Got milk punch?
A Brooklyn cook and cocktail expert will mix up a batch of his favorite beverage for an audience of high-class wine aficionados, at the Martha Stewart Wine and Food Experience coming to Prospect Park on Sept. 8.
Chef Eamon Rockey started making and bottling his own version of an ancient alcoholic drink called milk punch — made with clarified milk, sugar, and a touch of liquor — from a Brooklyn distillery about a month ago, and now sells his branded Rockey’s Milk Punch, flavored with black and green tea, neutral grain, or citrus, at a handful of liquor stores throughout the borough.
“It’s my own brand, [but] it’s been around for 400 years,” said Rockey, who lives in Williamsburg. “What I wanted to with my career and life was launch my own company, make milk punch.”
The surprisingly clear beverage was likely first made by playwright Aphra Behn (author of “The Rover,” now playing in Prospect Park) about 400 years ago, and Rockey said he fell in love with a friend’s century-old recipe and started experimenting with the booze to create his own about 12 years ago.
At the USA Today-sponsored festival, Rockey and mixologist Joaquin Simo, the owner of fancy cocktail spot Pouring Ribbons in the distant borough of Manhattan, will lead a seminar about the beverage, showing guests how to make the delicious beverage with a splash of cognac in it, he said.
“We’re teaming up to do a Milk Punch seminar, and then making one for the audience and serving it as well,” said Rockey. “It’s a fun interactive, historic, dynamic, and entertaining presentation.”
The drink goes well with any spirit, he said — even tequila.
“Traditionally it goes with brandy, rum, whiskey,” said Rockey. “It can be made with anything, that’s the beauty of Milk Punch.”
Rockey is excited to bring his beverage to the event, which will also feature lifestyle guru and celebrity Martha Stewart — who once spent years five months behind bars after being convicted for lying to investigators about stock trading — because he has always admired her craft.
“The way she approaches food, and taking a high-level, high-quality approach to dining is really important to me,” said Rockey. “It’s gonna be amazing, it’s an honor to be a part of it.”
Try Rockey’s Milk Punch at the Martha Stewart Food and Wine Festival at LeFrak Center at Lakeside (171 East Dr. in Prospect Park, enter at Ocean Avenue at Parkside Avenue in Prospect Lefferts Gardens, winea
