Iberico Old Fashioned
Bartender Maria Pottage’s old fashioned takes full advantage of the scraps from a Jamón Ibérico leg.
Maria pottage’s pan con tomate old fashioned | Photos: Will Blunt
At Basque-inspired restaurant Leku, the Jamón Ibérico is a pillar of the menu (and rightfully so).
The salty, sweet, nutty, cured ham synonymous with the Iberian Peninsula takes many forms throughout the menu, including in unexpected territory: the cocktail list. With an ingredient as precious to Spain as cheese is to France or Modelos are to a kitchen walk-in, why let any of it go to waste? Beverage Director Maria Pottage assures us that Leku uses as much of the precious pork as possible to pay respect to the farmers and artisans behind it. So she crafted the Pan con Tomate Old Fashioned (full recipe here), a super sippable umami bomb of a cocktail with the added bonus of reduced waste.
First, Pottage uses scraps left behind after the Ibérico leg is sliced to fat-wash bourbon, infusing the whiskey with silky body and the smoky salinity found in markets throughout Spain.
Pottage then makes a crystal-clear tomato water by triple-filtering seasonal tomato juice, which leaves behind a rich, purée-like substance for Leku’s Gazpacho Maria cocktail. And so, one ingredient inspires a handful of items fit for La Boqueria.
All that’s left is to add a couple of bar spoons full of simple syrup and a garnish of that Cinco Jotas Jamón Ibérico, thinly sliced and skewered, and you’ve got yourself a ham cocktail, no pig left behind.
bartender maria pottage of leku
