Liquori Casalinghi

I am not a great fan of most amari, the cordials that appear on the table at the close of festive meals or at restaurants in Italy. They are made with bitter herbs (amaro means bitter), but the bitterness is generally tempered by so much sugar that they become cloyingly sweet as well -- an odd combination at best, and one that usually makes for a flabby drink. Much better to enjoy a fine grappa. However, one occasionally finds an amaro unfettered by sugars that leaves the palate crisp and clean, and gives the digestion a much needed boost.

They're almost always home made. It's easy; all you'll need is grain alcohol (ask your local liquor store for it), herbs and spices you'll find either at your greengrocer's, your herbalist's, or in your local health food shop, water, filters, a funnel, jars, bottles, and corks. Sealing wax is optional. Sugar? You will want some, but you won't be in the position of the commercial producers, who are tied by the dictates of the masses who think they want an amaro but really want something sweet.

And once you begin home-steeping you'll discover you're hooked, as are an astonishing number of Italians -- there's a tremendous variety of liqueurs to chose from, some perfect at the end of a meal, some perfect for curling up in front of a fire with friends, and others perfect sprinkled over vanilla ice cream on a hot summer day. Not only will you become hooked, but your friends will too, and you'll discover you can solve many of your holiday gift worries with a few batches made during the spring.

To begin, a few words on what you'll need.

1. Wide-mouthed glass jars (canning will work fine) for steeping your ingredients. You'll want several, either 1 or 2-quart capacity.
2. Bottles. Soak the labels off elegant liquor bottles, or use colorless wine bottles, which are nice because they reveal the color of the liqueur.
3. Strainers. You'll need a fine mesh strainer to filter out leaves and seeds.
4. Funnels. You'll want both large and small. They should be straight-sided, so the filter papers will adhere to the sides.
5. Filter papers. Standard filter papers of the kind sold in chemical supply shops. They're usually round; fold them in half twice to obtain a quarter circle, and put the paper into the funnel, holding three of the folded sheets against one side and pulling the fourth over to the other, thus obtaining a paper cone that's closed on the bottom (liquid will pass through it).
6. Gauze. Useful for filtering liquids containing semi-solid fibers.
7. Corks. Inserting a virgin cork requires a corker, which costs more than you may wish to spend to begin with. You can use clean intact corks from wine bottles, or visit a homebrew or wine supplies shop and ask for synthetic corks.
8. Sealing wax adds a nice touch to the bottles you package as gifts.

Next, a couple of words on technique:

• Almost all home made liqueurs require maceration, in other words steeping of the ingredients in alcohol to extract their essences. This is best done in a canning jar with a lid that seals well; combine the alcohol and ingredients and let them sit, shaking everything up once a day or so. The jar should stay in the dark, but need not be kept cold. Quite the contrary, warmth can be good, and if it's sunny wrap the jar in opaque paper to keep the light out and let it bask.
• Aging plays a vital role in the production of liqueurs. What goes into the bottle will be harsh and undefined because the various extracts will not have had time to mingle, and some of the delicate aromatics that make the finished liqueur such a pleasure will not be completely developed. You should age your bottles in a cool dark place. As is the case with wines, more is not necessarily better; weaker liqueurs require less, as do some fruit liqueurs, whereas stronger liqueurs require more.

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And here we go!

The quintessential after dinner cordial, made with all sorts of herbs. The major commercial varieties include Amaro Ramazzotti, Jägermeister, and Amaretto di Saronno, and there are hundreds more, many made by monasteries scattered throughout the Peninsula. This recipe yields a simple amaro that's fairly dry and not too strong, about 30% alcohol. A tiny glass will be very tasty at the end of a meal, and will spread a pleasing warmth through your insides.

• 5 leaves balm-mint (melissa officinalis)
• 5 leaves sage
• 10 leaves (not sprigs) rosemary
• A flowered top of a European Centaury plant
• 15 juniper berries
• 5 cloves
• 1/2 inch cinnamon
• A piece of Florentine Iris root (orris root), fragmented
• A piece of sweet calamus root (sweet flag), fragmented
• A piece of yellow gentian root (bitter root), fragmented
• A piece of carline thistle root, fragmented
• 2 leaves from a flowering milk thistle
• 2/3 cup + 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 2/3 cups good quality white vermouth
• 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons grain alcohol

Macerate the herbs in the alcohol for 5 days; if it's sunny wrap the jar in dark paper to keep the light out and set it in the sun. Meanwhile, combine the vermouth and the sugar in a second jar and let them sit in a dark place; the sugar will gradually dissolve.

