Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Amaro: A New Sweetheart from Italy

The ANNOTICO Report

 

Bitters Making a Happy Ending
By Jim Clarke

Gentian. Angelica. Centaurea minor. What place do these obscure plants and herbs have at the bar? Juniper. Coriander. Some of them sound familiar, but their real home is in bitters. In the Middle Ages, monks began uncovering the techniques of distillation from Arabic science. Given the primitive technology, these distillates were probably pretty rough, and the monasteries - except in Germany, for some reason - didnt consider the resulting concoction a beverage but more of a medicine. They began to infuse the aqua vitae with various herbs  also thought to possess healing properties - to create a medical potion, and the combinations eventually grew in diversity and complexity. St. Johns Wort.  Each monastery developed a jealously guarded secret recipe for their cure-all, and as the art of distillation became a more secular affair after the Renaissance, these recipes began to pass from their hands to the pharmacists. The pharmacist s recipes from the 19th century are todays bitters.

Prior to the 1800s if you needed a healthful tonic you went to your local pharmacist and bought his private blend, but by the end of the century many enterprising apothecaries began bottling their production for sale elsewhere. Quinine.  At the same time, their supposed medical virtues were beginning to fade from public belief; nonetheless, even today many Italians still swear by the drinks power to settle the stomach and aid digestion. In other European countries single, national brands have tended to monopolize the market - think of Germanys Jagermeister, or Unicum in Hungary - but Italian production remains diverse. Most Italian bars sport several varieties of bitters - amari, in Italian - and just over twenty different brands are currently available in the U.S.

Whats in the bottle

Interest here is growing, but many people would like to know exactly whats in the unfamiliar bottle in front of them - especially since some producers have created some unusual labels and intriguingly-shaped bottles to show of their product on the shelf. It starts with a distillate, usually a grain-based alcohol, but sometimes brandy, grappa, or, in the case of the Fernet products, fermented and distilled beet molasses.

A secret mix of herbs, roots, and flowers is then infused into the distillate - sometimes as many as forty ingredients. Each producer has its own recipe, protected as carefully as the formula for classic Coca-Cola. Bitter orange peel.  Prime components almost always include something vegetal for bitterness plus botanicals to provide aromatics. Lavender. After this the drink is aged to allow the flavors to blend and soften. Some producers even age in oak casks to introduce wood and oxidizing elements. The amaro is then ready for bottling.

What are bitters not? Vermouth? No. Vermouth is a close cousin, infused with many of the same herbs and roots, but is an undistilled wine. As an aside, this means vermouth can turn; if youve ever had a manhattan made with vinegared sweet vermouth, you know what Im talking about. Rue. Being stronger in alcohol, bitters generally last a lot longer on the shelf. Bitters are also not gin; gin avoids the bitter components, favoring botanicals, and is re-distilled after they are added, so the flavoring and color is much lighter.

What to do with it

If Ive gotten you past the name -  which puts a lot of people off - then how should you drink your bitter? The classic Italian way is straight up at the end of a meal, either with or after coffee. Some even add it to their espresso to make a "cafi corretto" To broaden their market some bitter producers have been encouraging drinkers to try this classic digestivo as an aperitif by serving it on the rocks with seltzer, and with some bitters this is pretty successful. A few restaurants have even developed cocktails that highlight their bitters selection " Mario Batalis Lupa," for one. Marios partner, Joe Bastianich, developed Lupas collection of bitters, originally to give the bar a distinctive look with the less-familiar labels. Lupa spurred New Yorkers interest in bitters, and Bastianich himself recently bought two secret recipes with the aim of eventually producing them himself. Sage. Elder. Patrick Bickford, the Beverage Director for the restaura nt group "Off the Menu," made an exciting bitters selection part of their new restaurant, "Cesca," and is an enthusiastic and knowledgeable promoter of bitters with his guests.

What it tastes like

Bitters were originally produced more in the north of Italy, but are now made throughout the country. Because the original creators had to use herbs and botanicals that were available locally, there are some faint regional characteristics, but there are almost as many exceptions as there are examples. Northern producers tend toward alpine and menthol notes, the Santa Maria al Monte being perhaps the most extreme example; its from the Valle dAosta, a valley nestled in among the Alps near the French border. Cora is made nearby in Piedmont and is less extreme; floral aromas come together with some cinammon - rather like red hot candies - finished with a note of orange peel.

