First of all… what the heck is a Cassowary? It is a flightless bird native to the tropical forests of New Guinea, East Nusa Tenggara, the Maluku Islands, and northeastern Australia. Cassowaries feed mainly on fruit but … if provoked they are capable of inflicting serious, even fatal, injuries to both dogs and people. The cassowary has often been labeled "the world's most dangerous bird".
Let's see what Carla and Martin, owners of the Pukiki Bar on the island of Madeira have to tell about the creation of this very special ghost drink:
"We were asked to create a cocktail inspired by the cassowary bird, which is native to the tropical forests of New Guinea. They are striking creatures, with vivid blue and red features on the face and neck, known for their powerful kick. They mainly feed on tropical fruits, which they forage from the jungle floor and swallow whole. Because of this, they are responsible for dispersing larger tropical fruits seeds."
"We were inspired by a video we watched of a cassowary bird swallowing whole mangos. We decided to use mango as the primary tropical fruit in the cocktail, along with fresh local passion fruit. Because the birds eat the seeds of the fruit, we decided to include the passion fruit seeds in the drink and combine them as a swizzle. The idea being, with every other sip, you get a seed coming through the straw and you have no choice but to swallow it whole just like the cassowary."
"We wanted to use a local Madeira rum so we chose Reizinho - a pot still agricole style rum, produced by the smallest distillery on Madeira Island. It’s quite a funky rum with light, grassy characteristics, that works really well with tropical fruits. At 50% ABV it has a kick and enough personality to stand out in the drink."
"For an additional, optional kick, we used half a pinch of cayenne pepper swizzled into the drink, along with Falernum and homemade cinnamon syrup."
"Add all ingredients to a bamboo tumbler and swizzle with bar spoon. Add crushed ice up to 2/3 and swizzle once more. Then top with more packed crushed ice. Add garnish and gently dribble the 15ml of blue curacao onto the passion fruit shell and ice at the top. This will sit at the neck of the glass and gently dribble down, resembling the striking blue of the bird. To garnish, we used a fresh passion fruit half, pineapple leaves and a red celosia flower that resembles the red on the neck of the bird."
"It’s a fresh and fruity rum swizzle with an agricole kick that we hope you will enjoy!"