THE Bloody Mary is, by far, one of the most ordered classic cocktails in bars — and a curious fact is that it is usually not listed on menus. The story of this iconic brunch cocktail is filled with fascinating characters and possibly believable events, including an internationally famous bartender, a beloved—and hungover—comedian, a murder queen, and a ruined dress.
In the book “The Bloody Mary”, the bartender Brian Bartels tries to clarify this complicated story about the cocktail. “The good news is that the Bloody Mary was invented,” writes Bartels. “The answer to the question of how it came about, however, is nebulous.”
Popular theory generally names Fernand “Pete” Petiot as the original creator of the drink . In the 1920s, while working at Harry’s New York Bar in Paris, Petiot mixed Russian vodka with tomato juice for American expatriates. However, a cocktail book published by bar owner Harry McElhone in 1927 did not include this recipe.
“If he was mashing tomatoes and mixing it with vodka, that was certainly an early version,” says Bartels. “But he didn’t apply the seasonings and spices until he was at the St. Regis, and from then on it really gained momentum.”
Petiot took charge of the King Cole Bar at the St. Regis Hotel in New York in 1934, where he introduced the Red Snapper — which included vodka, tomato juice, citrus and spices — on its post-prohibition menu.
Supposedly, Petiot wanted to call the drink Bloody Mary but the hotel owner, Vincent Astor (who, coincidentally, was married to a woman named Mary), objected. The drink was successful and was published in Crosby Gaige’s Cocktail Guide and Ladies’ Companion in 1941.
However, it is not that simple, as this was not the first record of the drink in a printed document. The comedian George Jessel Mentioned the drink in Lucius Beebe’s column in the New York Herald Tribune in 1939, calling it the newest “invigorator.”
In fact, Jessel claimed creation of the Bloody Mary in his autobiography, The World I Live In, recalling a particularly long night at La Maze restaurant in Palm Beach in 1927. At 8 a.m., still awake and suffering from a hangover, Jessel mixed potato vodka with tomato juice and spices for himself and his friends.
According to the story, then the socialite entered Mary Brown Warburton still wearing a white dress from the previous night. Upon receiving a glass of Jessel’s concoction, she promptly spilled it down the front of her dress, exclaiming, “Now you can call me Bloody Mary, George!”
“I approach this with a certain amount of skepticism,” says Bartels. “There is no witness who claims to be with Jessel at 8 in the morning, after that night of drinking, when he invented this cocktail just by getting things from behind the bar during Prohibition in Florida, and here comes Mary Warburton! It’s so epic and so grand that I just can’t give it 100% validity.”
Jessel also appeared in an advertisement for Smirnoff vodka in Collier’s magazine in March 1956, stating: “I think I invented the Bloody Mary…”
But what can be given as valid is the widely cited New Yorker article of July 18, 1964, in which Petiot himself is mentioned, saying: “I created today’s Bloody Mary. George Jessel said he created it, but in reality it was nothing more than vodka and tomato juice when I took over.”
Petiot then details his recipe, which included salt and pepper, Worcestershire, cayenne pepper, and lemon. “I just don’t feel like there’s enough evidence to give Jessel credit, even though Petiot sort of admits in the article, ‘Jessel started it and I finished it,’” says Bartels.
Even the name of the drink generated several theories. A long-held, though unsubstantiated, popular belief was that the cocktail got its name from Queen Mary Tudor, who executed hundreds of Protestants during her reign.
Others claim the drink was named after a waitress, Mary, from Chicago’s infamous Bucket of Blood Saloon. Bartels has an affinity for the sad if unlikely story that Petiot named the drink after a woman who often sat at his bar waiting for a suitor who never showed up.
And there is, of course, Jessel’s version of Warburton and her ruined dress. “Mary Brown Warburton has the most three-dimensional story around her,” says Bartels. “But the skeptic in me still turns to the fact that no one else has come forward with confirmation that this happened. But the story can be quite murky if you keep digging.”
Particularly, I’m not the biggest Bloody Mary fan ; I prefer a good non-alcoholic seasoned tomato juice. However, I really like making seasoning mixes with variations that include everything from soy sauce to chili peppers.
I believe that the Bloody Mary may be the most versatile cocktail to make at home even today, finding super disruptive versions in the most famous and celebrated bars around the world.
I’ve always been fascinated by knowing the stories and characters behind cocktails, and we often can’t be clear whether the stories are invented legends or whether they actually happened. Perhaps we should be content with the fact that, as Bartels points out, at least the Bloody Mary was invented.
*The texts published by Insiders and Columnists do not necessarily reflect the opinion of CNN Viagem & Gastronomia.
Who is Thiago Bañares
Bañares, graduated in gastronomy from FMU (SP), was considered by the ranking “Bar World 100 ”, organized by the important publication Drinks International, one of the 100 most influential people in the global bar industry. His restaurant/bar Tan Tan appears — for the third time in a row — on the list of the best bars in the world by “World’s 50 Best Bars”. He runs the also award-winning Kotori, considered the 65th best restaurant in Latin America by “Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants” ; and is in charge of the intimate The Liquor Store, a place that emphasizes the connection between customer and bartender and that delivers cocktails prepared with excellence.
The post Who invented the Bloody Mary? See theories about one of the most celebrated cocktails appeared first on CNN Brasil V&G.
Source: CNN Brasil
Johanna Foster is an expert opinion writer with over 7 years of experience. She has a reputation for delivering insightful and thought-provoking articles on a variety of subjects. Her work can be found on some of the top online news websites, and she is currently lending her voice to the world stock market.
