Hot Topic: Campari is King
By Heidi Sewell
Updated July 5, 2010
For anyone who has ever tried it, you know Campari is an acquired taste. It's so bitter it makes your toes curl!
But the before-dinner drink is almost a sacred event for many Italians, and knocking back a casual aperitivo (cocktail) with friends is the way locals shake off the workday and whet their appetites for dinner. Many beverages qualify as aperitivi, but Campari is king.
This bitter liquor, made from aromatic herbs and orange peel, was invented in Milan in the 1860s and today enjoys an understated sophistication.
Campari is best when accompanied by salty snacks, like potato chips, which counterbalance the jet of saliva shocked from your salivary glands. You initially might think you hate it, but as you continue to sip, you'll begin to appreciate the depth of the liquor and the contrast between the jewel-red elixir in your glass and the salt of the snacks offered at the bar.
There are many ways to drink Campari but the simplest preparations are sometimes the best. Italians will order Campari e soda or Campari e vino bianco, also known as Campari macchiato or "stained" with white wine. If you go to the Veneto region of Italy, you'll find people drinking their Campari in a much more complex cocktail called a "spritz", made of Campari, Cynar (a bitter herb liquor), white wine, and soda water garnished with an olive and a wedge of blood orange.
Hot Topic Archives