Almost Italian

While the contemporary celebration of Valentine’s Day is one more invention of our entrepreneurial imagination, we have to admit that we love it, partly because, like Hallow’een, it has a pagan heart and is a holiday with few obligations. It travels light, with a minimum of carry-on baggage.

But after going through our recipes for pink food we need to be up front: there aren’t any really Italian-AMERICAN, wise-guy Valentine desserts.

We say this, even though we know that by proclaiming that in print, we’re opening the door to a blizzard of email about Cleveland Cassata. (Sorry, in most of the country, strawberries are NOT at their best in February, and this year, even our Florida crop took a terrible hit in the recent freeze.)

Nonetheless, enduring romance and the Italian-American soul cannot be adequately served by token efforts alone: offering a heart-shaped box of chocolates or the additon of cinnamon red-hots to your cannoli filling will not advance the cause of amore, Italian-style.

No—Valentine’s Day, whose roots* are in the Eternal City itself (Rome, not Hoboken), demands something more sophisticated, indeed, nuanced.

First concocted in the mid-19th century, Gaspare Campari’s elixir caught the fancy of wealthy American tourists frequenting his bar in Milan during Prohibition. Perhaps to ease the acquaintance, bartenders devised a cocktail that tempered flavors some found medicinal, with sweet vermouth.

And while Signor Campari’s product formulation remains a trade secret, the recipe for the drink his American patrons favored is not. Taste Campari alone with only soda or tamed by sweet vermouth. Sip something to whet, not dull, your palate and prime your taste buds for pasta and whatever follows.

Cocktail Americano

* 1 oz Campari
* 1 oz sweet red vermouth (or less, to taste)
* Club soda or seltzer
* Wedge of orange, lemon, or lime ( enough to yield at least 2 Tbs of juice)
* Curl of citrus peel or citrus slice for garnish

Half-fill a chilled highball glass (at least 10 oz capacity) with ice cubes.
Measure and pour in the Campari and vermouth.
Squeeze the citrus wedge into the glass.
Top off the glass with the soda and stir with a swizzler.
Garnish with the citrus peel or slice.

Serves 1, but on Valentine’s Day we hope you have reason to make two…

Be aware, not only for its intense rosy hue are we pouring a Valentine’s Day Campari; the aperitivo / digestivo has complex layers of not-too-cloying flavor that include the medieval pharmaceutical, gentian, along with other herbs, tree barks, spices, and citrus rind. It’s an allegory in a glass. Like love itself, this liquore is bittersweet. It’s a kiss with bite.

Here are a few other Valentine’s Day possibilities

Smoked Salmon alla Carbonara
Shrimp Cocktail
Penne alla Vodka
Shrimp Scampi
Pasta con Caviale Rosso (On our other blog, Sarasota Soundings)

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