1939 The Gentleman's Companion volume II Beeing an Exotic Drinking Book

THE GENTLEMAN'S COMPANION

We got that strange lift under the heart all men get when they step from the world we know straight back into the heart of a city dating for thousands of years.... Then, later, we met Gerber, manager of the Wagons-Lits on Legation Street, and next afternoon we went out and watched him exercise his "griffin" polo ponies-those short, stocky, hairy, half-wild little horses brought down from the northern plains by Larsen of Mongolia. Ponies, Gerber told us, were bought at auction, unclipped and untried, so that everyone-millionaire and lowly civilian alike-might play polo without needing a fortune to finance his string. Actually regulation polo ponies are banned from the sport ii.!._Peking. Then we found it quite chill after sunset, and we went back to Gerber's snug bar at the Wagons-Lits, and he ordered his Chino to mix a brace of Tiger's Milks-directly from the receipt left with him by a chap named Seaholm some time before, and who was related to the King of Sweden allegedly; and the receipt itself unchanged one iota. They called it Tiger's Milk, as Seaholm had, and it has since gone forth and become gradually recognized all over the world-either in original form or slightly changed to suit local preferences. The main thing in No. I: Never use anything but really good aged brandy, champagne fine, not the usual cognac. The latter doesn't do the job properly. Command 2Yz jiggers old liqueur brandy, or champagne fine, and put this in a shaker. Add l to 2 tsp of sugar or grenadine, to taste, Yz cup of heavy cream and Yz cup of milk-nothing else; no trimmings. Shake with several big pieces of ice and strain into a goblet. A dash of cinnamon or nutmeg is optional, but not originally authentic. We came, we saw, we drank. And later we imported a certain black eyed Russian peril, managed 1 for her; and we recall her first remark in syllables slightly husky, wholly charming, the slightly accented Eng– lish slick as cream. "And do you now, mah frrrrahn, thees dreenk eet TIGER'S MILK No. I, from the GERBER-SEAHOLM FoRMULA, PEKING, 1931