The Clementine Criteria
It’s not like we’re building churches, or turning wood into violins.
While most crafts are backed by centuries of history, ours was born yesterday. Everything lies ahead. That’s exciting. But that means that we have to set our own criteria.
Here’s one great criteria to use in your own work.
It’s the Clementine Criteria.
One day I gave Chef Nicolas Navarro samples of a few variations on the Dry Martini, for an upcoming Oysters and Martinis night.
There was :
The classic (5 to 1 ratio, made with my homemade dry vermouth, and mists of a homemade citron oil)
An olive-oil fatwashed gin to turn the Dirty into a « Clean » Martini.
A Japanese martini made with Yuzu Sake and a chery blossom-infused rice vinegar.
A Gibson made with a pickled, spiced red onion.
I was all proud of myself. The menu was tight and faithful to the Dry Martini. But the chef didn’t care one bit for what he described as “glasses of alcohol”.
“The way you talk about it, I expected much more flavour in the glass. But it’s a glass of alcohol “.
I tried to explain the history of that classic, the british custom of the Dry Martini, the temperature, the experience of a frozen glass. He didn’t care.
He took out a clementine.
“You know what this is ? A clementine. It’s good, a clementine. Very good. Perfume. Flavour. Colour. And it’s all very cheap and given by nature.”
“If we’re not better than a clementine, what are we even doing ?”
Then he apologized and tried to backtrack. « I don’t know all this, I don’t drink, never worked with a bartender. It’s only my own palate speaking. »
But that judgement ignited a spark.
“Why not ?”, I thought
“Why not reach for those heights ?”, and not limit ourselves to a history of classics.
How many cocktails had I had, that were truly more flavourful than a clementine ? About 12, I counted, with maybe one or two of mine. So many bars, even top50 bars, did not break through the Clementine Criteria often. But why not set the bar there ? What heights could we reach, if we just stopped to care for anything less flavourful ?
So :
Stock good clementines in your bar, or whatever would be your local equivalent. Perfume, Flavour, Beauty. Iconic remembrance. Use the Clementine Criteria as your baseline. It’s frustrating, it’s hard on you … but that’s what all kitchen brigades go through.
Want to know something great ? The clementine is a 19th century invention, born of the crossing of the mandarine tree (Citrus reticulata) and the orange tree (Citrus sinensis). Bless Brother Clement, and his great vision for a softer orange. He did not stop at what already existed.
« Nature » as we experience it is the result of a long tradition of give and take with the land.
In the world of liquid flavours, let us give and take too. Let’s steer that our flavour experiments towards nature, terroir, tradition. But in doing that, let us set our own criteria, and reach new heights.
Ayrton