|
|
 |
Digestive liqueurs
|
| The therapeutic properties of herbs, roots and berries have been known from ancient times and since time immemorial man has been harnessing them in the form of beverages, both with and without alcohol. Although one must not forget infusions and tisanes, it's the digestive liqueurs that are the best known and most highly esteemed of these beverages. They incorporate the centuries-old knowledge of the various regional traditions, achieving a happy blend of health-giving properties and simple conviviality by simply taking advantage of what Mother Nature has to offer. |
|
|
|
|
The basis for the preparation of the liqueurs is a simple mixture of water, sugar and alcohol. To this simple, basic mixture you add one or more special ingredients. Lemon, hazelnuts, roses, juniper berries, oranges, liquorice and, rue are just the best known of the host of aromatic herbs and other ingredients that can be used for making a liqueur. The most common old-fashioned method for making digestive liqueurs is maceration. You leave the ingredients of choice, be they herbs, berries, roots or something else, to macerate in alcohol for a variable period of time that usually ranges from 7 to 15 days, at the end of which the mixture is filtered, to make sure the resulting liquid has a sparkling clear color and pure flavor.
Industrially produced liqueurs, on the other hand, are the result of a distillation process, involving a whole series of steps, such as fermentation, heating, condensation and cooling.
In order to enhance the flavor while, at the same to showing off the natural coloration, digestive liqueurs should be served in clear glasses, preferably small in size.
|
|
|
|
The liquer limoncello is particularly appreciated by Italians at the conclusion of a summer meal, thanks to the wintry temperature at which it is served (4-10°C) and its vibrant sunny yellow color. Limoncello is made from an infusion of alcohol and aromatic lemon zest obtained from fruit that has been picked ideally between February and April and then carefully washed. This is one of Italy's best-known liqueurs and there are a great many versions, but all are just variations of the same main recipe. The moderate sweetness of its flavor makes it an excellent digestive, after-dinner drink, but it also goes very nicely with cookies and sweets.
There is another liqueur which is distinguished by a similar flavor, although paler in color, and which is equally effective in terms of its stimulating effects. It is generally referred to as cedrina . This infusion is made from sweet-scented verbena, a shrub originally from South America, although the plant it is made from goes by a variety of names, such as erba luigia, erba limoncina and verbena odorosa. This particular plant is widely used in herbal shops, thanks to is digestive and antispasmodic properties; it is also rich in essential oil which can be mixed with bath water to deodorize the skin and tone the body.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
A TRADITIONAL EMILIAN SPECIALTY |
|
|
The region of Emilia-Romagna is in the centre of northern Italy. According to tradition there, the night of Saint Joseph's Feast Day (23 June) is when you have to harvest your walnuts, while they are still enclosed in their green husks, and immerse them in alcohol together with some cloves, cinnamon and lemon zest. 40 days later you are supposed to add a simple syrup made from water and sugar. Once the resulting liquid is filtered you have created the highly prized nocino, with which you can brighten up those first, gloomy autumn evenings.
Characterized by a rich, toasted-brown color with slightly greenish highlights, nocino has an intense bouquet - redolent of nuts, spice and citrus fruit - and a full, mellow flavor; while at the same time, it tends to have a mildly astringent quality.
Another traditional infusion made from fruit is bargnolino, recognizable by its typical bluish-purple color. It is made from sloe berries, a fairly bitter fruit that yields a digestive liqueur known for its astringent and haemostatic properties.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FROM PURPLE TO PINK, THE ISLAND FRAGRANCES |
|
|
Myrtle is an evergreen shrub that adds greenery all around the Mediterranean; it has smooth, shiny blue-black berries and was sacred to Venus in Greek mythology. Very widely spread in the large Italian island of Sardinia, over time its Italian name, mirto, became synonymous with the exquisite liqueur made by infusing its berries (blue myrtle) or its leaves (white myrtle) in a mixture of water and alcohol. The myrtle berries ripen in November and are picked by hand in order not to damage the bush. After the berries have macerated in alcohol, a syrup of water and sugar (or honey) is added. Once the mixture is filtered, it becomes clear and brilliant, boasting an alcohol content of at least 30 percent.
Associated with the tradition of late nineteenth-century Sicilian salons, rosolio is ideal for concluding a meal with a sweet final note. As the name would indicate ( rosolio suggests rose oil in Italian), this liqueur is prepared with fresh, perfumed rose petals, which, along with cinnamon and coriander, are added to the usual water-alcohol solution. This liqueur is still made the old-fashioned way, often at home, following centuries-old recipes that have been handed down orally from one generation to the next. Sweetened with honey, pleasantly fragrant and with only a moderate alcohol content, it is sometimes also flavored with prickly pear.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
THE SECRETS OF ANCIENT RECIPES |
|
|
The product of a time-honored tradition, dating back to medical practice in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, centerbe is a robust liqueur with lots of character, an excellent digestive liqueur obtained from aromatic herbs, one hundred of them according to tradition (hence the name centerbe from the Italian cento erbe, i.e. one hundred herbs). Clear and golden in color, with greenish highlights, it is reputed to have been developed by monks in the mountainous area of the Abruzzo region on the southern coast of Italy. They have kept its precious secrets for centuries.
Ratafią is one of the most ancient and characteristic of fruit liqueurs be found in all of the Piedmont region in the far northwest of Italy. Legend has it that it was created around the year 1000 and it was one of the most popular liqueurs up through the 18th and 19th centuries. Traditionally prepared with the juice of black cherries, sugar and natural flavorings, it is especially appreciated for its low alcohol content and delicate taste. It should be drunk either straight or with ice.
|
|
|
|
|
