One of the liquors that is most popular with visitors to Italy is limoncello, a delightful after dinner drink that originated on the Sorrento coast, where the landscape is abundant with olive and lemon trees and the cuisine relies heavily on fish and seafood from surrounding waters. At best it refreshes the palate and leaves a bright lemony taste in your mouth, while warming you all the way to your toes. At worst it is often an industrial product packed with artificial coloring and flavoring, tasting heavily of alcohol.
I recently returned from a trip to Naples and came back with the car loaded with lemons. We have a saying in Tuscany: “The best fruit is stolen fruit” and while I didn’t steal the lemons for this particular batch of limoncello, I have to say that the two best batches I ever made I had stolen the fruit from a tree in some garden. It’s important that the lemons you get aren’t treated so either grow your own or get organic. Or…
Most of the stuff you buy in the stores is mass produced with lots of sugar syrup and artificial lemon flavoring. But if you can get your hands on the right lemons, making up a batch is quick and easy. It does need to age for a few months, so this is not something you’re going to whip up for dinner next Saturday night.
There are only four ingredients: lemons, alcohol, water and sugar, the most important ingredient being obviously the lemons. In Napoli and the Sorrento coast, as well as the northern region of Liguria, there is a particular variety of lemon that is double the size of a normal fruit with a thick skin that has large pockets of oil. Only the peel is used and it is very important the fruit hasn’t been treated with anything.
First the lemons: wash the fruit, lightly brushing any dirt away. Next take a paring knife and remove the peel, putting as many peels as will fit in a large jar covered completely with alcohol. I use 4 large lemons to one liter of alcohol. Leave the lemon peel soaking in the alcohol for 4-7 days.
Second the alcohol: in Italy they sell 95% alcohol in the grocery store for making liquors. Get a 100% grain alcohol rather than a vodka as there is no flavor to affect the final result.
Then the sugar syrup: make a simple syrup of 1:1 sugar to water (ie. 4 cups sugar to 4 cups water). Combine both in a pan and bring to a boil, boil the mixture for one minute then turn off, remove from heat and allow to completely cool.
Strain the lemon/alcohol mix into a container large enough to hold twice the amount of liquid. Add an equal amount of the simple syrup, mix together and place into bottles with secure tops. Leave the limoncello to age for at least 3 months, the longer it ages in the bottle the smoother it becomes.
Chill the limoncello before serving and enjoy! This stuff goes down easy, a little too easy, and it is high alcohol so beware!