Why Baby Food Could Be The Secret Ingredient For Your Margarita
You haven't had a good margarita unless you've had one with baby food in it. At least that's what Michelin-star mixologist Brian Van Flandern believes. As he shared to Reader's Digest, Gerber brand baby food is the secret ingredient in the margarita he once served at The Garden Bar in Beverly Hills, an upscale bar attached to celebrity chef Geoffrey Zakarian's restaurant, Georgie, which has since closed down. In addition to Gerber peach baby food, the margarita included tequila, agave nectar, lime juice, and an egg white for froth. This cocktail became the bar's signature drink, adapting the moniker "The Georgie Gerber" after Zakarian's son and the restaurant named after him.
What made the drink so popular and delicious is the inclusion of the peach baby food, Van Flandern explained. A margarita, if made properly, should contain both sour and sweet elements to balance out the tequila flavor. Baby food, since it's essentially pure fruit puree, is therefore a perfect way to achieve that balance.
How much baby food should you add to a margarita?
If you've ever made a frozen margarita before, you know that one of the main ingredients is frozen fruit. You simply pop it in the blender with everything else, and it comes together to form a slushy cocktail. Baby food margaritas follow the same formula, except the fruit isn't frozen and it's already pre-blended.
According to Brit + Co, who tried out Brian Van Flandern's method, the amount doesn't matter so much as long as you taste as you go. Brit + Co recommends using the kind that comes in a pouch, starting with a squirt, then gradually adding more as needed, but only up to half the package. Van Flandern told Reader's Digest he adds 1 ounce of baby food per 1 ½ ounces of tequila.
As for the baby food flavors, Brit + Co tested peach, apricot, banana, raspberry, and even butternut squash and carrot. So while you can no longer order the original Georgie Gerber from the closed down Garden Bar, there's plenty of baby food options to experiment with in your homemade margaritas.