American cocktail aficionados working their way through The Savoy Cocktail book of classic cocktails have trouble pronouncing this one. "I should know by now that pretty much any cocktail with some weird-ass name and Caperitif is going to have something to do with the Anglo-Boer Wars," writes Erik Ellerstad in his blog, The Savoy Stomp.We know, of course, that the cocktail is named after Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger, known as Oom Paul, state president of the Transvaal and the face of resistance during the second Boer War (1899-1902).Irish American William Fagan came to Johannesburg during the 1886 gold rush. He realised that money was to be made selling drinks to thirsty miners along Main Reef Road.When war broke out and mining declined, his business dried up. He found work mixing cocktails for the Randlords in one of the many gentlemen's clubs.A Boer sympathiser at heart, Fagan found ways to subvert the order, even from behind the bar counter.He recounts the tale of a mysterious Boer "with eyes as yellow as the sun and a face lined beyond his years". "The gentlemen fell silent; it was poor form for non-members to enter the club. Yet nobody moved or said a word as the tall stranger silently placed a gold Burghers Pond on the bar."Fagan claims he reached for the apple and pear Calvados, threw in a tot of Caperitif and bitters for good measure and The Oom Paul was born."The face of the Boer relaxed and as he sipped, a tear slid across his cheek. With a collective sigh, every gent in the house had to have one," he wrote in his memoirs. THE OOM PAUL60ml Pays de Auges Calvados30ml Caperitif*2 dashes of orange bittersStir with ice in a mixing glass and strain into a well-chilled martini glass.To get Caperitif e-mail aabadenhorstwine@gmail.comThe Landmark, corner William Nicol and Ballyclare, Bryanston, 011-463-5081..