05 Aug Drink Like the French: Dersou in Paris + Dessert Cocktail Recipe

Drink Like the French: Dersou in Paris + Dessert Cocktail Recipe

We were overjoyed at the prospect of our first trip to Paris, but also overwhelmed. There’s just so much to see and experience that it was more than a little intimidating. What if we wasted precious time on a distraction, or missed an absolute must? How would we sort through the infinite options, and how could we relax and enjoy a marvelous city while constantly making blind decisions?

Thankfully, we met Pure Paris. We answered a relatively short questionnaire about our likes and dislikes, our tolerance for walking, our desired blend of tourist spots and local Paris, and our top interests; and they responded with a step-by-step, 3-day itinerary that put together the neighborhoods and sites we wanted to see into a coherent, logical flow. It was such a relief to simply follow the directions, at our own pace; and it was amazing to see how well they captured what was most important to us. We’re most indebted to them for keeping us well-fed, letting us know the right bakeries, cafes, and lunch spots to visit wherever we happened to be, and pointing us in the direction of the dinner spots and cocktail lounges that really met our taste.

Nowhere illustrates just how well Pure Paris took care of us better than Dersou. We never would have known about them on our own, and they were absolutely perfect for us. Dersou served us course after course of absolutely fabulous modern French food with an Asian twist. And, more than that, each course was paired with a cocktail specifically designed for it. We’ve experienced great food before, and great cocktails. We’ve never experienced such a spread of great foods and great cocktails in the same meal.

If you visit Paris and love cocktails, make sure to visit Dersou. And if you need help planning your trip to Paris, go check out Pure Paris. You won’t regret it. Meanwhile, we’ll have our eyes peeled for other places with cocktail pairings. And as we leave France for the time being, we end with the dessert course cocktail from our meal at Dersou.

Dersou’s Dessert Cocktail Recipe

Dersou was kind enough to share their recipe. It involved lactic acid, which we’ve never used before. Our experiments with it were unsuccessful; we expect that there are differences between the lactic acid available in France and here which we weren’t able to solve. Inspired by Le Syndicat, we used liquid yogurt instead, aiming for a similar sour milkiness. We didn’t quite duplicate the Dersou drink, but our version is at least in the same family, and still good for dessert.

Ingredients

• 1 oz pisco
• 1 oz pale dry sherry
• 1/2 t maraschino liqueur
• 1 oz liquid yogurt (find it at your local Japanese market, or organic food store)
• 1/2 oz hazelnut syrup
• toasted sesame seeds (for garnish)

Instructions

• Shake all the liquid ingredients vigorously with ice for about 20 seconds, until it’s nice and frothy.
• Strain into a cocktail glass, and garnish with sesame seeds.