I had my first mojito at Paradise Cove -- a fairly old restaurant that sits directly on the sandy beach of Malibu, where movie stars used to go during the 40's and 50's. (Long wait for your dinner? No worries! Go sit in an Adirondack chair on the sand under a tiki torch and listen to the pounding surf...) Since then, I haven't yet found any other restaurant that can make one of these decently, though I've been craving them ever since. My "How to Cook Everything" cookbook apparently didn't think them worth mentioning. One website that claimed to provide the "official Cuban recipe" made something that tasted like Tom's of Maine Herbal Cough Syrup.
My friend Cristina is half Cuban, so when I told her of my mojito frustrations, she obligingly called her uncle in Havana. This is what he gave us:
In a glass, add 4 mint leaves, 3 tsp. powdered sugar, and the juice of 1/2 a lime. Muddle. [This evidently means "smash together with the end of a blunt object until the sugar is dissolved, but the mint leaves are still recognizable as such."] Add 1 oz. rum and "some" shaved ice. Stir. Add 1 oz. club soda or sparkling water. Serves 1. [Well, you'll probably want more than one.]They're absolutely wonderful.
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