Nicholas Faith and Ian Wisniewski's book, billed as "the ultimate guide to the frozen spirit of the north," sets out to tackle the history, arcana and various permutations of flavor and purity of the Slavs' favorite drink.
The sections on the history of vodka are entertaining, if clumsily written. The authors set the evolving technology of vodka production in Russia against the development of state power, which relied heavily on its vodka monopoly for income.
Unfortunately, the style is scrappy and devoid of humor and there are some curious factual errors or omissions.
Despite an in-depth history of Smirnoff -- the world's largest selling vodka brand -- for example, there is no mention of the rival Smirnov vodka produced in Russia by a branch of the family that disputes the sale of the brand to U.S. distillers Heublein. Also, the authors fail to mention that Mikhail Gorbachev's anti-alcohol campaign of the late 1980s fizzled out, and that vodka is now widely available in Russia.
"Classic Vodka" is not designed to be read right through, as the many repetitions testify. The text is an odd combination of the superficial and the boringly detailed. The book's strength, however, is in its presentation with well chosen photographs, vodka-related quotations and extensive captions.
The core of the book is a comprehensive guide to the vodkas of the world, complete with pictures of the labels and descriptions of their flavor and peculiarities of manufacture. The exotica includes Polish kosher vodkas and Goldwasser, a vodka flavored with pieces of real gold leaf.
The entry for the famous Mongolian Arhi, the world's only horse-milk vodka, however, fails to mention the spirit's intriguing base product.
There is also a useful section on cocktails, which lists the obvious classics -- Bloody Marys, vodkatinis and Moscow mules -- as well as the more unusual bullshot (vodka with beef consomme, Worcestershire sauce and pepper) and the bloodshot (all the above plus tomato juice). A smattering of trivia is included here such as the origin of the screwdriver cocktail (vodka and orange juice) named after the implement used to open old-fashioned tins of juice.
The last section deals with cooking with vodka, with recipes ranging from the sublime (Bloody Mary salad dressing) to the ridiculous (vodka bread). Unfortunately, the authors dent their image as connoisseurs of Eastern European vodka cuisine by confusing Russian pies (pirogi) with dumplings (pelmeni).
"Classic Vodka" is the perfect stocking filler: a pretty little book with enough trivia and factoids to sustain a quick flick-through and raise a few chuckles, bulked out with a genuinely useful reference section on the vodkas and cocktails of the world.
"Classic Vodka" by Nicholas Faith and Ian Wisniewski. Prion Books, pp. 192, ?9.99 ($16.35).
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