The Gooseberry Surprise, a quest of flavor

I don’t know about you guys, but I’m a big fan of seafood. When I was at my local supplier I saw some fresh Fine de Claire oysters from Normandy begging for me to buy them. Of course, my obvious next thought was what am I going to drink with this regal food?

In most cases I’m a sucker for a match with oyster and Stout. I had this in Borough Market (London) for the first time a few years ago and it’s just heaven on earth, love it! However, as an appetizer Stout beer isn’t really a perfect fit. I wanted something that was a bit more refined.

It made me think about a recipe I saw once by chef Sang Hoon Degeimbre from L’air Du Temps (a Two star Michelin restaurant in Belgium). He made a combination called “Le Kiwître” combining kiwi (Chinese Gooseberry) and oysters (huitres in French, hence the name). At first glance not the most logical combination, but then again, neither is stout and oyster, right?

It looked like a challenge to try and make this fantastic recipe into a cocktail. First thing I did was to make a juice of kiwi. Just mash the kiwi and sieve all the seeds out. Next I took about half an ounce of vodka and poured it into a shaker combined with 2 ounces of kiwi juice, an ounce of Batida de Côco and about half an ounce of juice from the oysters. Add a bit of ice to the mix and shake it.

Poor the content in a cooled glass. I love to garnish this one by coating the edge of the glass with lime juice and dipping the glass in coconut shavings mixed with vanilla sugar. A refreshing cocktail that matches perfect with your oysters. Try it out, tell me what you think ;-)

The Gooseberry Surprise

Ingredients:

- 2 ounces kiwi juice

- 1/2 ounce oyster juice

- 1/2 ounce vodka

- 1 ounce Batida de Côco

Garnish:

- Vanilla sugar

- Coconut shavings

- Lime juice