Tamatar Martini Recipe

Cook tomato base

Place the roughly chopped tomatoes, tomato juice and vegetable stock in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add white wine vinegar, sugar, kosher salt, crushed peppercorns and ground cumin. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, for 12–15 minutes until tomatoes are soft and flavors have melded.

Blend and strain

Remove from heat. Let cool for 5 minutes, then blend the cooked mixture until completely smooth. Pass the purée through a fine mesh sieve into a heatproof bowl to remove skins and seeds. You should have roughly 300–350 ml of liquid; measure and add cold water as needed to reach a consistent intensity (about 60 ml may be used).

Toast mustard seeds

In a small dry skillet over medium heat, toast 1 tsp mustard seeds until fragrant and they begin to pop, about 1 minute. Crush slightly with the back of a spoon and stir into the tomato liquid.

Clarify (egg-white raft)

Return the strained tomato liquid to a clean saucepan and warm to just under a simmer (do not boil). Whisk the 2 egg whites lightly and stir them into the warm tomato liquid. Keep at low heat (barely simmer) for 8–10 minutes — the egg white will coagulate and form a raft trapping solids. Do not boil; keep temperature steady. Once the raft has formed and the liquid below is relatively clear, carefully ladle or strain the liquid through a double layer of cheesecloth (or a very fine chinois) into a clean container, leaving solids/raft behind. Chill the clarified tomato in the refrigerator until cold.

Adjust seasoning

Taste the chilled clarified tomato and adjust with a pinch of salt, a touch more white wine vinegar or up to 60 ml cold water to reach the desired concentration. Reserve at least 75–90 ml for cocktails (this recipe uses 60 + 15 ml).

Combine 1 tsp toasted yellow mustard seeds, 30 ml water and 30 g caster sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to a gentle simmer and stir until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and let steep for 10 minutes to infuse. Strain out seeds; cool syrup to room temperature. The syrup should be slightly viscous and mustard-perfumed. Keep refrigerated up to 5 days.

Place peeled shallots or pearl onions in a small jar. Add dry vermouth, white wine vinegar, sugar, olive oil and salt. Shake or stir to combine, then let sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes, or refrigerate and steep for up to 4 hours for more flavor. Reserve the onions as garnish. Use one drunken onion per cocktail; keep any remaining onions and liquid refrigerated for up to 5 days.

Chill glass

Place a martini or coupe glass in the freezer to chill, or fill with ice water while you prepare the drink.

Combine and shake

In a chilled cocktail shaker add 90 ml Belvedere Vodka, 60 ml chilled spiced clarified tomato, 15 ml additional clarified tomato (for mouthfeel), 10 ml mustard seed syrup and 10 ml fresh lemon juice. Add ice to the shaker (about 200 g or enough to fill) and shake vigorously for 12–15 seconds until well chilled and slightly frothy.

Double strain

Remove the chilled glass from the freezer. Double-strain the cocktail into the glass using a Hawthorne strainer and a fine mesh strainer to remove ice shards and any residual solids for a silky texture.

Garnish and serve

Skewer one drunken onion and rest it on the rim or drop it into the drink. Sprinkle a 1/4 tsp of toasted mustard seeds over the surface as a finishing aromatic. Serve immediately.