To me, there is no better name for a Super Bowl beer cocktail than one that takes its name from the high-stakes betting grounds of the Riviera.
All this week, I’ll be featuring typically Revolutionized and glammed-up versions of Super Bowl favorites, from the fried to the intoxicating. Today, I begin with the Monaco, a beer cocktail that I began drinking, I hate to say it, as a very young and illegal fifteen year old. I always think that Super Bowl food is so male-oriented–lots of beer, and messy-fingered food, and chili. It’s not that I don’t like these sorts of foods, but a lot of my girl friends find them just about as palatable as the game itself.
So why not make some Super Bowl snacks that are yummy enough to fill up the boys, and interesting enough to divert the girls? The Monaco is a great way to get those of us who may not love a lager, who may snub a stout, to drink beer. It is similar to the English shandy, and very close to the French panache. The beer is cut with limonade, and spiked with a splash of grenadine. In some ways, it is a drunken Shirley Temple–but it is rosy, convivial, sweet, hearty, and intoxicating. Needless to say, I love it.
The Super Bowl, like Monaco itself, is a place for heavy betting. I hope, for your sake, that after a few sips of this Monaco, luck will be a lady, and fortune will smile your way. May the best team win.
Check back every day this week for more French Revolution Super Bowl recipes…
BON APP, et BONNE CHANCE!