Tasting Grappa

Across Italy and around the world. Discover new places and flavours, along with new ideas for meals, cooking or drinking.

The books in this series collect news, curiosities and hints to provide, from time to time, a different outlook on food.

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Pages to read and to consult, full of useful information, such as how to choose and understand real grappa, how to use it for cooking, and even how to mix it in original cocktails to share with friends.

To transform a symbol of Italian tradition into a product that can make many moments of the day very special... whether in a glass or on a plate.

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TASTING GRAPPA

Grappa evokes thoughts of mountain peaks, steep paths, Alpine singing and little glasses filled with good distilled spirits to accompany a fine meal. Not bad, as a framework for grappa. But, actually, this Italian speciality offers a whole new world to explore, from its history, to the fascination of its stills, through its evolution into the versatile distillate that grappa has become today.

TASTING G R A P PA Know it, choose it, combine it

WHAT IS A STILL? The most important piece of equipment in a distillery is the still. From its most rudimentary form to its role as a “creator” of essences and elixirs, to its fascinating use for alchemy, the still continues to carry out its double function: concentrate alcohol and extract all the aromatic substances in the pressed grape dregs. To do this, the still uses all its parts, each one of which plays a critical role. The boiler also called the gourd, made of copper today, contains the raw material - that is, the crushed grape dregs. The boiler has a cover, also called a helmet or dome, used for an initial condensation of vapours. Then, the cover is connected to the distillation column of a collector called a swan’s neck which transports all the vapours to the refrigerant or serpentine area for condensation before it emerges in liquid state as a distillate.

HOW IS GRAPPA PRODUCED? As already mentioned, distillation is the extraction of vapours by heating and then cooling to obtain condensation. In the specific case of grappa the pomace is placed in the boiler of the still in order to be heated slowly. Over 80°, the ethyl alcohol and the aromatic substances begin to transform themselves into vapour in order to pass into the

distillation column and finally into the serpentine where they condense under the effect of the cold and turn into liquid. The skill of the distiller intervenes at this point, to act on what is called Topping and Tailing and to create real grappa with the addition of a proportion of distilled water.

To have a clear and complete view of grappa production, it is useful to have a detailed explanation of all the processes that contribute to the final result: the pomace, the two types of stills, the intervention of the distiller and the final bottling phase with its different characteristics. Grappa, like all distillates, has three essential ingredients: the dregs of pressed fruit, distilling equipment and the skill of the distiller. If one of these ingredients is less than perfect, the quality of the final product is sure to be affected.

There must be synergy among the three components in order to make the most of the distilled product.

THE RAW MATERIAL: THE IMPORTANCE OF THE DREGS One thing is certain: high quality grappa can only come from pressed grapes of excellent quality.

Consequently, it is essential for the pressed grapes to arrive at the distillery in the shortest time possible

TASTING G R A P PA

Chapter 2

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To discover distilleries

TASTING G R A P PA

CUTTLEFISH SALAD,

WITH SALICORNIA, MELON AND OLIVE GRAPPA VINAIGRETTE

Ingredients for 1 person

2 FRESH CUTTLEFISH, CLEANED AND WASHED

50 G SALICORNIA (OR GREEN BEANS) 1 SLICE MELON 20 ML OLIVE GRAPPA 60 ML EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL 5 G SZECHUAN PEPPER WHOLE WHEAT BREAD

Detach cuttlefish tentacles and slice the body into very thin strips. Season with oil and Szechuan pepper. Refrigerate for about 20 minutes. Wash salicornia thoroughly so that it loses some of its natural sapidity before cooking it in salted water for 10 minutes.

Allow to cool. Cut bread into sticks and toast in the oven at 180° for 3 minutes. Slice melon as thinly as possible. Assemble on a plate: the salicornia and the bread sticks, the cuttlefish and the melon slices. Season with reserved marinade.

Tips & Notes Salicornia, or sea asparagus, is a plant with a “salty” taste that grows on the seacoast. Green in the Spring, sea asparagus turns red in summer and winter. Because they are more tender, sprouting tips or young plants are used for cooking. According to tradi-

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Recipes with grappa

tion, the Vikings knew the virtues of sea asparagus and took it with them on their journeys to combat scurvy, because of its high vitamin C content. Wonderful to add to salads and soups, or simply peeled and served raw with a little extra virgin olive oil.

TASTING G R A P PA

TASTING G R A P PA

THE 18TH JULEP A new concept for grappa, a trip through tradition and innovation until they melt together in an explosion of flavours.

Ingredients for 1 cocktail

5 CL GRAPPA 18 LUNE 6-7 MINT LEAVES

MIXED RED AND BLUE BERRIES FROM THE TRENTINO 2 TEASPOONS GRAPE SUGAR 5 CL OF BOTTLED WATER FROM THE DOLOMITES

Put berries and sugar directly into a tin shaker. Add the other ingredients and fill with cracked ice. Shake berries briskly with sugar. Add the other ingredients and fill with cracked ice.

Shake again briskly until the sides of the shaker are frosted.

Garnish with a sprig of mint and berries to taste.

Tips & Notes A Tin Shaker, commonly known as a shaker, is the instrument used to mix cocktail ingredients by shaking. The name comes from the verb to shake.

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Cocktails with Grappa

The silver cocktail shaker that President Roosevelt used at the end of Prohibition is preserved in London.

TASTING G R A P PA

TASTING G R A P PA