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Zucca – The Mezzo Piano
Think hip, very hip and wearing Prada or Dolce & Gabbana, maybe Armani. Now add Milano’s famous bar Camparino (formerly known as Zucca in Galleria and birthplace, by the way, of the famous Americano cocktail.) Enter the bar to see patrons partaking of Zucca. Zucca is Italian for pumpkin, but this is no vegetable smoothie. It is Rabarbaro Zucca, an amaro, whose principal and most noteworthy ingredient, the ingredient that puts it squarely in the spotlight, is Chinese rhubarb. This complex libation was invented in 1845 by Ettore Zucca, and has been at the top of its category ever since. It is manufactured today by I.L.L.V.A. Saronno, of Disaronno Originale (amaretto) fame. New to our shores, Zucca is becoming a favorite of envelope pushing barmen and mixologists across the U.S. as the bitter component in many new cocktails. Zucca is hot.
I have written about amari before, and I admit that I occasionally still get “the look” when I lift an unfamiliar bottle from the liquor cabinet. A napkin quietly brought to the edge of a guest’s mouth, a slight downward tip of the head coupled with a quiet sidelong glance. You see, many in the U.S. still view amari as “the other.” However, change is coming as more companies import their products. That can only be good news for those of us who imbibe. And for our digestion as well. Read the remainder of this entry »
The Americano Cocktail
Well, I’m back to James Bond again. I’ve come to him late in life – or is it just that Daniel Craig came to Bond late in my life? Either way, it is time for L’Americano – the first cocktail 007 ordered in Casino Royale. This cocktail, originally known as a Milano-Torino – for the Campari which came from Milano and the Cinzano vermouth that came from Torino – underwent a name change when it became a favorite of American tourists escaping the deprivations of the Volstead Act. Sort of a Campari cocktail with training wheels, it is composed of 1 ounce each of Campari and sweet vermouth over ice in a Rocks glass topped off with club soda (the training wheels.) Read the remainder of this entry »