I first had the subject of today's post, limoncello, way back in the late 1990's. My friend Keith brought some back from Italy, and let his friends and coworkers try some. Anyway, I kind of forgot about it after that. But recently I saw some in my local liquor store, and it jogged my memory. So I got a bottle and gave it a try. Specifically, I got the kind made by Marcati.
Marcati is a brand of the Gagliano Marcati S.r.l.company. Which dates back to 1919. As the history on the official website explained, after returning from World War I, Pietro and Luigi Marcati took over the Pharmacy of Veronella. Pietro quickly decided to drop the medicine part and focus on making and selling alcoholic beverages. Alas, the next World War destroyed their industrial plant. But in 1946 it started anew. Under Pietro's son Guiseppe's leadership, the company's headquarters moved to the Northern Italian town of Sommacampagna. By 1978 Pietro's grandchildren--Pietro, Andrea, and Maria Paola--were running things. Their wares were exported more, and the company began to acquire brands from other businesses. Currently Gagliano Marcati ships to over 40 countries around the world. The company's flagship product appears to be grappa, which is a type of brandy made from the grape scraps left over after wine production. There are three other brands besides Marcati. Tenuta Marcati is their line of wines. Ercola Gagliano (one of their purchases from another company, which started in 1860) is mostly various sorts of grappa. Morandini (another purchase, from a company that began in 1885) also mostly consists of several types of grappa, and a liqueur made out of gentian. All in all, the business also makes gins, amaretto, a sambuca, and liqueurs flavored from things like green apples, tangerines, strawberries, blueberries, licorice, pears, and even the dessert tiramisu.
As for the booze itself, limoncello is a liqueur made from lemons. Its origins are a bit murky. One theory holds that its inventor was the unnamed grandmother of Maria Antonia Farace, in the area of Isola Azzura in the early 1900's. (Some claim that Ms. Farace herself developed it, not her nana.) Another claim is that it was created in about 1920 by folks living along the Amafi coast of Sicily. A journalist named Kristin Tillotson advanced two other theories. The first was that it was initially made by an unnamed citrus grower in Azzura around 1900. The second was that fishermen or monks invented limoncello much earlier, and in an undisclosed part of Italy. Whatever the case, limoncello is extremely popular in Italy. It's reportedly the second most popular liqueur, after Campari. It's also particularly popular in Southern Italy. Much of it is made privately, in people's homes. Making limoncello is pretty easy. Lemon peels without their pith are steeped in a rectified spirit (which is typically a clear, basic alcohol, such as vodka) until the peel's oils are released, giving the solution a yellowish color. (This appears to take a couple of months.) Then this is combined with simple syrup, which is basically sugar water. The amount of sugar and water is varied by producers, as having different ratios affects the taste and appearance of the limoncello. On average limoncello is about 30% alcohol. One variant substitutes milk for the syrup, which results in a creamy limoncello, or "crema di limoncello." Other people make similar liqueurs using other substances for flavor. Agrumello uses mixed citrus peels, aroncello uses oranges, meloncello uses cantaloupe, fragoncello uses strawberries, and pistachiocello uses, well, you can figure it out.
Marcati limoncello: The color was yellow (and looking at the ingredients, some artificial color was added), and the odor was lemony. The flavor was a little tame. I would have liked a bolder, more lemony taste. It did hide the alcohol content well. (It was 28%.) It was over 20 years ago, so obviously my memories aren't exact, but I recall liking the other, first kind better. I was unable to learn that one's exact brand, but looking at images online leads me to think that it may have been Villa Massa. Anyway, I was a little disappointed in this. I like lemons, and lemon-flavored things in general, and this Marcati one was mediocre at best. So maybe my recommendation would be to try another brand, if you're into lemon flavors in general.
Learning about limoncello, and all its related "cellos," made me recall one of my posts from long ago--Buddha hands, which are a bizarre citrus fruit that truly does look like a creepy hand. (See my post on December 29th, 2014 for more info.) Briefly, Buddha hands essentially have no pulp--they're peels and pith only. But, as we learned, limoncello, and its other kin are usually made just using the zests, or the outer peels. Meaning someone could make a Buddha hand-flavored liqueur. (I rechecked, and some people have tried this already.) Long story short, if I ever see Buddha hands on sale again, I'm seriously considering trying my hand at making a version of Buddhacello. (Or translated into Italian, "Mani di Buddha."). I did a half-assed, non-alcoholic attempt at making a drink back in 2014, but I didn't give it much time, nor did I add any booze.) If this ever comes about I'll of course report the results here, and in the Buddha hand article, as updates.
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