T H I S+W E E K Mondo Weirdo: The strangest food in the world By Don George, Editor Praise the Titanic! By Doug Cruickshank Eighty-five years later, they're still going down with the ship Above the volcano By Robert Riddell Blowing off steam at Mexico's newest volcano -Books on Mexico -Getting there D E P A R T M E N T S >The Surreal Gourmet By Bob Blumer It's a cocktail! It's a fruit drink! It's -- Supermartini! Postmark: Alvescot By Amanda Castleman Down and out at Watermill Cottage -Getting there Passages: "Into Thin Air" Inside the Everest disaster By Jon Krakauer Readers' Tips and Tales Drinking and travel - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Your virtual travel agency - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - LA S T+W E E K Tuesday, May 20 If it's Tuesday, I must be tipsy By Jan Morris Jan Morris drinks her way across Europe A full list of all Wanderlust articles

It's a cocktail! It's a fruit drink! No, it's Supermartini! And it'll knock you off your ass. BY BOB BLUMER | this week's column is being filed from a studio at the TV Food Network in Manhattan, where I am taping a one-hour martini special called "My Favorite Martini." If you have followed this column or browsed through the Surreal Gourmet archives, you may have noticed that I have become dangerously fond of these icy little concoctions (see "High and Dry" and "Christmas Cosmopolitan"). In fact, the only way I can justify continuing to consume them with such fervor is by churning out new recipes that are a direct result of my research. In preparation for my show, I embarked on a chocolate martini crawl with an executive from the Food Network. (For those of you who may have just emerged from a World War II bomb shelter, any drink that is shaken in a shaker and strained into a martini glass is now labeled a martini.) Our first destination was Pravda, where their much ballyhooed white chocolate martini was so sweet and gooey it was undrinkable. Several mediocre versions later we stumbled into a bar called the Red Bench, where the Armenian owner-bartender, Mus, claims to have invented the drink. True to his word, Mus' cocktail rocked. The clear mixture, cleverly garnished with a chocolate caramel on a plastic spear, tasted like pure liquid chocolate, but was not nearly as thick or sweet as any of the competition. Unfortunately, Mus' recipe is kept under wraps and the secret ingredients are poured from an unmarked bottle. Even after four of these babies (Mus was so amused that I was trying to decipher the code that he kept refilling my glass), I was still unable to identify all of the flavors. In my never-ending quest to keep you on the cutting edge of mixology, I may resort to inviting Mus onto my show in order to cinch the recipe. Fortunately, I've created a super martini -- let's call it Supermartini! -- to come to my rescue in the interim. Just in time for raspberry season, this is my favorite original martini concoction. Be warned, however: It requires a little planning because the raspberry infusion takes four days, and don't make any plans afterward because this one packs a superhero power punch. If you can't wait that long for your next drink, meet me after my show wraps -- at the Betty Ford. SUPER RASPBERRY MARTINI (Serves 2) To make raspberry-infused vodka, start with a 25-ounce bottle of vodka. Pour out 1 cup and save it for a rainy day. Take 1 pint of fresh raspberries and stuff them into the bottle. (I use Absolut vodka for the sole reason that the neck of the bottle is very wide.) Cover tightly, and let sit at room temperature for four days. Turn the bottle once or twice daily. By day 2 the liquid should turn pink and by day 4 it should have a dark red color and a strong raspberry fragrance. 1. Fill a shaker or large glass with ice. 2. Pour 3 ounces of raspberry-infused vodka into vessel. 3. Add 1 ounce of Cointreau (an orange-peel liqueur). 4. Shake or stir vigorously. 5. Strain liquid into chilled martini glasses (or a facsimile thereof). 6. Garnish with a fresh raspberry. 7. Toast something worthy. 8. Repeat if necessary. Notes: As the raspberry flavor and color are sucked into the vodka, the raspberries become sour. Do not use. I have kept the raspberries in the vodka for a couple of months with no harmful results (other then a slight slurring of my words). However, I am no home economist, so I recommend that you employ your friends to help you consume the infusion as quickly as possible. Music To Shake By: Prince, "Raspberry Beret" Warning: Surprisingly potent. Do not attempt to drive, operate heavy machinery or tango. May 24, 1997 - - - - - - - - - - - - Illustration by the Surreal Gourmet. Browse the Surreal Gourmet Archives The Surreal Gourmet's Web Site is located at http://surrealgourmet.com.

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