The Pussyfoot Rum Cocktail
While the recipe below is what I use, I first learned of this drink from a book I've owned for many years: "Trader Vic's Bartender's Guide" (revised), Trader Vic (Victor Bergeron), Doubleday and Company, Garden City, NY 1972
The word "pussyfoot" naturally developed from the notion of how a cat walks; thus, "tread softly, cautiously, stealthily." It also then developed the figurative meaning, "to speak indirectly about a difficult subject, to speak cautiously," and as such, it is similar to the expression, "to beat around the bush." I don't hear it much today, but a former boss used it a lot, and that was over ... ah, 50 weeks ago? Over 50 months ago? Okay, over 50 years ago. I'm not sure why this drink was given this name. I'm not one to like tart or outright sour drinks or foods, so if you're like me, you can sweeten this a bit with some sugar, or cut the amount of lime juice. When blended, the cream will provide a fluffy kind of topping to the cocktail.
Ingredients:
2 to 3 ounces white (light-colored) rum
2 ounces heavy cream
3 ounces pineapple juice
2 ounces fresh lime juice
2 ounces cherry juice
1/3 cup ice (or add crushed ice after blending)
maraschino cherry and partial pineapple slice or lime slice for garnish
Add all but garnish to blender, blend for about 30 seconds. Pour into a tall glass
With lots of crushed ice ....
Also with crushed ice ....
With crushed ice and topped with a maraschino cherry ...
Blended with ice, slice of lime garnish ...
WORD HISTORY:
Look-The ultimate origin of this common word is unknown. It "could" be a West Germanic invention, as forms are not present throughout the Germanic languages, but rather only in the West Germanic languages, where the word has only "prospered" in English. Likewise, there are no "certain" relatives outside of Germanic, although Celtic has some possible connections. This makes sense, as the West Germanic dialects were in frequent contact with Celtic, including Gaulish and Brittonic (the Celtic dialects of Britain), and for instance, Welsh "llygad" means "eye." West Germanic had "lok(i)jan," meaning "to see, to look upon." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "locian" (long 'o'), meaning, "to look, to gaze," and the extended meaning, "to take or pay heed (to someone or something)," and to this day we say, "look after someone or something;" that is, "give care or help to, to watch over." "Locian" then became "lokien," then "loken," before the modern form. Relatives in the West Germanic languages: German has "lugen" (once spelled "luogen"), it is still around, but of limited usage; Low German once had "loken," Dutch has "loeken," like the German form, it is still around, but not commonly used, West Frisian has "lôkje/lokje" (?). The noun form in English meaning "the act of looking" goes back to late Old English, and the noun form meaning, "the appearance of a person," as in, "He has that look about him," goes back to the late 1300s, with the plural "looks" also used for "a person's appearance," dating to the mid 1500s.
The word "pussyfoot" naturally developed from the notion of how a cat walks; thus, "tread softly, cautiously, stealthily." It also then developed the figurative meaning, "to speak indirectly about a difficult subject, to speak cautiously," and as such, it is similar to the expression, "to beat around the bush." I don't hear it much today, but a former boss used it a lot, and that was over ... ah, 50 weeks ago? Over 50 months ago? Okay, over 50 years ago. I'm not sure why this drink was given this name. I'm not one to like tart or outright sour drinks or foods, so if you're like me, you can sweeten this a bit with some sugar, or cut the amount of lime juice. When blended, the cream will provide a fluffy kind of topping to the cocktail.
Ingredients:
2 to 3 ounces white (light-colored) rum
2 ounces heavy cream
3 ounces pineapple juice
2 ounces fresh lime juice
2 ounces cherry juice
1/3 cup ice (or add crushed ice after blending)
maraschino cherry and partial pineapple slice or lime slice for garnish
Add all but garnish to blender, blend for about 30 seconds. Pour into a tall glass
With lots of crushed ice ....
Also with crushed ice ....
With crushed ice and topped with a maraschino cherry ...
Blended with ice, slice of lime garnish ...
Look-The ultimate origin of this common word is unknown. It "could" be a West Germanic invention, as forms are not present throughout the Germanic languages, but rather only in the West Germanic languages, where the word has only "prospered" in English. Likewise, there are no "certain" relatives outside of Germanic, although Celtic has some possible connections. This makes sense, as the West Germanic dialects were in frequent contact with Celtic, including Gaulish and Brittonic (the Celtic dialects of Britain), and for instance, Welsh "llygad" means "eye." West Germanic had "lok(i)jan," meaning "to see, to look upon." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "locian" (long 'o'), meaning, "to look, to gaze," and the extended meaning, "to take or pay heed (to someone or something)," and to this day we say, "look after someone or something;" that is, "give care or help to, to watch over." "Locian" then became "lokien," then "loken," before the modern form. Relatives in the West Germanic languages: German has "lugen" (once spelled "luogen"), it is still around, but of limited usage; Low German once had "loken," Dutch has "loeken," like the German form, it is still around, but not commonly used, West Frisian has "lôkje/lokje" (?). The noun form in English meaning "the act of looking" goes back to late Old English, and the noun form meaning, "the appearance of a person," as in, "He has that look about him," goes back to the late 1300s, with the plural "looks" also used for "a person's appearance," dating to the mid 1500s.
Labels: cherry juice, cocktails, cream, English, etymology, Germanic languages, pineapple juice, recipes, rum, rum drinks, West Germanic
posted by Randy at 1:16 PM
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