Ian Fleming liked to weave weird and wonderful creatures into his novels, to set the scene for exotic locations or as instruments of death. Ouroboros is an ancient symbol of a serpent eating its own tail, which represents the cyclic nature of the universe. It was used as the name of the worm and bait factory where Felix Leiter is mauled by a shark in Live and Let Die. The Ouroboros cocktail draws on the “great worm of mythology” with mezcal, a spirit associated with the famous agave worm (although few bottles now contain it). The pungent mix of blanco tequila, smoky mezcal and full-proof triple sec is cooled by cucumber syrup, and rounded off with aromatic orange bitters. If you are feeling brave, garnish with edible dried mealworms or buffalo worms – they have a flavour somewhat akin to pistachio nuts.
45ml (1¾fl oz) Ocho Blanco tequila (or other 100% agave tequila)
15ml (½fl oz) Montelobos mezcal (or other mezcal)
2 teaspoons Cointreau
2 teaspoons cucumber syrup
3 dashes of orange bitters
FOR THE CUCUMBER SYRUP, MAKES 150ML (5FL OZ)
100ml (3½fl oz) freshly juiced cucumber
100g (3½oz) caster sugar
TO GARNISH
long strip of cucumber
edible dried mealworms or buffalo worms (optional)
To make the cucumber syrup, stir the juice with the sugar until the sugar has dissolved.
To make the cocktail, measure the ingredients into a frosted mixing glass and top up with ice. Stir until very cold, then strain into a short round glass with dried mealworms or buffalo worms, if using. Garnish with a strip of cucumber twisted around the inside of the glass.
NOTE: dried mealworms or buffalo worms are perfectly safe for human consumption and can be sourced from one of the many companies offering insect protein products online.
THE OUROBOROS
“Ouroboros,” said Bond. “The Great Worm of mythology. Good name for a worm and bait factory.” Suddenly a thought struck him. He hit the glass table-top with the flat of his hand. “Felix! Of course. Ouroboros – ‘The Robber’ – don’t you see? Mr Big’s man down here. It must be the same.”
LIVE AND LET DIE
CHAPTER 13. DEATH OF A PELICAN
He had moved to the central passageway before he found the poison fish which were one of his objectives. When he had read about them in the files of the Police Headquarters in New York, he had made a mental note that he would like to know more about this sideline of the peculiar business of Ouroboros Inc.
Here the tanks were smaller and there was generally only one specimen in each. Here the eyes that looked sluggishly at Bond were cold and hooded and an occasional fang was bared at the torch or a spined backbone slowly swelled.
Each tank bore an ominous skull-and-crossbones in chalk and there were large labels that said VERY DANGEROUS and KEEP OFF.
LIVE AND LET DIE
CHAPTER 15. MIDNIGHT AMONG THE WORMS
As if the beast had heard, it moved on up the column of the neck and into the stubble on Bond’s chin. Now it was at the corner of his mouth, tickling madly. On it went, up along the nose. Now he could feel its whole weight and length. Softly Bond closed his eyes. Two by two the pairs of feet, moving alternately, trampled across his right eyelid. When it got off his eye, should he take a chance and shake it off – rely on its feet slipping in his sweat? No, for God’s sake! The grip of the feet was endless. He might shake one lot off, but not the rest.
With incredible deliberation the huge insect ambled across Bond’s forehead. It stopped below the hair. What the hell was it doing now? Bond could feel it nuzzling at his skin. It was drinking! Drinking the beads of salt sweat. Bond was sure of it. For minutes it hardly moved. Bond felt weak with the tension. He could feel the sweat pouring off the rest of his body on to the sheet. In a second his limbs would start to tremble. He could feel it coming on. He would start to shake with an ague of fear. Could he control it, could he? Bond lay and waited, the breath coming softly through his open, snarling mouth.
The centipede started to move again. It walked into the forest of hair. Bond could feel the roots being pushed aside as it forced its way along. Would it like it there? Would it settle down? How did centipedes sleep? Curled up, or at full length? The tiny millipedes he had known as a child, the ones that always seemed to find their way up the plughole into the empty bath, curled up when you touched them. Now it had come to where his head lay against the sheet.
Would it walk out on to the pillow or would it stay on in the warm forest? The centipede stopped. Out! OUT! Bond’s nerves screamed at it.
DR NO
CHAPTER 6. THE FINGER ON THE TRIGGER
The name Ouroboros comes from the emblematic serpent of ancient Egypt and Greece which is shown devouring its own tail. It represents the eternal destruction and rebirth of all things, both material and spiritual.
Fleming used many gruesome invertebrates in the Bond books. The opening of Diamonds Are Forever describes a scorpion hunting a beetle, only to be crushed by a man waiting to deliver an illicit cargo of diamonds, while the scene in Dr No where a deadly giant centipede crawls the length of Bond’s naked body while he lies in bed paralysed with fear remains one of the most hair-raising passages in the series.