Artist Unknown • 7 Italian Wedding Soup

Bartender Andy Foerstel has a winning cocktail on his hands.

With his recipe for Artist Unknown, Foerstel was named the Indy regional winner of the St-Germain fourth annual Can-Can Cocktail Classic, a competition for professional bartenders. Edible Communities, the publisher of Edible Indy and some 70 other locally owned and edited publications across the United States and Canada, is a partner of the contest. Now, Foerstel will compete for the national title and a $10,000 prize.

Foerstel creates and mixes cocktails for Blood & Sand, a private cocktail club in St. Louis, Missouri. For the competition, the task was to create a cocktail recipe using St-Germain—the ubiquitous elderflower liqueur with hints of pear and grapefruit—and local ingredients.

Foerstel crafted his drink with rye, St-Germain and Averna Amaro, a Sicilian herbal digestif that adds a bit of bitterness, among other ingredients.

To showcase a local ingredient, Foerstel chose black walnuts, turning them into a homemade tincture that gives the cocktail a warm edge. Pineapple sage leaves lend savory appeal and nicely complement the Chartreuse.

Whether he’s behind the bar at Blood & Sand or at home, Foerstel is a proponent of artisan cocktails, and urges people to be more imaginative than a routine vodka-cranberry.

“Experiment away. Try everything you can,” Foerstel says. “You never know what you can come up with.”

—Meredith Lee

Artist Unknown Recipe by Andy Foerstel

Makes 1 serving

¼ ounce black walnut tincture (recipe is below) 3 pineapple sage leaves 1½ ounces Rittenhouse Rye ½ ounce St-Germain ½ ounce Averna Amaro ¼ ounce green Chartreuse 3–4 frozen red seedless grapes dusted with powdered ginger

Mixologist Andrew Foerstel with his drink Artist Unknown

1. To make the black walnut tincture, toast 16 shelled black walnuts. Place walnuts in jar and add 4 ounces of 100proof vodka and 1 ounce bourbon. Let sit for 4 weeks, agitating daily. 2. To make the cocktail, muddle sage leaves and back walnut tincture in a cocktail shaker. 3. Add remaining ingredients (except the grapes; reserve for garnish) and shake with ice. 4. Double strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with skewered gingerdusted grapes.

Photo by Melissa Pfeiffer

As the manager of the Local Growers’ Guild, Vanessa Caruso is the soft-spoken force behind a cooperative of farmers, retailers and community members who are committed to growing a strong local food economy.

With about 200 members, including 60 growers, the Bloomington-based group is a champion for independent farms and food producers mostly in Southern Indiana, providing education, networking and outreach.

As the former farm manager for Stranger’s Hill Organics, a certified organic farm in Bloomington, Caruso knows that for growers, there is strength in numbers.

That’s where the guild steps in. This year, Caruso says, the guild hopes to set up a network for farmers that would allow them to aggregate their produce for distribution. Another goal: create a bulk ordering system to help farmers take advantage of reduced costs for common supplies.

The guild also plans to collaborate on a farmertraining program called Indiana New Farm School initiative.

“We recognize that we all support local food, but if we’re serious about it, we’re going to need a lot more farmers,” Caruso says.

—Erica Sagon

Photo by Vinny Byer

Meal she’s still thinking about: Meatball sandwich and hot fudge brownie sundae from Lennie’s in Bloomington. Spring crush: Sugar snap peas. I like them raw, and I put them in a pasta salad with parsley and garlic chives. Sipping on: Upland’s Dragonfly IPA. It’s so well balanced and it pairs well with most meals and conversations. Recently discovered: Freedom Valley Farm’s spinach and red spinach at the Bloomington Winter Farmers Market.