Essentials: Pink Squirrel, Bryant’s Cocktail Lounge, Milwaukee
Plus, what to do with your pawpaws
You can order the sweet, nutty Pink Squirrel cocktail at supper clubs all over Wisconsin. It’s a staple. But for the ultimate Pink Squirrel experience, you should make a pilgrimage to the drink’s birthplace. Although some newer iterations call of the drink call for heavy cream instead of ice cream, the oldest cocktail bar in the city still uses the midcentury recipe: vanilla ice cream, crème de noyaux, and white crème de cacao. Sipping it in a cozy leather booth is the perfect way to end an evening in the Cream City. —Amy Cavanaugh
Amy Cavanaugh is the dining editor at Chicago magazine. A native New Englander, she’s lived in Chicago for a decade and loves venturing around the Midwest to eat and drink. Follow along on Instagram @AmyCavanaugh.
Previously in Midwesterner
Have you eaten a pawpaw (or a few dozen) yet this year? The season is coming to an end, but you may still be able to find our native tropical fruit in a patch of woods near you—or, if you’re lucky, from a farmers’ market vendor or a local grocery store. The best way to enjoy a pawpaw is all by itself, preferably out in the woods. Once you’ve done that, try the ideas and recipes in these articles.
Editor’s Letter: Pawpaw Pleasures
It tastes like a transplant from a tropical climate. Most tasters pick up notes of mango and banana. Beyond that, it’s an inkblot test for the palate. One friend, after puzzling over descriptions of the flavor, looked at me after he took his first bite and said, “Pear!” Some people taste citrus. I often taste pineapple and melon.
What to Do With Your Pawpaws, by Amber Gibson
“More experienced gatherers are guided by smell,” he says. “There’s an unmistakable sweet fermentation smell that floats through the hollers and creek beds when pawpaw have begun to drop. That’s when we get our crates and head out into the woods.”
How to Make a Pawpaw Daiquiri, by Mike Stankovich
I scanned my memory and remembered a recipe for an avocado daiquiri that I’d enjoyed. Avocados and pawpaws have a similar texture, so I thought, Why not try adapting it? It worked. The pawpaw’s creamy texture and tropical flavor are delicious in a rum-based frozen drink.