Get the Belle de Jour recipe from Adelaide bar and restaurant, La Louisiane
Mike Keogh's spritz number is on the 2023 Boothby Top 50 Drinks of the Year.
This recipe from Adelaide bar manager Mike Keogh might be intricate, but it leads to a delicious outcome.
Belle du Jour
Instructions
- 45ml Haku vodka
- 50ml raspberry lacto
- 30ml rhubarb verjuice
- 20ml lemon oleo
- 15ml soda
Batched and spritzed, pull off tap and serve over ice. Garnish with white chocolate snap.
Raspberry Lacto Ferment:
Add 1kg Frozen Raspberries, 3kg Water and 500g Caster Sugar to a stock pot, bring to boil and simmer for 20-30min.
Take off heat, allow to cool to room temperature and strain off raspberries leaving only the juices, add to a large fermenter.
Add 300g full cream Whey to the mix at room temperature.
Leave to ferment for 3-4 days, checking regularly to gauge what level of sweetness you would prefer before inoculating with a decent dose of 42 Below to cut fermentation when desired.
Bottle and keep refrigerated for use when necessary. Naturally lightly carbonated due to alcohol production process.
Rhubarb Verjuice:
Dice 1kg Rhubarb finely and Vac Seal with 3L Verjuice.
Sous vide at 60 degrees for 2hrs.
This process allows for the Rhubarb to break down and impart flavour to the verjuice whilst not being high enough temperature to over cook or overly caramelise sugars.
Rhubarb grows abundantly year round in the hills and is a great substitute in venue for things like cranberry juice etc. slightly sweet but still nicely tart and fresh.
Lemon Oleo:
Zest Lemons prior to juicing.
Combine 1:4 Zest:Caster Sugar by weight in vac seal bag and mix through thoroughly.
Juice Lemons and add to Zest/Sugar mix. Vac seal completely and leave stored at room temperature for 6 hours. Agitate regularly. Mix with equal weight water until dissolved and strain when ready to use.
White Chocolate Snap:
Bring water to a simmer in the pot, make sure when you place the metal bowl on top it’s only touching the rim of the pot, not the water.
Add chocolate to the metal bowl, being careful to keep it moving so it melts but doesn’t burn.
Once it’s reached a fully melted consistency remove from heat and lay out flat on baking paper.
After it’s cooled for a couple minutes grab one end of the baking paper and roll it back onto itself making a roll of parchment.
Place in freezer for 1 hour.
Remove carefully and unroll paper - this will crack the chocolate into shard naturally. Do not hit it!
