Bloody Mary

The Bloody Mary's origin is unclear. Fernand Petiot claimed to have invented the drink in 1921 while working at the New York Bar, which later became Harry's New York Bar, a frequent Paris hangout for Ernest Hemingway and other American expatriates. Another tradition maintains that actor George Jessel created the drink around 1939. In 1939, Lucius Beebe printed in his gossip column "This New York" one of the earliest U.S. references to this drink, along with the original recipe: "George Jessel’s newest pick-me-up which is receiving attention from the town’s paragraphers is called a Bloody Mary: half tomato juice, half vodka."Fernand Petiot seems to corroborate Jessel's claim when the bartender stated in 1964:“I initiated the Bloody Mary of today,” he told us. “Jessel said he created it, but it was really nothing but vodka and tomato juice when I took it over. I cover the bottom of the shaker with four large dashes of salt, two dashes of black pepper, two dashes of cayenne pepper, and a layer of Worcestershire sauce; I then add a dash of lemon juice and some cracked ice, put in two ounces of vodka and two ounces of thick tomato juice, shake, strain, and pour. We serve a hundred to a hundred and fifty Bloody Marys a day here in the King Cole Room and in the other restaurants and the banquet rooms.”

Bloody Mary Recipe