Liberty Science Center executive chef Jeremy Sadel

One of the best parts of Liberty Science Center’s new LSC After Dark 21+ parties is the food! Each month, our culinary team whips up a mouth-watering new menu that drives people wild.

Our next LSC After Dark party, “Science Speakeasy,” on November 17 is especially exciting because each item on the menu has been carefully picked to reflect the event’s 1920s/Prohibition theme.

“I was a big fan of the show Boardwalk Empire and I love the History Channel, so I had a pretty good background on Prohibition and what was going on at the time,” says Liberty Science Center executive chef Jeremy Sadel.

We caught up with Sadel and got a taste of the historical context behind each food and cocktail serving. Check it out, and don’t forget to get tickets for LSC After Dark: Science Speakeasy, this Thursday night.

THE FOOD

Beer Brined Chicken Sandwich

“I thought it was cool how going into Prohibition, a lot of breweries started to switch over to different products. Yuengling was making ice cream, Coors was making pottery, and a few of them – like Schlitz – started making malt extract which they sold as an ingredient to make bread.

“But the real point of malt extract was that it was an ingredient used to make beer at home. So people started relying on it to brew their own beer. I wanted to pay homage to the bootleg beer industry, and so we did a beer-brined chicken sandwich.”

Chianti Balsamic Grilled Portbello Wrap

“I wanted to do something Italian. The Italian mob has a lot to do with prohibition and the bootlegging industry. Also, we wanted to do something on the healthy side, so we have a chianti marinated balsamic portobello, and we put it into a wrap. It’s a nice, healthy throwback to the Italian side of everything that was going on.”

Drunken Shrimp Skewers, Canadian Club Remoulade

“A lot of whiskey was coming out of Canada. Canadian Club, specifically, was one of the big companies that people were bringing across the border. So we figured we would do a kind of seafood dish to incorporate some Canadian Club into the mix.”

Basil Hayden Bourbon Glazed Baby Back Ribs

“This really goes back to the moonshiners in Kentucky, who were running their stills out in the woods and out in the mountains. So, we’re doing something with a barbecue theme – we’re going to make a barbecue sauce with Basil Hayden’s Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey and slow cook some ribs. It’ll be delicious.”

Bacardi Braised Cuban Pork Sandwich

“Another place where alcohol was brought in from was Cuba. Everybody thinks Bacardi is just a Puerto Rican rum, but it actually got its start in Cuba. So, we’re doing a Cuban sandwich with pork braised with some Bacardi rum; we’ve got some smoked ham, some cheese, pickles. It’s a delicious sandwich.”

THE COCKTAILS

Southside (Gin, mint, simple syrup, club soda, lime juice)

“This was a really popular drink in the speakeasies. It incorporated gin, which was one of the bigger alcohols that was used. Also, many people might not know that Prohibition really invented the idea of a ‘cocktail,’ just to cover the taste of the poor quality gin that people were usually making in their bathtubs. So, Southside is one of those drinks that was always around.”

New York Sour (Whiskey, sour mix, Malbec wine)

“New York Sour, again, was a popular cocktail that could really cover up the taste of a bad whiskey. You take a little sour mix, which is pretty much just sugar, lemon and water. Throw a little wine in there, some lousy whiskey and you have yourself a good time. Obviously, we’ll be using a higher quality whiskey than they did at the time.”

Sounds delicious! Try the food and cocktails this Thursday night at LSC After Dark: Science Speakeasy. Get tickets now.