The Italian Job: Paul Feig x The Rake Cocktail Column
If you fancy a change from an Aperol spritz, and Campari is too bitter for your tastes, THE RAKE’s cocktail expert recommends an alternative aperitivo for the summer.
Ciao, ragazzi! It is I, your favourite Drunk Funcle, coming to you this month from sunny Rome, where I have been living for the past five months while I make my new movie, A Simple Favour 2. Italy has always been a favourite vacation destination for me and my wife, Laurie (Tipsy Faunt to my Drunk Funcle), and there are dangers to working in a place where you normally have fun. But it has been a wonderful experience, and I’ve discovered a lot about how Italy runs its day-to-day life.
A few things I’ve learned:
- Pedestrians don’t have the right of way. The zebra crossing is simply the one place where a driver who runs you over might feel bad about hitting you.
- Unlike the French, Italians love it when you try to speak their language, no matter how poorly you do it.
- If you eat pasta, pizza, bread and gelato for every meal, you will gain a ton of weight.
The nice thing about spritzes is that they’re easy to make. The recipe is basically the same, no matter the aperitivo.
O.K., we were all pretty aware of that last one, although it’s easy to pretend it’s not true when you’re here, because you want to eat everything without guilt. And you should! You’re on vacation, for crying out loud. Along with that, Italy excels at wonderful drinks. We know about Italy’s wine, and how wine goes with anything you eat, but this is a cocktail column, so I’ll leave the wine snobbery to those much smarter and snobbier than me. I’m here to talk mixed drinks — Italy mixes some great ones, especially in the summer.
Most of us are well aware of the Aperol spritz. To give myself some booze cred, I’ll tell you that Tipsy and I discovered Aperol about 25 years ago, on a trip to Venice, when we noticed that everyone was drinking something orange before dinner. We fell so in love with the stuff that we spent several years stuffing our suitcases with Aperol bottles. But then the good folks at Aperol must have hired a P.R. firm, because these days you can’t throw a rock without hitting a case of the stuff anywhere in the world.
It was on another trip to Venice that Tipsy wasn’t in the mood for Aperol. The waiter asked if she wanted a Campari spritz, but that was too bitter for her. It was then that the waiter said, “What about a Select spritz?” He explained that Select was a brand of bitter aperitivo that fell between the flavour profiles of Campari and Aperol, featuring a berry-meets-citrus taste and subtle notes of sweet lavender. It was delicious and has become a real staple for us. Not only is it good in a spritz but it works well as a Campari substitute in other drinks. Swap it into a negroni and it’s like a whole new cocktail. (I must admit to not being a huge Campari fan, which I find a bit too heavy and syrupy, so I love to experiment with different bitter aperitivos, of which there are many. A few favourites are made by Galliano, Peychaud’s and Ramazzotti. The bottom line is: get outside of your Campari comfort zone and see what you find. You may discover a new favourite, and you’ll look really cool and continental to your friends when you hit them with it.)
The nice thing about spritzes is that they’re easy to make. The recipe is basically the same, no matter what aperitivo you’re using, and you have a lot of latitude because much of it is about personal taste. Some people like to have more of the aperitivo taste, and so use a heavier pour, and others like it much lighter and more towards the Prosecco side. If you’re feeling generous and ultra-Italian, please donate to the National Italian American Foundation (niaf.org) to help promote all things Italian in American culture and society.
Grazie mille, amore! Salute!
The basic recipe is:
Put the ingredients into a large wine glass filled with ice. Stir and taste. Adjust the amounts to fit your palate. |
