Recently, I’ve been itching to get my feet wet on making something to drink. I’ve always enjoyed something a bit tart and sweet, so when I came across a recipe for a liquor called Limoncello, it was hard to resist trying my hand at it.
Limoncello has become increasingly popular across the US in recent years, though it’s quite unknown in Singapore still. It’s a mystery as to how and when exactly it came about, but we do know that it has its origins in sunny Italy, near Naples. On, and only on, the Amalfi coast, a very particular type of lemon, called Sorrento, is grown. Word is that it’s so sweet that the Neapolitan Italians actually eat the whole lemon at once- rind, peel and all. I won’t claim to have tried that with an actual Sorrento lemon, but I heartily chewed into one from the nearby NTUC…and it wasn’t a pleasant experience.
Limoncello itself is a sweet liquor, with all of the fresh lemon fragrance, but none of the tart bitterness. It is commonly served as a digestif- chilled and garnished with a slice of lemon peel. Already, it’s the second most popular drink in Italy. So it came as a surprise when I discovered how easy it was to make it. It’s only 5 simple steps. Really.
1. Peel about 10 good sized lemons and put the peels in a a large jar.
2. Pour in a 700 ml bottle of vodka.
3. Let the suspension sit for about 6 weeks in a dark, damp place. Give it a swirl once a day.
4. Add a simple sugar syrup after 6 weeks. Vary the amount according to taste- I used 500 ml. Add another bottle of vodka at the same time.
5. Let it sit for another 6 weeks, then filter and bottle it. Tada!
Well ok, it’s not quite so easy. A drink with so few ingredients lives and dies by the quality of the stuff that you put into it. And it all starts with the lemons.
The typical stuff at the supermarkets were sad to say, products of modern agriculture. As appreciative as we are of the vast yields of the green revolution, we were to use the peel; the sodden epicenter of pesticides and fertilizer, coated with a shiny (and just so slightly toxic) layer of wax. I couldn’t quite… stomach the idea of having so many toxic chemicals steeping in my drink, so I opted to hunt down organic lemons instead.
Fortunately, with the miraculous powers of the internet, I was able to hunt down some organic lemons from a local retailer. While they were not the Sorrento lemons of Italian legend, the Dutch lemons were whole, uncontaminated…and tasty (I couldn’t resist taking a bite).
The next step, peeling said lemons, was quite difficult with my somewhat limited finger dexterity. The bitter pith (the white portion of the lemon skin that you can see in my picture below) had to be totally removed, leaving a nice, wafer thin layer of lemon skin. I used a vegetable peeler for the first step, and a paring knife for the second. As you might have guessed, sharp objects and clumsy hands don’t quite work together, and I suffered some very visible battle scars. Totally worth it.
The naked lemons gave off a nice, tangy scent, which I found most refreshing. I follow the ancient and very wise adage: In life, when you get lemons, make lemonade. And a very tasty lemonade it was – sour and sweet in equal measure.
The last part, steeping it in Vodka, was the easiest. While ideally I would have liked to use Everclear, a 95%ABV(!) grain alcohol made just for creating infusions like these, but I couldn’t get any in Singapore .I ended up improvising with the next best thing- Vodka. I struggled with the choice, and was ready to use Grey Goose, the cleanest tasting vodka I could think of. However, fancy took me and I poured in a bottle of Stolichnaya instead.
The lemon peels and vodka were unceremoniously dumped into the largest glass jar I could find, given a vigorous swirl, and left in my cupboard to mature.
In about 6 weeks, I’ll have to add the syrup. Join me then and I’ll unveil part 2 of the mystery: what happens when you leave a bunch of lemon peels and vodka in a dark cupboard.
Can’t wait.
