|
|
|
||
|
SORRENTO, Italy - We've all marveled at ships in a bottle. But how about landscape in a bottle? It comes in liquid form and is likewise a source of wonderment One sip and the mind's eye is titled with the colors and scents of walled citrus groves overlooking an azure sea. For such is the allusive power of limoncello, a liqueur made from special lemons that is last becoming Italy's most celebrated after-dinner tipple. Though the lame of this zesty greenish-yellow cordial has recently spread far and wide, the authentic product derives exclusively from a small area due south of Naples: the promontory of steeply terraced land that reaches out toward the island of Capri, lapped on all sides by the deep blue .f the Mediterranean. Goethe. Byron and Wagner are among the many visitors to have fallen captive to the area's chanmis: the tastes and fragrances as much as the dazzling light and colors that accompany all seasons. On the northern side of the peninsula lies Sorrento. In the center rises Mount Faito, where they make a superb provolone cheese that is last becoming a rarity; hot that's another story. And beyond, on the southern side, is Amalfi. The two towns are connected by a tortuous coastal road that belies their apparent proximity. But what these sunny havens --- and Capri itself--- really share is a vocation for making limoncello. ]lie only real limoncello. The drink that makes a mockery of the many pate imitations concocted elsewhere. And the secret lies gull in arcane production methods but ill the lemons themselves. Citrus fruits originated in southern China and Indochina. By the first century, they had certainly reached Italy, where they were grown for their ornamental value, as recent excavations at Pompeii have shown. During the early Middle Ages. however, trade with the Arab peoples taught the inhabitants of the Sorrento Peninsula that lemons could also be used in cooking and medicine. Many local men were sailor merchants, and lemons were found to be a powerful agent against the scurvy that afflicted those long at sea. So by the 18th century, narrow, terraced lemon groves overlooking the azure bays had become a feature of the surrounding landscape. Over the centuries the lemon trees have adapted to the specific nature of terrain and climate. Pruned to form a pergola sustained by wooden poles, they are sheltered front excessive suit ;grid breeze by means of pagliar elle or large cane screens. They thus flower and fruit throughout the year. The pride of the Sorrento area is the frminirih;mrrnnume. a medium sized lem oli that is pate yellow in color, very juicy and wonderfully fragrant. Its counterpart on the hillside behind Amalfi is the considerably larger and somewhat elongated sfusato amalfitano that has almost no pipe, a thick pith and a rough rind rich in essential oils. "litese are lemons," declares Mariano Valentino Vinaccia. "All the others are just yellow fruit." Yet if it hadn't been for Solagri, the Sorrento-based growers' cooperative directed by Vinaccia, the cheaper "yellow but" from Sicily and Spain would probably have ousted the labor-intensive feminiello comune front the market. And the demise of the fruit would have been the death knell of the ancient household practice of steeping the rinds in pure alcohol for a few days and diluting the infusion thus obtained with a sugar and water solution to create the most exquisite of cordials. Six years ago Vinaccia returned to Sorrento alter a career as a ship's captain in the merchant navy; the maritime connection is a recurrent theme in these parts. The lemon groves of his childhood were suffering from neglect, the characteristic terracing of the hillside was lacking in upkeep, and prospects were not good. Determined to redress the balance before it was too late, he and nine others founded a growers' cooperative, investing 50.000 tire ($26) per head in the venture. That was in 1994. The next year, Solagri handled 630.000 kilograms (almost t.4 million pounds) of lemons, and 55 more members joined the enterprise, lise cooperative now has 155 members, a small live modern transport vehicles, a sorting plant that meets European Union standards and a growing number of full time employees. Last year it handled more than 1 million kilograms of fruit for a turnover of nearly 2 billion tire. Future projects include extending the same principles of environmentally correct farming and processing to olive growing. ACUMEN AND ARTISANSHIP Such achievement in so short a time has called for endless energy, plenty of diplomacy, gentle powers of persuasion, and, as Vinaccia admits, "a certain ability for logistical organization that I acquired as a sea captain." The recently founded Consorzio Terra delle Sirene is an association of supreme quality limoncello producers, who depend on the Solagri cooperative for a constant source of quality fruit. Collective effort has begun to create a new mindset on the peninsula. Yet ittdividualism is still alive and kicking, especially when families are there to help. Beppe Pollio is both a fanner of the raw material and a purveyor of lire fin ished product leis wife, Tiziana, his mother, his sister and bis cousin Giuseppe all work with him at li Convento. The family farmhouse made from a 14th. century Franciscan monastery perched among the lemon groves ot the west ernmost extrenmity of time peninsula, 220 meters above Massa Lubrense. They produce not only 'llsh-)a's limoncello but also olive uil and cheese. Beppe combines the acumen and en. ergy or a modern businessman with a love of lite soil and its time honored lumi fragile traditions. And in this Respect he resermbles Vinaccia. Amalfi also has its own consortium of limoncello producers, though only five of mite 50 or so businesses itt the ames actually belong toil. To safeguard the authenticity of the end product, the Consorzio Nettare degli Esperidi initially insisted that pin. ducers slmoukl also be growers. The Aceto family has been growing lemons since 1825 and was helped to found the Amalfi consortium making over its own collection of early farming implements to create the Museo della Civiltà Contadina Arte e Mestieri (Mumseum of Rural Life) in the Valley of the Mills, just up behind Amalfi, where its headquarters and lemon groves are located. The family firm of La Valle dei Mulini mint only makes limoncello, known bere as sfusato amalfitano liuti also a cream of lemon liqueur, lemon flower honey and the last word in marmalades Now this is landscape on your breakfast toast. 
|
||||
| |
||||