Ninety-nine years ago – on April 14th 1912, the Titanic sank – and at the last dinner service the first class passengers were served for their sixth course: Punch Romaine.
I tilted my head when I read this because I had never heard of “Punch Romaine” before. Is it romaine lettuce served with a “punch” of spices? A green lettuce punch drink?..
So I googled and found that Punch Romaine actually has nothing to do with romaine lettuce. Rather, it is a palate cleansing style frosted beverage that is blended with citrus, champagne, ice, sometimes egg whites as foam. Get my Punch Romaine recipe..
Titanic is my favorite movie of all time. I know, I know kinda cliche. But I saw it when I was in high school and then saw it about 5 times in theaters. It was my “Twilight” of the time. I loved it. So the actual event of the Titanic sinking has a very special place in my heart. So I wanted to pay tribute to that by recreating one of the first class menu recipes from the infamous last meal. On the menu – you can see a wide variety of dishes: cold asparagus vinaigrette, lamb with mint sauce, oysters, foie gras – and Punch Romaine.
Punch Romaine stood out and I knew I had to give it a try. See the complete menu from the Titanic here.
Where does the name come from? I think it is describing “Roman Punch” which is a frozen fruit ice punch.
I found that Punch Romaine is a champagne-infused citrus-y drink with a foamy white layer on top. I believe it is almost as thick as a slushee or soft sorbet. It is a cool, frosty palate cleanser. So really to me that meant: smoothie! I whipped out my blender and started playing with ingredients to try and replicate the look of the drink while still serving the purpose of “palate cleansing” and tasting frothy-fabulous. ..too bad they didn’t had a Vitamix on the Titanic.
Punch Romaine Recipe. There are several recipes to be found online. But I tweaked the recipe while keeping the basic properties of the drink. My recipe below was fabulously refreshing!
Instead of raw egg whites (because who really wants to eat those) I used coconut milk. Creamy, frothy, white, perfect.
And instead of champagne I used ginger kombucha. Or you can use champagne or even a fizzy lemon lime soda.
This drink is beyond refreshing! I think the folks in first class on the Titanic would have been pleased…
Cheers to them.
Punch Romaine 2011
vegan, serves 4
frothy white foam:
1 1/2 cups coconut milk
2 cups ice
1/4 cup fizzy beverage from below
Orange Base:
1 cup orange juice
1 cup frozen pineapple
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 cup fizzy beverage (champagne OR kombucha OR fizzy lemon-lime soda)
1/4 cup coconut water (or tap water as a sub)
1/2 tsp orange peel zest
1 1/4 cups ice
garnish: orange peel
Directions:
Blend the orange base. Pour into glasses.
Blend up the white foam – top off each glass.
Add orange peel.
Serve immediately.
Hope the ship doesn’t sink before you get to finish your Punch Romaine.
