L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 2023 www.italoamericano.org 12 L'Italo-Americano N ever mind the s e a s o n , i t ' s always a good t i m e t o h a v e a p e r i t i v o with friends. A great way to end the day or the working week in good company, this quintessentially Italian habit has become pretty popular around the world, where it's also known as "happy hour." We Italians tend to enjoy our end-of-the-day drinks with finger food of all kinds, which makes it all the more special: from pizzette, pata- tine e noccioline, to gourmet options, many decide where they want fare l'aperitivo depending on the food the bar serves. When it comes to drinks, of course, everyone has a favorite tipple: person- ally, I am a Negroni person; m o s t o f m y f r i e n d s e n j o y their Spritzes and their Pros- eccos, while others are into more international concoc- tions like gin and tonic. Basi- cally, there is no limit to your creativity. But while many aperitivo lovers are familiar with the names - and perhaps the fla- vor - of Italy's most famous evening cocktails, not every- o n e k n o w s w h e r e e a c h o f them comes from: so let's take a walk through the coun- try to discover where the best Italian cocktails were created. Veneto The most popular of all aperitivi, the Aperol Spritz, arrives from this lovely east- ern Italian region. Made with p r o s e c c o , A p e r o l l i q u e u r , s o d a w a t e r a n d a s l i c e o f orange, its name comes from the habit that, a couple of centuries ago, Austrian sol- diers had to dilute Veneto wines with sparkling water, making them milder. In 1919, the Barbieri Brothers from Padua added a dash of Aperol and a myth was born. However, Aperol Spritz isn't the only aperitivo made i n V e n e t o w e e n j o y . L a Serenissima Venezia gave us the elegant Bellini, created by Giuseppe Cipriani at the iconic Harry's Bar in Piaz- za San Marco. Cipriani, who was used to having important p a t r o n s - t h i n k A r t u r o T o s c a n i n i a n d T r u m a n Capote, Peggy Guggenheim and Charlie Chaplin - came o u t w i t h a c o c k t a i l t h a t e m b o d i e s a l l t h e e l e g a n t allure of his city: for the per- fect Bellini you only need two ingredients, prosecco and white peach purée. Toscana F r o m V e n i c e t o F l o - rence, another jewel of our artistic patrimony and home to one of Italy's most iconic c o c k t a i l s , t h e N e g r o n i . Sometimes between 1919 and 1925, Luigi Scarselli, bar- t e n d e r i n a b a r i n v i a T o r n a b u o n i , c r e a t e d t h i s strong, aromatic mix made with gin, Campari, red ver- mouth and half a slice of orange, inspired by the drink C o u n t C a m i l l o N e g r o n i would usually order. Lombardia For many, Milan is the capital of Italian aperitivo, the place where the tradition was born, so it's not surpris- ing that some of our most p o p u l a r d r i n k s h a i l f r o m t h e r e . S t a r t i n g w i t h t h e Americano cocktail, a mix of Campari, red vermouth and soda water, associated b y m a n y w i t h a n o t h e r famous drink, the MiTo - more about it below. Some say it was named after Amer- ican tourists, who appeared to love it particularly, while others believe it was created to honor Primo Carnera, the Italian-American boxer known affectionately in Italy simply as l'Americano. Milan is also the birth- place of another aperitivo, the Negroni Sbagliato, or "wrong Negroni," concocted by mistake by Mirko Stoc- c h e t t o , o w n e r o f B a r B a s s o , in 1969, when he added spumante instead of gin to a Negroni. L a s t , b u t n o t c e r t a i n l y l e a s t , i s B r e s c i a ' s o w n spritz, the Pirlo. Born, just like its Venetian cousin, from the Austrian habit to add soda water to Italian wine, P i r l o i s s i m i l a r t o A p e r o l Spritz but it uses still white wine instead of bubbly pros- ecco. Trentino Alto-Adige I reckon not many of you know about Hugo, the best cocktail in Alto-Adige! It is the inebriating invention of R o l a n d G r u b e r , w h o mixed together prosecco, lemon balm or elderflower syrup, seltzer water, mint leaves and lime. Fresh and zesty like Alpine air! Piemonte Piemonte is known inter- nationally for its wines, but it can say a thing or two about aperitivo cocktails, too. Turin is where the MiTo cocktail came to be, thanks to the cre- a t i v i t y o f B e n e d e t t o Carpano, the mind behind v e r m o u t h , a n d G a s p a r e Campari, from Milan, the man behind Campari. Need- less to say, the MiTo, is a mix of red vermouth and Cam- pari, and it's named after the initials of the two cities it represents, Milan and Tori- no. Just a few miles north, in Novara, people enjoy the Garibaldi - also known as Campari Orange - created to celebrate the unification of Italy with the union ingredi- ents from the North and the South: Campari (Milan) and Sicilian oranges. Emilia Romagna E m i l i a R o m a g n a i s t h e homeplace of a lesser-known drink, the Tandem. Light a n d s p a r k l i n g , i t b r i n g s together one of the country's b e s t - l o v e d n o n - a l c o h o l i c a p e r i t i v i , C r o d i n o , a n d B i a n c o s a r t i , a h e r b a l liqueur. Sicilia We are ending our tour with beautiful Sicily. Sicilian wines are famous, but the i s l a n d i s a l s o k e e n o n i t s amari, those bitter, aromatic liqueurs we enjoy at the end o f d i n n e r s . A m o n g t h e m , Amaro Averna, a fresh, tangy drink produced in Cal- tanissetta since the end of the 1 9 t h c e n t u r y a n d o f t e n savored with ice during the s u m m e r . I f y o u c o m b i n e Amaro Averna with bitter lemonade, some lemon zest and a twig of rosemary, you get a Sicilian Coke, the per- fect concoction to refresh a hot Sicilian evening! GIULIA FRANCESCHINI Strong and full of character, the Negroni aperitivo was born in Florence (Photo: Bhofack2/Dreamstime) The best Italian aperitivo drinks, region by region! LIFESTYLE FASHION FOOD DRINKS ADVICE

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