What does Netuno Gengibre –a Brazilian ginger liquor– have to do with Burning Man 2023 or with fig cookies? It all has to do with Placement, my friends, Placement. And that’s Placement with a capital P because Placement is where it’s at for Burning Man theme camps, which form the communal core of Burning Man’s Black Rock City located in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert about a two hour drive northeast from Reno.

      

The city is organized like a clock with the Man at the center, the Temple at midnight, and theme camps and open camping starting at 2 and moving in concentric circles to 10. Each year the concentric circles have names that go with the theme: this year’s theme Animalia meant city planners chose mythic animals to name each street, and to help people keep track of which animal is where, they go in alphabetical order from the Esplanade that fronts the open playa full of art to — in 2023– Kraken. 

Placement decides where theme camps will be offering (for free) everything you need in a city. There’s the Black Rock Ski Resort complete with a slope and yes FREE rental equipment, Astral Headwash where you can get your hair washed and combed out for FREE, places to pick out FREE seat covers for your bike, you can find FREE jewelry at Epiphany’s, listen to the Black Rock Symphony orchestra practice at Frozen Oasis for FREE, or at Teddie’s get a Teddy for FREE.

Of course you’ll find plenty of FREE cocktails and clubs with live music like at Minstrel Cramp (BYOB) as well as EDM and art cars, wine bars with guided tastings and workshops from sommeliers like at Vines without Borders, the Honey Puddle has a place to cuddle plus mead and honey tastings, and the Black Rock French Quarter has everything from Dim Sum to sushi to hot tea and flaming cocktails.

While there’s plenty of places serving beverages, you’ll also find fuel from gourmet grilled cheese in three flavors delivered to your table curated to have people of interest to you to salt tasting on fresh French fries and cucumbers along with cozy floating chairs to food featuring indigenous North American flavors to food from all over the world, including Brazil!  

All of these places were placed by placers like Hasselhoff, HepKitten, KGB, Kozmik Kat, Level, Magic Mike, Papa Bear, Ratchet, Tacoman, and more to create unique, fun, and functional neighborhoods.

This year, as I requested, we were placed in the 430 sector from the Esplanade to the airport,

and the places I just mentioned above are all within a few blocks of where we had Art Predator’s Playhouse and work support camp for Valerie Mallory’s “Playful Again” art installation located at 4:20 and Chupacabra.  So you can imagine in a city of almost 80,000 people, there’s plenty to do, eat, drink, and see just in your neighborhood!

With the Brazil camp directly behind us at 4:20 and Dingbat, I emailed them to connect before we got on playa and to discuss fuel dump location and safety plus interactivity.

While the line was too long to try their food, I did get a classic Brazilian cocktail made with fresh lime and fresh mint, and when I visited another time, they offered a taste of a special Brazilian Ginger Liqueor, Netuno Gengibre– and then they gave me the bottle! 

While others in the World Wine Travel group this month will offer you ideas of Brazilian wine and food (scroll down for links or read what we had to say previously here), near where Sue lives there’s a fig tree with figs going off right now, and since figs have such a short harvest period, Sue picked a bunch, and made a fig cookie.

Figs started out in the Mediterranean, but in the 16th century when the Portuguese colonized Brazil, they brought fig cuttings with them, and the figs love it in the new world, including Brazil. Today Brazilian figs are famous. Ours are from Ojai but next time you’re in Brazil, try to travel during fig season and see for yourself why. 

So what is this thing they gave me– Netuno Gengibre? 

In the article “Netuno: The Ginger-Infused Cachaça that Fuels Bahia’s Party Scene,” author Nicholas Gill visited a bar where bartender Mattia Balzarini introduced him to the beverage: “The fact is that Netuno is an appetizer. It’s low in alcohol so it often turns into 2, 3, or 4 glasses,” says Balzarini. “Most of the times we drink it with ice. Lots of ice. There are a few cocktails that you can make with it, as it goes really well with passion fruit or watermelon.”  

You can also drink Netuno Gengibre warm as a medicinal beverage: “The legend behind Netuno is that it heals any sore throat or flu because of the ginger syrup, but you have to drink it with no ice,” says Balzarini. “If anyone ever offers you Netuno, do not fear, it is a part of Bahia.” 

From the article, I also learned why the bottle they gave me was so scuffed up: it’s recycled! The beverage is so inexpensive they simply recycle other bottles and put their own label on them. (Do you hear this America? I’m looking at you Two Buck Chuck!) Brilliant!

Sue made two different cocktails — one with Capt Morgan Spiced rum and one with a non-achoholic cane sugar “rum”.  We liked them equally well but they were different. Here’s her recipe source.

Netuno Gengibre Brazilian Ginger Liquor

ABV 14% 
SRP $4 or less in Brazil

Sue adapted this recipe below but I have no details beyond this link and what’s below. LMK and I’ll give you her email and hopefully one day there will be a recipe we can all attempt to enjoy because it is damn enjoyable and my best attempts so far have failed in comparison to what she created because she is a craft cocktail genius and I am just a hack (seriously my attempt right now based on my understanding of it is not worth writing about.) 

Version 1: Captain Morgan’s Gingerbread 

With Captain Morgan Gingerbread liquor, very refreshing and enjoyable. The tart lime comes through and all of the spices in the gingerbread Morgan are elevated. With our fig cookie, it was outstanding. The cookie really shined brightly with the pairing . So much better with the cocktail than on its own. The complex flavors in the cocktail are perfect with the complex flavors of the wine. 

Version 2: White Cane 

The version with the White cane non alcoholic version was still super fresh and clean and refreshing. What a great option when you want a less alcoholic drink. this was lighter, brighter and more refreshing than with the Captain Morgans, and there are times when you don’t need more alcohol. The drink brings out more of the jammy sweetness in the wine, which was so fantastic with the fig cookies. All of the different flavors in the cookie are enhanced with this cocktail. 

We loved both cocktails and how they worked with the fig cookies. Below is the recipe Sue created off of: 

Gonzaga Neptune – Recipe Marcelo Pereira

50 ml of Neptune Ginger
20 ml of white cachaça
20 ml of red vermouth
30 ml of sour mix
5 ml of infusion of ginger juice with mint

Mix the mixture in a cocktail shaker with ice. Then double strain into a low glass with ice. Decorate with cinnamon sticks and thyme inside.

Sour Mix Recipe

700 ml strained Tahiti lemon juice
300 g caster sugar

Blend the ingredients in a blender and bottle.

Recipe for infusing ginger juice with dried mint

550 ml mineral water
150 g chopped ginger
10 g dried mint

First, blend 250 ml of water with the ginger in a blender. Next, strain the mixture into a pan with 300 ml of water. Place over low heat and stir until just before boiling point. Turn off the heat and only then add the dried mint. Let it rest for 10 minutes in the pan to extract the freshness of the mint and finally strain into a bottle. The tip is that ginger helps keep Neptune’s spiciness on the palate for longer.

Source: http://mixologynews.com.br/receitas/gonzaga-marcelo-pereira/

Below is what Sue sent as a recipe for the cookies. I know it’s lame but it is better than nothing, and while the cookies aren’t that pretty and they are a lot of work they are quite delicious and great with wine or this ginger cocktail and if you have access to lots of figs and are struggling with what to do with them, try this and enjoy!