How to Make the Drinks Bloody Mary, Waltzing Matilda and the History Behind Them

Traveling the world introduces you to great drinks, but sometimes the best stories behind them come right from home. The Bloody Mary is a drink from the USA. It is a creation of the barkeeper Ferdinand L. Petiot. One long winter evening in 1920 it occurred to him to mix vodka with tomato juice. The story goes that a ferocious argument ensued as to a fitting name for the new drink, while Petiot "fiddled around with salt, pepper and Worcester sauce, as if he wanted to invent a new ketchup." The names were more original than inviting. So then the fancy cocktail began life as a "Bucket of Blood," then "Red Banger" and finally "Bloody Mary." To make a Bloody Mary you need:

Ice cubes

5cl (3 tablespoons) vodka

100ml (4fl oz / scant ½ cup)

Tomato juice

Juice of ½ lemon

2 dashes Worcester sauce

1 dash Tobasco

Salt and pepper

Put ice cubes into shaker, pour in vodka and tomato juice. Season with lemon juice, Worcester sauce, Tobasco and a pinch of salt and pepper and shake thoroughly in the shaker. Strain the mixture into a tumbler or a long drink glass and serve immediately.

A Waltzing Matilda follows a very different story from a very different place, being a sherry cocktail from Australia. The cheerful inhabitants of the fifth continent named this cocktail after their favorite song. "Waltzing Matilda" was the melody of the squatters, the illegal settlers, the bushrangers and tramps. Many of the former sheep and cattle rearers came upon their property by squatting, i.e. by illegal possession of the land. Later their association was somewhat ironically called squatocracy. Of course, they lived in feud with bushrangers, who made Australia into the scene of a wild west scenario and were suspicious about the tramps. Yet, on reflection, the free life of these outsiders without any ties had a romantic note to it. The Waltzing Matilda cocktail was created as a reminder of a bygone age. To make one:

Ice cubes

2cl (1 ½ tablespoons) passion fruit liqueur

3cl (2 tablespoons) dry sherry

2cl (1 ½ tablespoons) gin

1-2 dashes Curacao Triple Sec

Put the ice cubes into your shaker, pour over passion fruit liqueur, sherry, gin and Curacao. Shake well and strain the mixture into a cocktail glass. It is perfectly suitable as an after dinner drink and is an absolutely fabulous representation of Australia and its history.