A Gold Ingot For A Cocktail

"You can't swallow gold," he said to a friend who was describing a liqueur which had been given to him for Christmas

"You can't swallow gold," he said to a friend who was describing a liqueur which had been given to him for Christmas. Brought, in fact, from Germany. But you can swallow gold and Germans and others have been doing it for centuries - from 1598, to be exact; a quadricentenniel to be noted. It used, of course, to be manufactured in Danzig, then in Germany, now in Poland and called Gdansk. The Poles still produce a gold-water liqueur, but the original distillery transported itself to western Germany at, or before, the end of the second World War. It is now situated in a place called Norten-Hardenberg. A sweetish, aniseed-like, clear liqueur, with quite a lot of gold flakes (22 carat, the label says), sometimes being the size of a small finger-nail.

The original goes by the name "Der Lachs", the salmon. This delight has been mentioned here before, but there is a new line in the previously sparse promotion or advertising of the stuff. The latest bottle comes with a little literature around its neck. This not only gives us a mini-history of the firm, but tells us that many "high-carat" writers knew and described it: Lessing, Fontaine, and Kleist; and more, it became the drink of princes and kings.

The original recipe was developed by alchemists. But the firm is moving with the times in its approach to drinkers. It says that real connoisseurs enjoy their gold-water on its own, or perhaps with a little ice. But this high-quality liqueur goes splendidly with mixers. They suggest a few such concoctions: Goldwasser 2 cl; bourbon 2 cl; fill up with champagne, decorate the glass with slices of tangerine! Or one named "GoldenLover": one third Goldwasser, one third Cinzano Bianco, one third vodka. That would settle your hash.

Now here is the point: "We would like you to divulge the recipe for your own personal favourite cocktail using Der Lachs Original Danziger Goldwasser. No limits are set to your creativity. All recipes sent in take part in the raffle for three gold ingots. Last date of entry February 2nd. Address: Der Lachs, Liqueur-Fabrik, Postfach 1153, 37171 Norten-Hardenberg, Germany. What size is a gold ingot? Are they uniform?