Just thought I'd check in and say a few things. Things are going very well here at Toscani da Sempre. It is a little slow after almost a month of feasting for the holidays. I'm learning alot from Stefano and Roberto. They have the most amazing passion for food. It is incredibly inspiring. A few things I am looking forward to soon are visiting the Mercato Centrale in Firenze to check things out in general, but mainly to do a side-by-side Prosciutto tasting. Hmm... a dozen or more types of ham, heaven! Also visiting Roberto's other job, which exports Tuscan wines, cheeses and other artisinal products around the world. We will see cheeses being made, among other mouthwatering things I'm sure. A local bakery to make some wood fired breads. And... (saving the best for last) to go to slaughter and cure local pork (Suino Cinto is the DOP) into salumi, proscuitto etc...
I'm also looking forward to try to get some skiing in this winter. Stefano's sister has a place at a local resort, so I've been promised a few days to go and ski. Italy is supposedly having an incredible winter for snow, so this is pretty exciting. Also going to try to visit my friend Maria in Greece for a few days. Should be a nice little sub-tropical vacation!
I've got plenty of new recipes to get to you all (Charles, Jen, Kevin...), but thought I'd start with the excitement of the day. Johansen, maybe some could be ready for our little class reunion in April?
Limoncello and Sambuca
Limoncello [limon'tʃɛlːo] is a lemon liqueur produced in Southern Italy, mainly in the region around the Gulf of Naples, the Sorrentine Peninsula and the coast of Amalfi and islands of Procida, Ischia and Capri, but also in Sicily, Sardinia, Menton in France and the Maltese island of Gozo. It is made from lemon rinds (traditionally from the Sorrento lemon, though most lemons will produce satisfactory limoncello), alcohol, water, and sugar. It is bright yellow in color, sweet and lemony, but not sour since it contains no lemon juice. from wikipedia, just for a little history lesson
These are made in a very similar fashion. There are many variations and different flavors to make, but these are two basic ones. The picture above is from the restaurant. You can see a limoncello infusion in process in the center. We finished two today (I really only watched).
Limoncello:
Peel or zest (peeling is better) 8 - 12 organic lemons, making sure you leave no bitter white pith. Organic is stressed because we don't want to make an infusion of the part of the lemon covered in insecticides and fertalizer. Cover in 1 liter of pure alcohol - I guess everclear would be the thing to use in the states. Cover tightly and place in a cool room for one to one and a half months. Do not refridgerate. Using a cool canning jar allows you to display your project.
After one month, the peel should be leather-like and break when bent. If not, let infuse a little longer. Strain this through a chinois or wet coffee filter. Wetting the filter makes a great deal of difference for all straining, same for using a linen for consume. Clean the jar you infused in, you will need it again.
Make a simple syrup with one Kilogram of sugar and 2 liters of water. Roberto likes to make some of his with caramalized sugar. I bet it would be really good, although not as nicely colored, with turbadino sugar. Cool this completely and add to jar with infusion. Allow this to age for 15 more days at room temperature. After 15 days, filter again and pour into small bottles and cork. The longer they are aged, the more they mellow.
Sambuca:
This is made in exactly the same way, but it is much easier. To one liter of pure alcohol, infuse 35 grams (that's an ounce and a quarter, some of you know this though) of star anise and anise seeds. This is a combined weight, not 35 g each. Not sure of the ratio. Also add 15 grams of whole roasted coffee beans. Cover and store one month.
Filter and mix with same amount of syrup, but use white sugar and do not caramalize. Also age 15 days before bottling.
That's enough for today,
Ciao!
