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(1) Cyprus Style
Once a year, a few weeks before Christmas a young man from KEO bounds up the steps to my house dangling a stylish paper carrier. “Mr Patrick”, he calls out, “I have a present from KEO for you”. This annual gesture to a journalist is usually a bottle of the limited Christmas edition of Grand Marnier. There is always a theme and special design to the bottle. This year it is sleek, red and shiny. It’s welcome. I always keep a bottle of this lovely orange liqueur, because now and then a snifter after dinner is most acceptable and it’s a good basis for cocktails and in cooking dishes like Duck à l’Orange and Crepes Suzette (see below).
(2) New Yorker Style
More than two million opinion-leading, well educated and affluent Americans read the New Yorker magazine, so it’s not surprising that the advertisements which grace its pages are highly stylish. This is one of two, suggesting that for the young and well-off, Grand Marnier is both an aid to sophistication and seduction.
In other words, a Grand Marnier, straight or in a cocktail leads to delightful naughtiness. I was young, once, but with neither funds nor opportunities to indulge in days (or nights) of such fantasy, so I cannot confirm or deny the suggestions. But Crepes Suzette – that’s another story. I’ve had a few of them in my time. In the 60s and 70s they were the posh pudding.
Generally they were to be found in pretentious restaurants where a waiter (the Head Honcho if you were special) brought along a trolley on the top of which were: a silver contraption which had a methylated spirit-fired burner inside and a stand on top for the copper frying pan in which he made the orange sauce; the pre-cooked pancakes; the ingredients which included Grand Marnier. The grand climax to the table-side show-time was when the waiter poured on the liqueur and set it alight. You felt you had arrived.
Home hosts used to perform this ritual, too. I still have my silver burner, now tarnished and unused. But as far as I know a Canadian friend who lived near us in Kent still performs – and he used to make the best Crêpes Suzette I ever had. He was, as I recall, very generous with the Grand Marnier.
Recipe for Crêpes Suzette
It is preferable to make your own pancakes, because thin ones are needed, but the store-bought variety can be used quite successfully (but warm them before use so they are pliable).
For Six Servings
12 pancakes (see recipe below)
2 good sized knobs of butter unsalted butter
2 tbsp caster sugar
Juice of 2 oranges
Juice of half lemon
3 tbsp of Grand Marnier
Method
1. Pre-cook the pancakes and keep warm (covered with foil).
2. Squeeze the orange and lemon.
3. Melt the butter in a 24 cm (9 inch) base heavy frying pan; add sugar, stir gently until it is a golden-brown caramel.
4. Add the orange and lemon juice and keep stirring until the caramel has dissolved and become a thick sauce.
5. Put one pancake into the pan, fold it in half and then in half again.
6. Then put it at the side of the pan and do the same with the next pancake.
7. When you have all pancakes in the sauce, pour the orange liqueur over and when warm, set it alight.
8. Swirl the pan so that the flamed liqueur is distributed evenly.
9. Serve directly from the pan on to warmed dessert plates.
Basic Recipe for 8 – 12 pancakes
100 g of plain or village flour
1 egg
30 cl milk
A pinch of salt
1 tbsp of sunflower oil, plus oil or butter for frying
Method
1. Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl and make a hole in the middle.
2. Mix in the egg and half the milk with a whisk.
3. Beat briskly until well-mixed and bubbles start to appear on the surface.
4. Add the remaining milk little by little, then the tbsp of sunflower oil, beating continuously.
5. Cover the bowl and stand in a cool place for half an hour.
6. To cook, heat the pan and put in a TINY knob of butter or a few drops of oil and swirl over the base.
7. Take a small ladle, or two tbsp of the mixture and put into the pan, quickly shaking it to ensure it runs all over the base. Cook until brown and then turn over and cook the other side. The objective is to get a nice, thin, even pancake.
8. Remove and repeat, remembering to stir the batter mixture regularly.
