by theglass

Shaking IT UP
Mikey Litcheld, Potluck Creative

though a whiskey sour is amazing with egg white. One of my favorite things is to pair eggs with amarolike a Cynar ip. Take Cynar, a whole egg, shake it, add ice and shake it again. Instead of having the avors on your tongue for ve seconds, now it lasts for 20 to 30 seconds as the fat dissolves off your palate, so you can taste more of the nuances in the spirit.
What other tips do you have for mixing with eggs?

Make sure theres only egg white and no yolk. Whenever you make a souf, you have to separate the egg whites and the egg yolkif a drop of egg yolk gets in, you have to start again. Its the same with a cocktail. When you dry shake, the proteins in the egg whites are expanding. If you get fat in there, the structure cant support itself and falls apart.
Are there any storage concerns with eggs behind the bar?

STEPHEN COLE CRACKS THE CODE ON EGGS IN COCKTAILS

by Anthony Todd Bartenders arent always comfortable using raw eggs in cocktails, and, frankly, customers arent always comfortable drinking them. Theres no one better to reassure both than Stephen Cole, general manager and beverage director of Chicagos Lone Wolf and Barrelhouse Flat. He began his career as a chef, and has applied his knowledge of all things eggsfrom whites to yolks to protein structuresbehind the bar.
What was the rst egg drink you ever encountered? How did you convince them to try it?

First, I offered to buy it back if they didnt like it. If that didnt work, I asked, Have you ever eaten raw cookie dough? Because if so, that has eggs in it, and youre alive right now.
Are you ever worried about drinking them?

We have to be diligent with our staff to make sure we keep a constant rotation. They always have to stay refrigerated. Dont pre-batch them in advance. When you use fresh eggs and the water isnt separating out of the egg whites, you get a better product, a more consistent product than when you pre-batch it.
What is your favorite egg cocktail?

VIDEO EXCLUSIVE
Go to plateonline. com to see Stephen Cole of Lone Wolf in Chicago get crackin behind the bar with his girolamo sour.

No. Honestly? I was born and raised on a chicken farm. Anything bad is on the outside of the egg, not the inside, and alcohol is going to kill it anyway.
Some bartenders swear by the dryshake (without ice) for egg cocktails. Whats your position?

A pisco sour has always been one of my favorites. The egg isnt adding any avor to the cocktailits a vessel to deliver avor. The egg changes the way you perceive the avor. With whole eggs, its a bit harder to come up with cocktails. Its not called for a lot, probably because of customer fear or the weather (you dont want to drink that in the summer). We have a cocktail at Barrelhouse created by Greg Buttera that has one whole egg and yolk, which is basically the greatest, creamiest milkshake youve ever had in your life.

It was probably when I was 12 or 13, when someone made my family eggnog with actual egg. We all looked at it, were really confused and said, Why are there eggs in eggnog? That sounds disgusting!
Do customers ever react the same way?

I always dry shake with egg white, but with whole egg, its not as important. Ive done it with and without the coil from my strainer in the drink, and I dont notice a huge difference.
Do certain spirits work better when combined with whole eggs versus whites?

Not as much as when The Violet Hour opened in Chicago seven years ago. Back then, people would get mad, and ask, What are you doing putting an egg in my sour? They were worried about taste, safety. People were grossed out, and heads would turn halfway down the bar.

There arent really any no-nos. Egg whites go well with lighter spiritspiscos, gins and light rums. Whole eggs and egg yolks tend towards darker spirits,

70 plate THE EGG ISSUE

TAKE FOOD FURTHER.

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3/19/14 2:30 PM