Farm-to-Bar: The Hot Tamale

Some say if you never fail, then you aren’t really trying. Where would we be without the epic fails of Thomas Edison and Leonardo Da Vinci? And I’m pretty sure all Cajun cuisine was created on the back burner of an oops. “Blackened?” That means burnt! But with a little French know-how and frontier creativity, the Acadians created one of the most complex and tasty cuisines to date.

So who’s in? Let’s make October our month to try new things and reflect on the sweet failures of invention. Take The Hot Tamale: I made this for a drink competition and lost horribly. Now it;s my best seller!

Cheers!

The Hot Tamale

1 oz. tortilla/chile/cinnamon simple syrup

1 oz. fresh lime juice

0.5 oz. blood orange juice

2 oz. tortilla-infused Cutler’s corn vodka

Garnish with candied chile in cinnamon sugar

This drink starts out sweet and cinnamonny like the hot tamale candies then finishes with spicy chile and corn masa like a real tamale. Take the chiles out of the simple syrup mixture after an hour and dry for 6 hours, then dust with cinnamon and sugar for an awesome garnish.