ORANGE YOU GLAD?

JUST THE JUICE

South Africa owes its historic settler existence to intrepid Portuguese seafarers who navigated their way around Africa finding a route to the spice islands and beyond. But in the age of sail, it was accepted that at least 50% of the crew would be lost during the voyage due to sickness and other privations and health issues.

The disease which caused most of the trauma was scurvy – due to a lack of vitamin C. One month of little or no vitamin C in the diet and the body starts to protest.

A quick and cursory Google search reveals that symptoms of scurvy include debilitating fatigue and loss of energy, weakness and sore arms and legs. When it gets worse and is left untreated there are marked changes to the hair and gums because of the decrease in red blood cells. Some bleeding from the skin may occur and as scurvy progresses, any cuts and wounds don’t heal. Death from infection and bleeding is the final result.

Mercifully, scurvy is rare nowadays because a smart Scottish Royal Navy surgeon, James Lind, proved in 1753 that it could be treated successfully – by adding citrus fruit into the diet. The Royal Navy dragged its heels about implementing it as a standard on-board regime for sailors, waiting until 1795 to issue a fleet-wide edict.

Interestingly, it was still part of the fighting men’s rations during World War II. American soldiers really hated the lemon drops in their ration packs so much so that great effort was made to produce an alternative. Sadly for the soldiers, the first orange juice concentrate in cans was only developed three years after the war ended ...

Nutritionists are divided on the health benefits of orange juice. Yes, it has a high concentration of vitamin C – but it also contains a whacking amount of simple sugars, the equivalent of those contained in carbonated soft drinks. A cup of orange juice – freshly squeezed, not reconstituted from concentrate – contains nearly 21g of sugars and nearly 26g of carbohydrates. IT’S PACKED FULL OF VITAMIN C, POTASSIUM, MAGNESIUM AND FOLATE BUT ORANGE JUICE OFFERS MORE THAN SIMPLE TANGY TART FLAVOUR AT THE BREAKFAST TABLE. FIONA MCDONALD LOOKS INTO THE SEGMENTED CITRUS FRUIT AND ITS ROLE IN COCKTAILS.

For this reason, some health guidelines have been amended to restrict the amount of orange juice consumed on a daily basis. They also recommend that people eat the whole fruit rather than the juice.

But when was the last time you saw someone drinking an orange juice-based cocktail? (And there are a host of them to choose from ...)

CHEERS contributor Hector McBeth used to tend bar – and is always happy to share his knowledge of drinks, their ingredients and how they developed.

“Take the Screwdriver,” he said. “It’s a classic cocktail and is so simple anyone can mix it up at home – but it’s stuck in the 80’s!” This unfussy mixture of orange juice and vodka apparently got its name from American oil workers stationed in the Persian Gulf. . Because the roughnecks didn’t have too many spoons and kitchen implements around they used whatever was available and stirred the drink with whatever tool was available, generally a screwdriver!

And yet this two ingredient drink is a great basis for building other more popular drinks – such as the Harvey Wallbanger featured in the Perfect Serve slot in the November/December issue of CHEERS. It’s essentially vodka and orange juice with a little bit of Galliano liqueur added.

That simple concoction of orange juice and vodka offers the amateur or home mixologist a host of options with some simple substitutions – among them sloe gin, Southern Comfort or peach schnapps. But bringing things back to basics, losing all the fancy liqueurs and sly names – as well as the orange juice – a vodka with a slice of fresh orange is known as the Cordless Screwdriver.

Yet there are a host of cocktails with orange juice contributing its special sweet/tart flavour and vitamin C dose – like the Buck’s Fizz, so named because it was first served at London’s Buck’s Club in 1921. Two parts bubbly to one of orange juice. Very similar is the Mimosa, so beloved of Americans. It’s also sparkling wine and orange juice – but in equal measures. (Sometimes, Grand Marnier is added, changing the proportions to all thirds; a third of Grand Marnier liqueur, a third bubbly and a third orange juice.) What about the Tequila Sunrise? Seems entirely appropriate to mention that particular drink since so much of the issue is about the spirit of Mexico ... It’s three parts Tequila to six parts orange juice poured into a glass with ice cubes with the bright flare of one part Grenadine syrup then poured in. The Grenadine sinks to the bottom of the drink, adding its red, flickering flame effect. Remember not to stir ...

The Alabama Slammer sounds so much more extreme than it actually is. Although it sounds like the Tequila Slammer – which IS physical banged down on the bar counter to get the drink to fizz before it’s knocked back, the Alabama version neither fizzes, is slammed nor consumed in one gulp. Served on the rocks, over ice, it’s a mix of Amaretto liqueur, Southern Comfort, sloe gin and orange juice. The tangy orange juice offsets the intense sweetness of both the Southern Comfort and the nutty syrup notes of the Amaretto. One of the points Hector made is that these sort of

cocktails are seldom found in standalone cocktail bars. “They tend to be made in hotel bars,” he said. Which is perfectly logical since a busy cocktail bar is unlikely to squeeze fresh oranges to order while most hotels have a ready supply.

Fresh orange juice is a staple of the hotel breakfast offering ...

When I sit down at the typewriter, I write. Someone once asked me if I had a fixed routine before I start, like setting up exercises, sharpening pencils or having a drink of orange juice. I said, “No, the only thing I do before I start writing is to make sure that I’m close enough to the typewriter to reach the keys.” – Isaac Asimov