Episode 13: Best of 2008
Dinner Party Download 2008/
The Cheat Sheet A handy summary of all the info on this week’s show [pdf].
Drink Recipe: “The Lolita Haze”
In 1958, Vladimir Nabokov’s “Lolita” was published in America. Two years earlier, the book had put British censors in a tizzy… but post-Elvis Americans didn’t bat an eyelash, and snapped up hundreds of thousands of copies. We celebrate this rare moment of cultural enlightenment with a drink named after the book’s titular character.
Recipe as created by Danielle Motor at The Hungry Cat in Hollywood, California:
In cocktail shaker, per serving:
- Muddle 1/2 fresh plum with mint
- Squeeze in juice from 1/2 lemon
- Add 3/4 oz simple syrup
- and 2 oz young genever
Shake, pour over ice, and serve (to adults only, please).
After Dinner Mint Notes on this week’s show
Nabokov’s unfinished novel “Laura” is set to be published in ‘09 — even though the author made it pretty clear he wanted the manuscript destroyed in the event of his death. Read all about his son’s controversial decision to release it… and the conversation he says he had with the elder Nabokov’s ghost.
Speaking of Nabokov’s ghost, check out this lengthy televised chat with him — it aired on Canadian TV just after “Lolita’s” publication. Dig the parlour setting, intellectual rigor, and requisite smokes.
“Head-To-Tail” chef Chris Cosentino was one of our favorite food interviewees of 2008. But timid eaters who shy away from his offal menus might feel safer sampling the artisinal sausages (or, as he calls them, “tasty salted pig parts”) at his new salumeria, Boccalone.
Rico’s pick for song of the year: The Amelie-meets-Atari sound of “Om Du Motor Varg,” from Swedish instrumental trio Detektivbyran. Which you can download for free right here.
Brendan, meanwhile, went with the Fleet Foxes tune “White Winter Hymnal,” as did Pitchfork, which has a free mp3 for you as well. Happy New Year!
