Take your pick: Rishi Raj Singh with his favourite Martini mixes at Dublin, Maurya Sheraton

The drink put together by 'professor' jerry Thomas, bartender at the Occidental Hotel in Martinez, California, has in the 130-odd years of its existence, become the most famous cocktail on the face of the planet. The problem was that until recently, you really could not find a decent Martini in India.

But with a new breed of bartenders, it has finally become possible to get a good Martini in the country. This is particularly in evidence in Delhi. The mixture of dry gin or vodka, vermouth and a dash of Angostura Bitters sounds simple. Yet, if not mixed properly, can taste awful. "James Bond really got it wrong," say Vikram Aditya Singh, Food and Beverages (F&B) Director, Rambagh Palace Hotel, Jaipur. "A good Martini has to be finely balanced, and shaking it ruins the drink, but at least Ian Fleming made the drink popular."

"A Martini is essentially pure alcohol, lots of pure alcohol, shaking it excessively dilutes it, and as a drink goes it offers the most bang for the buck, but tastes wonderful at the same time," says Rishi Raj Singh, F&B Director, Maurya Sheraton, New Delhi. "A good Martini depends heavily on the quality of ingredients used, so you should use the best you can afford", says Sunith Bose, chief bartender at the Club Lounge, JW Marriott, Mumbai.

'Tiny' town: Rick's is the best

However, the joy about Martinis for bartenders is that you can do almost anything with them. "The permutations and combinations with all the new infused vodkas are endless", says Aditya as he makes his signature 'Polo Mint' Martini. "You name it we can make it," says Rishi as he concocts a watermelon Martini.

Aditya, whom the Taj Group hails as one of their finest has launched his new Martini menu at Rick's, Taj Mahal Hotel, New Delhi. Rishi's drinks are available at the Dublin, Maurya Sheraton, New Delhi. If you are not heading for the capital anytime soon, the Club Lounge at the JW Marriott, Mumbai or Dublin at ITC Windsor Manor, Bangalore, can also mix up a good 'tini'.

So, next time you go out to have a drink, forget the whiskey-soda or the screwdriver. Have a drink that oozes class, what Winston Churchill drank while the Nazis blitzed London. Go have a Martini.

-Kushan Mitra

TREADMILL
Maximise Your Gymming

Okay, here's something to ponder about. You're exercising at the gym regularly, doing the right things and going strictly by the book. Yet, as the weeks and the months go by, you don't notice any significant difference in your physique. True, you feel much stronger and healthier but there's not much happening in terms of how your body looks, particularly in the musculature department. What is it that you're doing wrong? This seems to be a common problem because I get several letters from readers of Treadmill asking exactly that: what is it that we're doing wrong?

Some readers think may be it is because they aren't dosing up on supplements like creatine or whey protein and ask for advice on whether to add stuff like that to their diets. But the real reason for not getting any apparent gains from gymming could be because of something much simpler. We often don't realise this but what you do outside of the gym is as important as what you do inside it if at all you want to fully benefit from exercising. Here's a checklist on what to look out for if you want to get the most out of your pricey gym membership:

Don't neglect the building blocks. Too many gymmers don't do basic exercises like squats, deadlifts and bench presses. These work many muscles of your body together and, hence, put more stress in your body. More stress means more growth hormone secretions, which, in turn lead to muscle growth.

Chuck the butt and the bottle. Apart from putting your body at risk of fatal diseases, smoking restricts oxygen to your blood-flow and, hence, to your muscles. So they don't grow. As for boozing, everybody knows too many drinks add layers over your abs and that's just not what you want if you're gymming.

Eat well after working out. I know some guys at my gym who work out like crazy, then shower and shave at the gym before rushing off to work. They skip eating after their work-outs. If you don't eat after exercise, the body breaks down muscle into amino acids, which are converted to glucose for energy. That's self-defeating, right?

Don't be thirsty. While we all know muscle-building requires a high-protein diet, a high-protein diet can be diuretic (causing increased passage of urine). So, while you should maintain a daily protein intake of roughly a gram per kg of your body weight, you must also ensure that you drink at least eight glasses of water a day. It checks the stress on your kidneys and also ensures that the nitrogen is flushed out of your body when it uses protein for energy.

Keep doing these and you'll get the most and the best from your gym. Happy lifting!

-Muscles Mani
write to musclesmani@intoday.com

Faqs About Edible Oil

When it comes to the heart (and the various ailments associated with it), the edible oil used in the food has always been the usual suspect. And the fact that it is liquid fat certainly hasn't helped. The low-down.

WHERE DOES IT COME FROM?: Edible oils are extracted from vegetables as well as derived from sources such as animal fat, dry fruits, nuts. They can be divided into three types: Poly unsaturated fatty acids, or pufa, (e.g., sunflower, soyabean, corn oil), monounsaturated oils (e.g., olive oil, rapeseed oil), and saturated fats (e.g., ghee, butter).

WHAT IS THE RIGHT INTAKE?: Dr. Karuna Chaturvedi, Chief Dietician, Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, says, "Around 20-25 per cent calories of the recommended 1,500-1,800 calorie intake during a day for a healthy person between the age of 18 and 60 should come from edible oils." All vegetable oils contain nine calories per gram of pure fat. In other words, your intake should not be more than four-to-five teaspoons per day.

ARE THEY BAD FOR HEALTH?: Not necessarily. "The idea is to maintain a healthy ratio between HDL (good cholesterol) and LDL (bad cholesterol)," says Chaturvedi. The exact ratio varies with age and physical condition.

THE IDEAL MIX: A combination of oils is recommended. pufa, monounsaturated oils, and saturated fats respectively should be mixed in the ratio of 1:2:1.

THE DOS AND DON'TS: Make sure you exercise enough and have healthy eating habits. There are some don'ts too: pufa oils should not be reheated and are best consumed in their cold-pressed form. Consumed in this form, these oils actually help reduce blood cholesterol levels.

-Amanpreet Singh