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    In Defence of the Olive in a Martini
    In Defence of the Olive in a Martini
    In Defence of the Olive in a Martini
    Ebook65 pages34 minutes

    In Defence of the Olive in a Martini

    By Vito G. Cassano

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    About this ebook

    The problem of how to garnish a Martini has always divided generations of devotees. From the very start we wish to state clearly which side we are going to align ourselves with: we are absolutely and unconditionally on the side of those who consider the olive as the true, unique, indispensable element apt to change a blend of gin and vermouth into a Martini. “In Defence of the Olive in a Martini” is a little pamphlet which lightheartedly deals with olives, quite obviously, and Martinis. But it is also about paintings, women, American literature, journeys, old inns, solid and plane geometry, botany, chemistry, ancient crafts, and dreams.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHSL Edizioni
    Release dateDec 4, 2017
    ISBN9788827527436
    In Defence of the Olive in a Martini

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      Book preview

      In Defence of the Olive in a Martini - Vito G. Cassano

      Vito G. Cassano

      In Defence of the Olive in a Martini

      Translated from Italian by Marialuisa Perini

      Original title

      In difesa dell’oliva nel martini

      Copyright ©2003-2017 Vito G. Cassano

      English translation by Marialuisa Perini

      Copyright ©2017 Marialuisa Perini

      hsl.edizioni@gmail.com

      All rights reserved

      First published: December 2017

      The cover shows a digitally processed detail of Hombre en un cafè by Juan Gris (Philadelphia, Museum of Art, Arensberg Collection)

      Graphic design by Lucia Diana

      The publisher is available to anyone who wants to claim rights on the pictures present in the book

      Distributed by StreetLib Ltd - Milan

      TABLE OF CONTENTS

      Introduction

      Schools and lines of thought

      Chapter I

      Origins of the olive as a garnish for Martinis

      Chapter II

      Varieties and preservation treatments of Martini olives

      Chapter III

      Toothpicks: a custom to be avoided

      Chapter IV

      How many olives in a Martini?

      Chapter V

      With or without the stone?

      Chapter VI

      Leave it or eat it?

      Chapter VII

      On the importance (for young women) to have their debut Martini with an olive

      Chapter VIII

      Geometric considerations on the use of an olive in Martinis

      Chapter IX

      Phenomenology of Martini olives

      Appendixes

      Appendix A

      Botin: how to get there

      Appendix B

      Botin: philological details. What Jake Barnes and Brett Ashley ate upstairs at Botin’s that day

      Appendix C

      A study on the antioxidant properties of Martinis

      Appendix D

      Numerological interpretation of dreams about the olive

      Notes

      Bibliographical references

      IN DEFENCE OF THE OLIVE IN A MARTINI

      We touched the two glasses as they stood side by side on the bar. They were coldly beaded. Outside the curtained window was the summer heat of Madrid.

      «I like an olive in a Martini,» I said to the barman.

      «Right you are, sir. There you are.»

      «Thanks.»

      «I should have asked, you know.»

      Ernest Hemingway

      The Sun Also Rises

      Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1926

      INTRODUCTION

      Schools and lines of thought

      The problem of how to garnish a Martini has always divided generations of devotees. From the very start we wish to state clearly which side we are going to align ourselves with: we are absolutely and unconditionally on the side of those who consider the olive as the true, unique, indispensable element apt to change a blend of gin and vermouth into a Martini.

      After the complete, and lucky, disappearance of a small group of inept fellows who were following the dream of the perfect Martini by using all sorts of solid, though, we admit, edible material (such as "mint, garlic, shrimps, anchovies, various nuts, small pickled artichoke hearts, red caviar, grapes, tiny eggplants, tiny green tomatoes, button mushrooms, and crystallized violets [1]"), two hostile schools still resist and dangerously attract disciples among the ones with the least delicate palates. The members of the former and historically more well-established school, the

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