Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Sounds delicious and easy to make too.

I'm a transplanted New Englander, living in the South, and I rarely run into these absurd North vs. South problems. No one really cares.

thats creepy.

I think you should salt to taste because everyone has different concepts of what "salty" is. Thats why chefs leave it out of recipes most of the time.

Looks delicious!

I've tasted Mata Hari, and many other absinthes - I prefer Mata Hari because it doesn't have the real heavy black licore flavor - in fact I made a really great Hemingway with it - shot of chilled Mata hari in a champagne glass topped with Martini & Rossi Asti!!!

Paul: just want to clarify a couple of facts in your article. (and folks, I handle Mata Hari marketing in the U.S. so please recognize that I have a commercial interest)

Absinthe was just "legalized" (actually there's more to it than not, and if your readers are interested in the details, check out www.wormwoodsociety.org for the full story) in Oct. of 2007. So with Lucid opening the market, Absinthe has only been commercially available for about 10 months.

There's a big difference between Czech (aka Czechsinthe, Crapsinthe) Absinthes and Bohemian Style. The latter refers to the flavor profile, not the geographic origin. Obviously it's confusing because Bohemia is really a geographic region in the Western Czech Republic. Mata Hari is Bohemian style made in Vienna Austria, not the Czech Republic, and by a master distiller whose family has been in the business since 1875. The particular recipe for what we've branded as Mata Hari, actually dates back to 1881 (I've physically seen it...Gerry Fischer keeps it in a safe in his great grandfather's office on Wilhelmstrasse). Back then it was sold as Fischer Absinthe (products weren't branded per se, they carried the manufacturer's name, just like Pernod was made by Mr. Pernod.)

Absinthe Mata Hari in the US does not advocate the use of what's known commonly as the fire ritual. This service style is usually associated with Czechsinthe's, but as I've already said, Absinthe Mata Hari isn't one.

Regarding mixability, I think it's important to note that while the maker of Mata Hari also makes a traditional French style product, we decided to bring in the Bohemian style because it's what sells the best in Europe where Absinthe has been legal for a few years. Consumers have basically voted and said they liked the concept of Absinthe, but prefer to tone down the licorice, and drink it mixed into more contemporary drinks as opposed to classics.

Lastly,when it comes to reviews, I'm a big believer in the most important one...yours! Taste it and evaluate it yourself. (But if you want to read what Paul Pacult and Robert Plotkin had to say, you can check out their reviews at the Mata Hari website.

in the words of rodney king -- "can't we all just get along?"

anthony bourdain is snarky, and talks about his preconceived notions of each place in the beginning of each episode, and then generally through the arc of the show he realizes the beauty and uniqueness of each place. he does this in nearly every show. including the one about new jersey. and iraq. and california. that's pretty much the point of the show. it would be a lot more boring otherwise.

how this turned into a northern vs. southern thing is ridiculous.

and PS -- there is more in the north than just new york. it's funny when people are saying how ignorant people are about the south, and then act equally ignorant about the north.

I watched the whole episode, while it's definitely not one of the better episodes of the show, its not really what you thought it was. It was actually a rather perplexing episode, and I'm not sure what the premise of it was.

I guess having Alice Cooper in the show as an amusing touch, but why would you go to his theme restaurant when there's so much more that the region must have to offer.

Nonetheless, the episode wasn't pandering OR offensive, just...meandering.

And I admit, I'm a Bourdain fan, but I think I can admit when his shtick gets old and cheesy. Refreshingly, however, he seems to be getting better with age, time, and experience (and parenthood?) and speaks and acts with a lot more humility and isn't as quick to drop a scalding quip as he used to be.

If anything, more recent episode of No Reservations seem to be even more intelligent than earlier ones, and definitely a step up from A Cook's Tour (which I liked by the way).

Regardless of sociopolitical issues, the culinary history of the American South is the culinary history of America. Take away the South and you take away the nation's gastronomic Genesis. I think Tony is aware of this - his comments were born quite possibly from ignorance. The media and Hollywood have gone out of their way to portray the South as backwoods - without sufficient time spent in the South one would not know the beauty that accompanies our flaws. For instance, Southern schools were integrated during the 50's and 60's. Boston's school system remained segregated until 1971.

You know everybody is ignorant, only on different subjects.
Will Rogers