one last reminder of how good it all can be, said, “this would make a good cocktail”. and…had i already been thinking it but wasn’t planning on saying it aloud? maybe. her mistake was forgetting that these are not matters i take lightly, the combining of sauce and alcohol, the combining of almost anything and almost anything else in any number of – is “questionable” putting it lightly? – ways. and so, inevitably, the mojo cocktail was born.

but, you know, what is a bloody mary if not vodka-drenched cocktail sauce?

yes, rum would be the obvious choice for this but tequila really takes it from “vaguely weird and not quite right” to “actually really good despite this cocktail being infused with garlic”. and also i can do what i want. so.

enjoy it during these last summer days and in the meantime i’ll keep you updated on the development of the mustard mint cocktail. we all wish i was kidding.

-kara

cuban mojo cocktail
makes one cocktail but can easily be multiplied

ingredients

for the mojo:

  • 2 large garlic cloves, roughly chopped
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/3 cup fresh orange juice
  • 1/3 cup fresh lime juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

for the cocktail:

  • 2 ounces tequila
  • 6 ounces mojo
  • ice
  • orange slice to garnish

instructions

to make the mojo:

smush the garlic and salt with a mortar and pestle until it forms a smooth-ish paste. add to a bowl along with the remaining mojo ingredients. mix to combine.

to make the cocktail:

strain the mojo through a mesh sieve into an ice-filled lowball glass, and then pour in the tequila. mix well, garnish with an orange slice, and enjoy!!!