CARTHAGE — Restaurant owner Belva R. Hall took one sip of a Tom and Jerry and couldn’t have another.
More than 30 years later, the 87-year-old tried the drink again recently and experienced some possible frequency illusion before she decided to start making her own recipe, which her staff believes to be perfection.
Mrs. Hall was in Morrisville in the early 1960s when she tried a Tom and Jerry — the cake batter and booze holiday season staple in the north country — for the first time.
“I just thought it was horrible,” she said. “I think there was too much booze.”
It was what many considered the original recipe of the holiday drink, with butter, powdered sugar, bourbon and raw eggs, to name a few items on the list.
A finished Tom and Jerry drink, made by Belva R. Hall, owner of Sahara Restaurant in Carthage. Sydney Schaefer/Watertown Daily Times
“I couldn’t even drink it,” she said. “I never wanted another.”
Mrs. Hall has owned the Sahara Restaurant in Carthage for about 31 years.
She lives upstairs from it, having never considered making a Tom and Jerry for the customers she considers family.
At 87 years old, after more than 50 years in the industry — still preparing most of the food and bartending at nights when needed — Mrs. Hall has decided to experiment with her own Tom and Jerry. She never liked that the eggs were raw in the batter, so she brings them to 160 degrees before finishing the batter.
She of course won’t disclose every secret, but she’s created a Tom and Jerry that’s more like a custard pie than cake batter.
Back when she first tried them, the Tom and Jerry was one of those things that took some courage to even try again, but a few weeks ago some friends asked her to the Crystal Restaurant on Public Square in Watertown. She braved another sip of Tom and Jerry, and this time, she liked it. She said this time she had Amaretto sweet liqueur instead of the classic brandy or bourbon that goes in the Tom and Jerry.
Already inspired by the Crystal’s take, the world did its thing with all its psychological phenomenon and began introducing the drink to her life even more. Just after her trip to Watertown, she was watching a cooking show one Saturday morning — her favorite channel — and saw Tom and Jerry drinks getting some attention.
“I thought, ‘Well, golly, this must be of interest to me,’” she said.
So, Mrs. Hall began testing her new options.
She looked at online recipes, but didn’t like any of them. That’s not particularly shocking since she says she doesn’t use a computer to run her business anyway. She had staff test the first couple batches, which were good, but cold — when normally Tom and Jerry drinks are served warm.
Belva R. Hall, owner of Sahara Restaurant in Carthage, puts homemade heavy cream onto the top of a Tom and Jerry drink Saturday inside her restaurant. Sydney Schaefer/Watertown Daily Times
“I wasn’t happy with it,” Mrs. Hall said. “It got a little better the next day, and now, we might have hit perfection.”
A lot of her “perfect” talk is somewhat tongue and cheek, especially after a cook at the restaurant posted on the Sahara’s Facebook page saying they believe her version is perfect.
People around town noticed the post and began approaching Mrs. Hall, telling her they would stop by to have one. As a result, perhaps Mrs. Hall should just lean into it.
She doesn’t think it’s actually perfect, nor does she think it’s a competition with other businesses, but she is proud to make it a presence in Carthage a little more than it was before.
“When I came here, I had been in the restaurant business for a while already,” she said. “I learned a lot from the woman who was here as well. I was able to do this, I guess, because of my knowledge in the restaurant business to learn about tricks and the trade. I feel it’s in my blood, and I just wanted to add another place people can go to get a good Tom and Jerry.”
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December 28, 2020 at 06:15AM
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Carthage restaurant owner has her own take on Tom and Jerry drink, staff says it's 'perfection' - NNY360
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