Drink your dinner: from cuisine to cocktail

In her SIP creativity masterclass, Schmuck co-founder Juliette Larrouy said the cuisine you grew up with could be a fruitful source of inspiration behind the bar.

A mainstay on her menu is the Melon Cheese Pepper, an ode to the appetiser her dad often made in the south of France (the pepper was his twist on the classic combination).

The drink mixes gin, vermouth, cantaloupe and mozzarella cheese foam. “I knew if I clarified the melon it would impact the aroma,” Juliette explained, so she instead creates an acidulated cordial to retain the melon’s juiciness and flavour.

In Genoa, Juliette’s friend Giovanni Allario grew up on a diet of pesto pasta.Now bar director at Moebius Milano, #7 World’s Best Bars, his Pesto Martini has pride of place.

A seriously good cocktail, its origin was more a novelty. “We were doing a guest shift in the US in the homeland of martinis,” recalls Giovanni, “and I wanted to bring something Italian that would be familiar to the American crowd.”

That’s when he remembered the pesto of his youth. In his recipe, the sauce with basil and pine nuts is fat-washed in vodka (he pointedly leaves out the garlic, which is famously overbearing). Chilled and strained, he mixes in sweet and dry vermouths, a salt solution and a touch of white balsamic vinegar.

“I gave it to my mum and dad, and both found it very delicious. Maybe they were biased!”

From Milan to Mexico, where Benjamin Padron founded one of Mexico City’s first craft cocktail bars, Licoreria Limantour, famed for its Margarita Al Pastor.

Inspired by the pork and pineapple taco, the drink was born as a classroom project when Benjamin was learning his craft. Tasked with creating a twist on a classic, he looked to the rituals of a night out in Mexico, which usually end with the popular street food.

To translate it into liquid form, he combined serrano chilli, coriander and pineapple, with mint and basil adding balance. He chose not to include the pork, preferring to capture the experience of eating an al pastor rather than recreating its exact ingredients.

The result was something unexpected: instantly recognizable, yet entirely new. A vegan al pastor, a twisted margarita that has become a classic in itself.