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Tastiest. Beverage. Ever.
17 years ago
General
No, I'm not talking about Guinness on tap. Neither am I referring to chocolate milk, dessert wine, Mexican cola, fresh squeezed o.j., or chilled piña coladas served up in halved coconuts beachside underneath a palm frond umbrella at Rum Point, Grand Cayman island.
Those are all pleasant enough, to be sure, and better than a poke in the eye. What I'm talking about, though, is a humble-seeming blend of tomato juice, jalapeño pepper, shrimp juice, and a playful smattering of MSG (my drug of choice!). It's Camaronazo, a zippy non-alchoholic cocktail that's currently for sale in California, New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona, and Mexico. Targeted largely at the Hispanic market, it's touted on its official website as ideal for cooking (campechana, sopa de crema de camaron, shrimp "a la diabla"), or for blending with vodka, tequila or beer.
Heck with that, I've just been drinking the stuff straight out of the bottle: http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a9.....Camaronazo.jpg
What makes it so doggone good? Why is it so special compared to Clamato, say, or V8 juice? Three reasons, actually. Firstly, because of the shrimp juice, which gives it a subtle seafoody complexity reminiscent of a good Mexi-style shrimp cocktail. Keep your clams; this otter prefers crustaceans. Secondly, because of the jalapeños (bear in mind this only applies to the "picante" version of Camaronazo, which is the only kind that my "tastiest beverage" label applies to. It comes in a heat-free version, but why bother? It's like eating nachos without the cheese.). Many "spicy" cocktails out there cheat by using citric acid in place of real peppers, which provides nothing more than a cheap chemical burn down the back of your throat. By using real jalapeños, you get not only some authentic heat, but also a tasty pepper flavor that blends perfectly with the tomato juice.
Thirdly, and perhaps controversially, there's MSG in Camaronazo - and MSG, which is essentially a flavor enhancer, really does seem to make stuff taste good. (I'm afraid this rules you out if you're one of those unlucky folks who have an allergy). I know it's got something of a stigma here in the States... all I can tell you is that MSG, which is the sodium salt of glutamic acid that is found naturally in seaweed, may in some ways have been the victim of bad PR. There have been many double-blind placebo-controlled experiments that have failed to demonstrate any consistent negative reactions, even in people who believe themselves to be allergic. This is not to belittle or disparage folks who have a legitimate allergy, of course, merely to suggest that a good many folks have heard so many negative things about MSG over the years that they may automatically assume it's going to hurt them and avoid it like the plague. For what it's worth, I've been using MSG as a kitchen spice for years, and I've never suffered any ill effects.
Anyhow, if you're up for a bit of peppery goodness, you don't mind seafood, and you aren't afraid of a little monosodium glutamate, then Camaronazo isn't just a tasty drink, it's a refreshing, salty, tomatoey, shrimpy, spicy blend of pure liquid awesomeness.
Those are all pleasant enough, to be sure, and better than a poke in the eye. What I'm talking about, though, is a humble-seeming blend of tomato juice, jalapeño pepper, shrimp juice, and a playful smattering of MSG (my drug of choice!). It's Camaronazo, a zippy non-alchoholic cocktail that's currently for sale in California, New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona, and Mexico. Targeted largely at the Hispanic market, it's touted on its official website as ideal for cooking (campechana, sopa de crema de camaron, shrimp "a la diabla"), or for blending with vodka, tequila or beer.
Heck with that, I've just been drinking the stuff straight out of the bottle: http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a9.....Camaronazo.jpg
What makes it so doggone good? Why is it so special compared to Clamato, say, or V8 juice? Three reasons, actually. Firstly, because of the shrimp juice, which gives it a subtle seafoody complexity reminiscent of a good Mexi-style shrimp cocktail. Keep your clams; this otter prefers crustaceans. Secondly, because of the jalapeños (bear in mind this only applies to the "picante" version of Camaronazo, which is the only kind that my "tastiest beverage" label applies to. It comes in a heat-free version, but why bother? It's like eating nachos without the cheese.). Many "spicy" cocktails out there cheat by using citric acid in place of real peppers, which provides nothing more than a cheap chemical burn down the back of your throat. By using real jalapeños, you get not only some authentic heat, but also a tasty pepper flavor that blends perfectly with the tomato juice.
Thirdly, and perhaps controversially, there's MSG in Camaronazo - and MSG, which is essentially a flavor enhancer, really does seem to make stuff taste good. (I'm afraid this rules you out if you're one of those unlucky folks who have an allergy). I know it's got something of a stigma here in the States... all I can tell you is that MSG, which is the sodium salt of glutamic acid that is found naturally in seaweed, may in some ways have been the victim of bad PR. There have been many double-blind placebo-controlled experiments that have failed to demonstrate any consistent negative reactions, even in people who believe themselves to be allergic. This is not to belittle or disparage folks who have a legitimate allergy, of course, merely to suggest that a good many folks have heard so many negative things about MSG over the years that they may automatically assume it's going to hurt them and avoid it like the plague. For what it's worth, I've been using MSG as a kitchen spice for years, and I've never suffered any ill effects.
Anyhow, if you're up for a bit of peppery goodness, you don't mind seafood, and you aren't afraid of a little monosodium glutamate, then Camaronazo isn't just a tasty drink, it's a refreshing, salty, tomatoey, shrimpy, spicy blend of pure liquid awesomeness.
But i guess you dont know until you try it, eh?
Honestly, though, I have not seen nor heard of this. Not really something I'd be trying soon. My use of tomato is in Gumbo and Jumbalaya.
If you feel up to trying it at home, places like http://www.cooks.com/ have decent starter recipes. A couple of my friends tried it and they liked the results, though I do not know what web site they actually used.
But I hear that when you try something new, you add a week to your life.
Too bad I live on the East coast. D:
This, however, sounds promising.
I always pick the tomatoes off of my sandwiches when I go out... they're always those unripe styrofoamy ones. Home grown and vine ripened is a different story. :3