Branching Out

Photos by Michael Piazza / Styled by Catrine Kelty

The history of trade not facilitated by colonization between Africa and Asia has deep roots that would take its own article to dig into. We’ll focus on ginger, a spice likely brought to the African continent through Austronesian expansion. Though ginger is prevalent in Pan-African cuisine and medicine, I don’t recall it being a significant element of my experience of Northern African American food and drink. I consider it more of a hybrid of city culture, growing up amongst Afro-Asian diasporas of the Caribbean in NYC and familiarizing myself with it working in and alongside Asian food, drink and community here in Boston. In acknowledgement and representation of the indigenous land and culture we all stand on, local maple syrup sweetens this cocktail, incorporating the smoke of bay leaf as a shared Black and indigenous practice that add depth to already complex mezcal.

If you prefer not to smoke the glass, use smoked maple syrup instead for a similar flavor.

Makes 1 cocktail

2 ounces mezcal
½ ounce local maple syrup
fresh ginger slices, to taste
2 dashes orange bitters
2 dashes old fashioned bitters that are not Angostura (like Fee Brothers, The Bitter Housewife or Bittermens) 1–2 bay leaves

Smoke your glass. I like to use a wooden coaster for this; using a handheld torch, long matches or long lighter, light bay leaf. Wave gently to put out the flame. Rest smoking bay leaf on coaster and immediately turn glass upside down over it. Leaving the glass covered, allow the glass to come to room temp before chilling in the freezer.

Muddle maple syrup and ginger in a mixing glass. Add mezcal and bitters. Fill the mixing glass with ice and stir well, about 30 times. Strain into smoked glass over a large cube. Garnish with bay leaf.

This recipe appeared in the Fall 2021 issue as part of a larger story, Home and Away: Fall Cocktails.