Lombardy, to the East, is home to two of the amari best known to Americans: Ramazotti and Fernet Branca. The former shows notes of cola, vanilla, and a light pepperiness. Fernet Branca is more intense, with strong herbal qualities over a licorice note buttressed by a warming alcoholic burn. The same company makes Branca Menta by adding mint to the recipe; toned down and more caramelly than its brother, this was once so popular in the U.S. that they even produced it here for a while. There is another Fernet, Fernet Luxardo, from the Veneto, which gets downright aggressive with its herbal qualities and finishes with cleansing menthol and eucalyptus notes. "Fernet" in the name indicates that the liquor was distilled from beet molasses.

There is a "Luxardo" in the Veneto as well, the Luxardo Abano. Medium-bodied and rounder in the mouth, its herbal qualities are toned down and complemented by an aroma of white pepper. Nearby, Nardini, a grappa producer, also makes an unusual bitter that will appeal to tawny port drinkers; the herbs come primarily on the finish, while the mouth and nose encounter mocha, toffee, and baking spices. In Friuli another grappa producer, Nonino, uses a brandy as their base and ages their bitter in barrel for five years, yielding a smooth, elegant amaro.

Moving south to Bologna, Montenegro is a light-bodied amaro characterized by orange peel, and makes a good start for people new to bitters. Another that Americans might find familiar-tasting is Cio Ciaro, from Lazio, the area around Rome; it calls up root beer and sassparilla and has a touch of sweetness to it. Meletti, made in the Marche on the far coast, offers an array of baking spices as well as saffron and caramel, with a white pepper note that builds through the finish. Meanwhile further south in Basilicata  the arch of the boot  the Lucano adds nutty aromas to herbal notes, to create a complex, totally dry beverage that is one of the most popular in Italy. Using a recipe which the firms founder bought from monks in Friuli in the north, Sicilys Averna makes a rich, full drink with cola, licorice, vanilla, and cinnamon, the bitterness balanced by stewy fruit flavors.

What are the exceptions?

Americans might find two noticeable absences above: Campari and Cynar. These are often omitted from the list of amari because of their original intent: they were conceived of as aperitifs, to stimulate the appetite, rather than to aid digestion. Nevertheless, they are produced in very much the same way as the digestivos. Campari has found a place in a number of cocktails, including the classic Negroni, and Cynar enjoys a certain notoriety because the idea of an artichoke-based liqueur seems to get peoples attention. A lot of thought actually went into using that ingredient - experiments had shown that artichokes contain a chemical called cynarin that makes anything eaten immediately after the artichoke taste sweeter, a trait which Cynars creator thought would be commendable in an aperitif (as a side note, cynarin generally wreaks havoc with wine, giving it a tinny, metallic taste).

Cascia bark. Radicchio. Agarico Bianco. You wont see these names at the bar. Nux Vomica. Coriander. But theyre there, in digestivi with history, complexity, and class.

 

U.S. Bartenders Have a New Sweetheart from Italy: Amaro

Houston Chronicle - United States

From The Washington Post                                                                                                                                               ;                                                                       

By Jason Wilson 

March 24, 2008

 

An amaro (meaning "bitter" in Italian) is a bitter herbal liqueur that Italians sip after dinner. There seems to be some validity to its therapeutic reputation; a 2001 study published in a Swiss journal said herbal bitters "sensorially stimulate" stomach secretions and digestive glands "at even very small concentrations."

Digestion aside, there's the issue of the bitter taste (think eucalyptus), which might politely be termed "challenging" for the American palate.

Bartending logic being what it is, that challenge makes amari perfect for cutting-edge mixologists, and plenty have been experimenting with them.

Most amari are in the 40- to 60-proof range, lower in alcohol than many spirits.

Averna is the amaro of the moment, and it's popping up all over the country. It's even used in a new manhattan variation, called a "black manhattan" (two parts rye whiskey, one part Averna, a dash of angostura bitters and a maraschino cherry). Averna is quite assertive when mixed with stronger spirits, such as whiskey or cognac, or with syrupy, flavorful liqueurs.

Or you can just drink it neat. And when you make that bitter face, just remember: At least your digestive tract is smiling.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/food/5644082.html

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