We recently were made aware of this recipe card; it appears that the scullery staff may have been pilfering incoming communiqués.  Please be reassured that in-house security protocols have been thoroughly reviewed.

Bolognese Machiavelli

   1. Arrange to have garlic and onions cast into hot oil.
   2. The carrot and celery you must divide against themselves. Ground beef, too, shall turn upon the burner; crush any coherent resistance with a spoon of wood. Sautee until no hint of blood remains to stain your hands.
   3. Perhaps, in a dark place without witnesses, the tomato shall meet with the knife.
   4. The basil and parsley you may use without consequence. For long minutes, all shall be muddled and roil on the surface of the flame.
   5. If it is most advantageous, store cold for the proper day.

“4. There is a long tradition in Canada of thinking that Canada just cannot do high-tech projects by itself — that the laws of nature somehow forbid it, and hence that anyone proposing such an impossibility is a charlatan. This belief is fundamentally irrational, which makes countering it with rational arguments very difficult.”

We of course disagree - but the sentiment, and its tone, are recognized.

No further details available at this time:

…”the officially accidental death in 1941 of a Japanese cryptographer in that country’s New York consulate on the 38th floor of Rockefeller Center, one floor below the offices occupied by Sir William Stephenson (a/k/a “Intrepid”), in which a scaffolding broke through the window and the Japanese man was bludgeoned to death by a construction sandbag; Ian Fleming (who served under Stephenson at the time) later claimed that he had killed the agent in question with a sandbag.”

Ahh yes, the ‘crew-served’ drink.

In the golden days of cocktails (that is, before Prohibition), your better bar would employ a staff of perhaps dozens of boys for the purpose of shaking these drinks.  The egg white allows a certain emusification to take place - provided at least five minutes of steady, hard shaking is undertaken.  A minute and a half is generally recognized as the maximum realistic shaking time for one person.  Hence the staff required to make the Ramos.

Ramos Gin Fizz (adapted from Gary Regan, The Joy of Mixology)
makes two drinks

2 ounces gin
1 ounce cream
1 fresh egg white
3 drops orange flower water
1/2 ounce simple syrup
1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice
1/2 ounce fresh lime juice
club soda or seltzer water

Combine all ingredients (except the seltzer) in a cocktail shaker over ice. Shake vigorously for five minutes Collins glass or champagne flute and top up with a splash of seltzer. Garnish with an orange wheel, and serve with a straw.

Of course the queen rode (and properly: sidesaddle).

Many apologies for the delay. Logistical difficulties have kept Our Man incommunicado for some time.  Regular service should resume directly.