Alcohol is unbelievably prevalent across the books and films of James Bond. James has invented a drink, drinks champagne like water and if that weren’t enough his catchphrase is his Martini order. The Vesper Martini Invented by James in “Casino Royale” ‘A dry Martini,’ he said. ‘One. In a deep champagne goblet.’ ‘Oui, Monsieur.’ ‘Just a moment. Three measures of Gordon’s, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it’s ice-cold, then add a large slice of lemon-peel. Got it?’ Martini Shaken not Stirred Bartlet: ‘Shaken, not stirred, will get you cold water with a dash of gin and dry vermouth. The reason you stir it with a special spoon is so not to chip the ice. James is ordering a weak martini and being snooty about it.’ Normally President Josiah Bartlet’s word is law. End of story, this time I’m not too sure. There has been an awful lot
of research into the topic, too much I would think. Take “Shaken, not stirred: bio-analytical study of the antioxidant activities of martinis” apparently 0.072% of peroxide control for shaken martini, 0.157% for stirred v 58.3% for gin and 1.90% for vermouth this may or may not explain Cdr. Bond’s lack of cataracts. Genuinely this is a thing. So why shaken not stirred? What it boils down to is Ian Fleming drank his martini this way. There is a question of the gin bruising in the shaker, what this means for flavour I don’t know. Ian Fleming reportedly drank a bottle of Gin a day though so why don’t we trust his judgement? He had more practice drinking Gin than us, maybe a bruised Gin Martini is a tasty Martini. When it comes to a Vodka
Martini shaken seems to to reduce oiliness, I know I wouldn’t want an oily martini, it also helps to make the Vodka Martini ice cold which is nice. Also its an awesome line. Vodka Martini (Shaken, Not Stirred) 1 1/2 oz vodka 3/4 oz dry vermouth Shake vodka and vermouth together with several ice cubes in a shaker. Shake until it’s ice cold and garnish with lemon peel Gin Martini (Shaken, Not Stirred) 2 oz dry gin 1 oz dry vermouth Shake well and garnish with
lemon peel Eggs Bond Style Now once you have polished this lot off, why not prepare 007’s scrambled eggs for yourself and your lady guest the next morning? As written in Ian Flemings short story “Agent 007 in New York” For FOUR individualists: 12 fresh eggs Salt and pepper 5-6 oz. of fresh butter Break the eggs into a bowl. Beat thoroughly with a fork and season well. In a small copper (or heavy-bottomed saucepan) melt four oz. of the butter. When melted, pour in the eggs and cook over a very low heat, whisking continuously with a small egg whisk. While the eggs are slightly more moist than you would wish for eating, remove pan from heat, add rest of butter and continue whisking for half a minute, adding the while finely chopped chives or fines herbes. Serve on hot buttered toast in individual copper dishes (for appearance only) with pink champagne (Taittainger) and low music.
