‘Barefoot Contessa’: This Is Ina Garten’s Favorite Cocktail: ‘They Have to Be Homemade’
Food Network chef Ina Garten has been in the food industry for years, and for that reason, fans are always quick to take her advice. The Barefoot Contessa star loves giving helpful tips on how to cook, the best ingredients to use, and the best ways to set up food displays for a party. But she also has an opinion on cocktails — and this one is her absolute favorite (but only when it’s homemade).
Ina Garten has plenty of tricks for creating the perfect dishes
Prior to becoming a Food Network chef, Garten owned a small store called Barefoot Contessa in East Hampton, New York. The store, which sold specialty foods, helped her master her cooking skill as well as food styling and setup. Now, Garten often highlights food setup tips (for, say, a housewarming party) on her show in addition to creating recipes.
Garten has several secrets to developing her favorite dishes in ways any cook can handle — she loves store-bought ingredients, such as pasta and puff pastry. (Though, she cautions that the one thing people should never buy in store is grated Parmesan. Garten insists it must be grated fresh off the block.) And she is convinced that leaving certain foods at room temperature, such as eggs and lemons, create far better dishes than pulling those same ingredients from the refrigerator.
Ina Garten once revealed that her favorite cocktail is a ‘homemade’ whiskey sour
Garten might love to cook, but it turns out she has some mixology skills as well. The New York native loves enjoying a good cocktail — anyone who saw her massive margarita at the beginning of quarantine knows that. Still, margaritas aren’t her absolute favorite.
According to Time, Garten has one cocktail she can’t live without — whiskey sours. Garten said she mostly drinks them in the summer. “But they have to be homemade, with fresh juice and good bourbon,” she adds. “Knob Creek [whiskey]. The other thing is a Sinskey Vineyards rosé.” Sinskey is from Napa; it’s surprising that Garten doesn’t use a rosé from a local Long Island vineyard, but we’re not here to question her tactics.
Ina Garten has several ingredients she refuses to use
Despite having cooked what seems like every dish in the book, there are still a few things that Garten does her best to avoid. She hates cilantro. “I just won’t go near it,” she told Time. It’s no surprise; cilantro is a polarizing herb, with some people absolutely hating it and others adoring it. (Science can actually explain the reason for this.)
Garten’s other aversions? “I’m not big on things with eyeballs. And foam,” she said. These things aren’t too out of the ordinary. Garten tends to stick with classic dishes such as roast chicken, so it comes as no surprise that she doesn’t need any bizarre foods starting back at her.