Strain the alcohol into a clean bottle, stopper it, and transfer the steeped herbs to the vermouth jar. Steep them for another week, then strain the vermouth into the alcohol bottle. Let the mixture sit for a day, then filter it into an elegant bottle. Cork the bottle and let it age in a dark place for at least 8 months.

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A sweet liqueur made from oranges and pears, which is very tasty over ice cream or in fruit cocktails, and will be a pleasant reminder of winter when the thermometer's too high to contemplate. Alcohol content about 30%.

• 1/2 pound pears
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1/2 pound peeled oranges
• 1 cup grain alcohol

Slice the pears and put them in a jar with the sugar, seal the jar, and set it in a warm place with lots of sun. Leave it there for a week, shaking it every day to help the sugar dissolve. At the end of the week peel the oranges, cut the sections crosswise, and add them to the jar, together with the alcohol. Put the jar in a dark place and let it sit for a month, shaking it every now and then. Filter your liqueur into an elegant bottle and let it age in a dark place for at least six months before breaking it out.

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A tasty liqueur made from lemon and orange zest, which is a very pleasant close to a meal, or perfect sprinkled over ice cream in the summer. It will also be handy in mixing up cocktails. Alcohol content about 40%.

• The zest of 4 oranges
• The zest of 2 lemons
• The zest of a half a citron (a cousin of the lemon, which looks like a lemon but is twice its size -- use another lemon, or a lime if need be)
• 1 small mandarin orange, quartered
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/4 cups water
• 1 1/4 cups alcohol

Bring the water to a boil, remove it from the fire, and dissolve the sugar into it. When the syrup has cooled transfer it to a jar with the other ingredients. Seal the jar and let everything steep, shaking it daily, for 10 days. Filter using gauze into an elegant bottle, and age it for 6 months before you break it out.

For an amazingly delicate variation, use the zest of a dozen tangerines instead of that from the oranges and lemons.

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One of the finest things to do with an amarena cherry short of eating it! It's a perfect after dinner cordial, to be enjoyed with friends on a cold winter night when cherry season is far away. Alcohol content about 40%.

• 1 1/4 pounds ripe flavorful cherries
• 1 cup less 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon water
• 1 3/4 cups alcohol

Crush the cherries and their pits (you'll need a mortar for this) and leave the paste, covered in a dark place, for 24 hours. The next day, prepare a syrup by bringing the water to a boil and dissolving the sugar in it. While it's cooling, put the cherry mixture in a fine muslin bag and squeeze the juice into a bowl. Add the juice to the syrup, and when it is cool, add the alcohol. Seal the bottle and put it in a cool dark place for a week. Filter into an elegant bottle, seal, and age it for at least six months before you break it out.

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Lamponi are raspberries, and this is a great way to preserve the memories of a woodland meadow in August for the winter months. Alcohol content about 40%.

• 1 1/4 pounds raspberries
• 15 cherry leaves
• 2 1/4 cups sugar
• The zest of a half a lemon, cut into small strips
• 1 quart alcohol

Macerate all the ingredients in a clear gas jar, setting the jar where it will be warmed by the sun, shaking it a couple of times per day. After a month, transfer the jar to a cool dark place and let it rest for 5 more months. Then strain, filter and bottle your liqueur.

You can also make this with currants, though you should omit the cherry leaves, or blackberries.

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If you have access to a walnut tree, good. Otherwise, ask your greengrocer to procure about 30 nuts with their rinds. Don't be surprised if the rinds are bright green; they should be, because the nuts are immature. Once you have the nuts, wash them well and assemble the remaining ingredients:

• 1 1/2 quarts grain alcohol (190 proof or 95%)
• 1 1/2 pounds (3 cups) sugar
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 10 cloves
• l pint water
• rind of one lemon, cut into strips

Begin by quartering the nuts with a heavy bladed knife or a cleaver. Do this on a non-absorbent surface, and wear gloves: though walnut juice is colorless when it comes out of the nut, exposure to the air turns it into dark brown walnut stain that will not come off. Put the nuts with the remaining ingredients in a jar, cover it tightly, and put it in a warm, dark place for 40 days, shaking it every two or three days.

Once the nuts have steeped taste the nocino. If it's too strong for you dilute it with some spring water. Then line a funnel with filter paper and strain the nocino into bottles. Age it for about six months in a cool dark place. It is wonderful at the end of a meal, or around a fire with friends. It also makes a perfect Christmas gift.

This recipe is based on Pellegrino Artusi's, from The Art of Eating Well.

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Enjoy!
Kyle Phillips

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Introductory text, nocino recipe & Photos © Kyle Phillips; the other recipes are drawn from Emilio Cocconi's Liquori Casalinghi, translations mine.