White lady (also known as a Delilah,[1] or Chelsea sidecar[1]) is a classic cocktail that is made with gin, Cointreau or triple sec, fresh lemon juice and an optional egg white.[2] It belongs to the sidecar family, made with gin in place of brandy. The cocktail sometimes also includes additional ingredients, for example egg white, sugar, cream, or creme de menthe.[3]
The classic concoction is most commonly served in a martini cocktail glass. When an egg white is added a champagne coupe is preferable; the silky foam clings more pleasingly to the curved glass.
Origin
The original recipe for the white lady was devised by Harry MacElhone in 1919 at Ciro's Club in London. He originally used crème de menthe (specifically, Giffard's Menthe Pastille), but replaced it with gin at Harry's New York Bar in Paris in 1929.[4][2]
According to the American Bar at the Savoy Hotel, the drink was created there by Harry Craddock.[2]
History
A recipe for the white lady made with gin, Cointreau, and fresh lemon juice appears in the Savoy Cocktail Book, published in 1930.[5]Joe Gilmore, former Head Barman at The Savoy, says this was one of Laurel and Hardy's favorite drinks.[6]
Early recipes like MacElhone's and Craddock's do not have egg white as one of the recorded ingredients.[2]
Comparison with gin sour
While sours are characterized by a bright acidity, sidecars are often drier, since they are made with liqueurs (in this case Cointreau) instead of sugar. Sidecars are considered more of a challenge for bartenders because the proportion of ingredients is more difficult to balance for liqueurs of variable sweetness.[7]
In popular culture
In John le Carré's 1965 novel The Looking Glass War, the British spy, and main protagonist, Fred Leiser's favourite drink is a white lady and he makes several attempts to get other agents to try the cocktail.
In Molly Keane's 1981 novel Good Behaviour, Aroon St. Charles drinks white ladies with her brother Hubert and their friend Richard Massingham.
The White Lady is a favorite summer drink for lead character Phryne Fisher in multiple novels by Kerry Greenwood in her series "Phryne Fisher Mysteries," which are set in late 1920's Australia. A recipe is included in Book 16: "Murder in the Dark."
In Agatha Christie's novel "By the Pricking of My Thumbs," a White Lady drink is offered to Tuppence Beresford by her husband Tommy, in Chapter 3: A Funeral.
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