Recipes of the Lost City: The Stork Club Punch

It's appropriate, isn't it, that the debut of the Stork Club in this running column would be for an alcoholic beverage? Didn't the swellest and richest people in the world get blitzed there nightly for 30 years running.

I've heard of the Stork Club Cocktail; you can still get it in some swanky bars. This formula is for the Stork Club Punch. So make sure you invite over some thirsty friends before you make it. I haven't made it myself. Looking at the ingredients, it seems very fruity and very potent (all that rum). Why "domestic" maraschino liqueur is need, I have no idea? The most famous maraschino liqueurs are Italian. But, then, this recipe was printed in the New York Times in 1944, and we were at war with Italy. So that may account for it.

We were not, thankfully, at war with Jamaica.

STORK CLUB PUNCH

1 1/3 cups orange juice
1 1/3 cups pineapple juice
1 1/3 cups lemon or lime juice
1/2 bottle Jamaica rum
1/2 bottle Bacardi rum
1/3 bottle domestic maraschino liqueur
1/3 cherry brandy
Sliced orange and lemons or limes.
Slice fresh pineapple, if available
Canned cherries

Mix ingredients, except slices fruit and cherries, in a large bowl, then pour into a punch bowl containing a big piece of ice. Add the sliced fruit in amounts to taste—there can be as much or as little as you like. Serve with bread and butter sandwiches or simple cookies. This makes a quantity sufficient for twenty.

Previous Recipes From the Lost City