French Connection Cocktail

A good cocktail that seemingly was invented in honor of the famous 1970's movie, "The French Connection."

Ingredients:

2 parts cognac
1 part amaretto
ice

 Use an "Old Fashioned" glass, also called a "rocks glass." Add ice, then add the cognac and amaretto, stir to mix.

WORD HISTORY:
Amaretto-This word seems to go back to an Indo European form like "ahm-ro," with the notion, "sour, bitter;" thus also by extension, "raw," and "harsh" (of taste and sound). This gave Latin the noun "amaror," meaning "bitterness," and the adjective "amarus," meaning "bitter." This gave Italian the adjective "amaro" meaning "bitter," as well as the noun of the same spelling ("amaro)," meaning "bitterness," but also "bitter herbal drink for help with digestion." The diminutive form in Italian was created by the "etto" ending, and the form "amaretto" was applied to an almond-flavored digestive in the mid 1800s in Italy, a form which has continued to this day. "Amaretti" are almond flavored cookies, with the word form being the plural of "amaretto." The cookies "may" have originally been somewhat bitter, rather than almond flavored, a taste perhaps developed in the cookies to mimic the digestive drink.

Stanford Cocktail

According to an article by Gaz Regan from September 22, 2005, the "Stanford Cocktail" was invented by Englishman Colin Peter Field, the head barman at the Hemingway Bar in the Ritz Paris Hotel in the 1990s. Some strain the drink into chilled glasses, as this keeps the drink from being watered down as the ice melts, but I like the ice in the drink.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 ounces amontillado sherry
1 1/2 ounces Cognac (or brandy)
1 "good" dash Angostura bitters
ice cubes

Fill a rocks glass with ice. Add the ingredients, stir briefly. 

WORD HISTORY:
Firm-This word is used as an adjective ("The proposal for the new law was based upon firm arguments"), as a verb, often, but not always, used with "up" ("Mix the ingredients and put them in the refrigerator to firm up"), and as a noun ("The company hired an establish law firm to handle their legal matters"). All of the forms trace back to the same origin, and "firm" is related to "farm," a Latin derived word borrowed by English from French. "Firm" goes back to Indo European "dher," which had the notion, "to hold, to hold tightly;" thus also, "to support, to give support to." This gave Latin the adjective "firmus" (the Latin form took an "f" sound), meaning, "steadfast, strong, stable," and this passed to Old French as "ferm(e)" ("steadfast;" thus also, "healthy"), and this was borrowed by English circa 1400, initially as "ferm(e)," with the same general meanings (steadfast, strong, steady;" thus also, "long lasting." The change of spelling to "firm," by circa 1600, seems to have been from the influence of Latin. The verb form also goes back to the Latin adjective "firmus," which spawned "firmare," meaning, "to strengthen, to make strong;" thus also, "to affirm, to provide a base/basis for." This passed to Old French as "fermer," meaning, "to build, to set up, to make secure," and this was borrowed by English in the (early?) 1300s as "fermen," meaning, "to strengthen, to make strong, to establish." The noun too goes back to the Latin adjective "firmus," and then forward to the verb  "firmare," and its meaning of "affirm" took on the meaning, "to affirm or confirm something with a signature," which passed into Italian with the same spelling and meaning, "to sign (a signature to an agreement/document)." This gave Italian the noun "firma," meaning "signature." There is uncertainty as to how English got the noun as "firm," with some believing it to come directly from the Italian word, while others have thought German was the source, as German borrowed the word from Italian in the early 1700s, BUT where the idea of "signature" was taken as the course "to legally establish a business by signature(s)." It "seems" to have been first used in English in the mid 1700s.