Nico

3 Pisco Cocktails and a Dessert for NOLA

by Nico on July 16, 2013 in Cocktails

3 Pisco Cocktails and a Dessert for NOLA

Of all the pop-up events I did last year, one of my favorite was the Peruvian Independence Day dinner in NOLA, and I am delighted to announce that this year I’ll be back in NOLA as guest chef for another pop-up cocktail and dinner event at Carmo the last weekend in July. But this week, NOLA is all about celebrating cocktail culture through Tales of the Cocktail. So to honor my love for New Orleans and to toast to all my friends who are there now, I present for your pleasure 3 Pisco cocktails and a dessert, cheers!
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Pisco Punch

by Nico on July 10, 2013 in Cocktails

Pisco Punch, born during the Gold Rush days of the Barbary Coast

Born during the Gold Rush days of the Barbary Coast, the Pisco Punch is one of the most important cocktails in the history of San Francisco. It was imbibed by Mark Twain and a real-life Tom Sawyer over 100 years ago at Duncan Nicol’s Bank Exchange bar on Montgomery Street where the Transamerica Pyramid now stands. Kipling compared its color to the “glory of a tropical dawn” and “red clouds of sunset.” And from the late 1800’s, through the Great Earthquake of 1906, until the beginning of Prohibition, the Pisco Punch defined the culinary identity of San Francisco.
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Wild West Whiskey in Leadville

by Nico on July 4, 2013 in Stories

Two Guns Distillery, Leadville CO — Wild West Whiskey and Moonshine

Most of my travels revolve around food and cocktails, such as visiting New Orleans to cook a Peruvian pop-up dinner at Carmo Cafe, my annual pilgrimage to the International Food Blogger Conference, which is going to be in Seattle this year, or my upcoming trip to the famous Mistura food festival in Peru. So why would I go to Leadville, Colorado? To train and run in the mountains of the High Country. That’s right, besides cooking Peruvian food and making Pisco cocktails, I love to run, but here, I want to tell you about my visit to the highest distillery in the world — and the whiskey cocktails I enjoyed at Two Guns Distillery.
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Pisco Bella Fiore

by Nico on June 27, 2013 in Cocktails

Pisco Bella Fiore

In many of the recipes on Pisco Trail, I talk about the influence of Inca, Spanish, African, Chinese, and Japanese cultures. But did you know that today in Lima it’s not uncommon to meet a local Peruvian with an Italian or German last name? Why? Because they are also part of Peru’s immigrant history.
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Apricot Pisco Julep

by Nico on June 19, 2013 in Cocktails

Apricot Pisco Julep

Sometimes, making a cocktail provides an opportunity to focus on simplicity and to experiment with the flavors of the season that demand to be mixed with Pisco. So next time you crave to be refreshed on a hot Summer day, start with some Pisco, add a little bit of simple syrup, mix in some stone fruit purée, shake, strain, and serve cold in a mason jar with ice. Presenting, a cocktail that is sweet, tart, colorful, and rich with anti-oxidants and vitamins — the Apricot Pisco Julep will be the medicine for whatever ails you this Summer.
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