Ramos Fizz

We always start our post-Fat Tuesday fast after sipping New Orleans's most popular cocktail, and we end the Lenten entertainment with the City of Sin's second-favorite cocktail, the Ramos Fizz.

This creamy original recipe for this drink had the brothers Ramos not been "in a fit of generous aberration" brought on by the "ridiculous drouth of Prohibition."

According to Baker and other historians of mixology, the brothers, especially Henry, the actual creator of the drink, tried their darnedest to keep the recipe secret, from its inception in 1888 until the late-'20s, when, in retaliation against the Feds and with sympathy for their friends, they let the more elusive ingredients slip out.

As we sip Ramos Fizzes in the Cliff House at Ocean Beach, we make newcomers guess the ingredients. No one has ever suspected orange-flower water, and few have guessed egg white.

In anticipation of a light brunch, we simple syrup, an egg white, and 2 ounces cream until they become a rich, ropy mixture, which we pour into a large wine goblet and top with soda water. If we're especially in want of warmer spring weather, we'll add a dash or two of vanilla extract and garnish with a flower blossom.

As we sip the dulcifying froth that's always so picture-perfect, we realize how Baker came to write that "the Ramos Fizz has long been synonymous with the finest in all the New Orleans art" and that "its formula, like history dealing with the dead arts, should be engraved on the tablets of history."

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