limo cello

7/28/2019 Limo Cello

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The cultivation system is the typical and traditionally adopted in the area. The

most used technique consists in cultivating the plants under a structure made

out of chestnut poles higher than three metres. To ensure the ripeness of the

fruits, the trunk is protected from the atmospheric conditions. The harvest is

usually carried out during the period from February to October: its handdone, because the direct contact of the lemons with the ground has to be

prevented.

The main characteristics of the product go searched in the elliptic and

symmetrical shape, in the medium-large dimensions, the colour of the yellow

peel citron. And the main ingredient of the production of limoncello is just

the peel: the rind is in fact rich of essential oils and has an aroma much

deciding. Once assessed the origin sorrentina of the lemon, can finally be

proceeded to the preparation of the liqueur. With little healthy ingredients, the

limoncello it can comfortably be prepared also from home. It takes around

eighty days. In fact, according to the traditional prescription, limoncello must

macerate more than two months.

In the choice of the lemons, those with much thicker peel are preferred. Just

the Mediterranean climate of the Sorrento - Amalfi coast guarantees the

increase of a lemon with large and perfumed peel. The first step previews the

washing of the fruit in warm water and the brush in order to clean it from

eventual residual of insecticides. Alcohol is poured in a water jug, and are

then added pieces of aromatic rind gained from the peel. The experts advise

the use of good quality alcohol, also to avoid that the liqueur is transformed in

ice in the freezer. With the arrangement of the water jug covered in a dark

room or in a sideboard, the first phase of production is concluded. At

environment temperature, in fact, the maceration of the peel will continue and

the instilled will slowly assume the aroma and the yellow of the lemon. After

approximately a month of rest, the preparation continues with the adding of a

small pot of water and sugar (boiled and then left to cool down) and other

alcohol. The water jug goes then newly covered and put away in the cabinet

for an other abundant month. After forty days approximately, the instilled

goes filtered in the bottles, discarding the peels. Then the bottles go in the

freezer. From the unique taste and the aroma form, the liqueur goes therefore

served, without the additives and colouring agents. Limoncello is anexcellent digestive if served cold. Someone prefers it to environment

temperature, even stirred in tonic water or champagne. Lately, it is in vogue

its utilisation on gelatos and fruit salad. In Campania, in the earth prince of

its production, limoncello concludes above all lunch or supper : at this point

it has become a social ritual nearly at the same height coffee.

According to some, the lemon was brought to Campania in the first century

BC by the Jews, for whom it had a ritual value. The portrayal of the lemon in

mosaics and paintings that came to light with the excavations of Pompeiishows their common use in the Neapolitan area since ancient times. What is
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certain is that this citrus fruit has acclimatised incredibly well to the land in

Campania and has prospered marvellously, until becoming at one with it. So

much so that it would be impossible to imagine the Amalfi and Sorrento

Coasts without their charming, beautiful and extremely fragrant lemon

gardens.

Without the characteristic terraces full of flowers or the dramatic contrast

between the blue of the sea, the yellow of the fruit and the intense green of

the foliage, in a blaze of colour enhanced by the strong dazzling light, this

landscape, which is one of the most beautiful in the world, would not be quite

so unique. However, it is not just the colours or the other charming elements

that attract many appreciative tourists, the lemon groves also offer other

important advantages, such as the protection of the territory: by occupying

even the steepest slopes, which are often on the verge of being impossible to

cultivate, they help to preserve the soil from hydrogeological instability. Thelocal people are very attached to the lemon, to the extent that there is hardly a

family in the area that does not have a small or large plot of land of lemon

trees, acquired and maintained with hard work and sacrifice. The first

specialised lemon groves on the Sorrento Peninsula were the work of the

Jesuit fathers, who created an ad hoc farm in 1600 in the Guarazzano basin,

between Sorrento and Massalubrense. It is here that an ecotype of the

Femminello Ovale variety gradually differentiated through time to form the

present cultivar defined as the Ovale di Sorrento, Massese or Massalubrense

lemon. It has taken on characteristics of high quality which earned the

Sorrento Lemon IGP recognition (Protected Geographical Indication) in

November 2000: an important result for the whole of citrus-farming in

Campania both for the prestige it brought to the sector and in terms of new

commercial opportunities.

The lemon is medium-large, elliptical, with an attractive lemon-yellow skin,

very fragrant and with a particularly juicy and acidic flesh. Today it is grown

in all the communes of the Sorrento Peninsula and all over the island of

Capri, both in the province of Naples. It covers a total surface area of 400

hectares and has an annual production of about 100,000 quintals. It is a tardy

fruit, so that, although it is produced on the tree all year round, the best fruitare obtained from spring to the end of autumn. Cultivation is typically made

up of terraces incorporated in containment walls. Another technical aspect is

the covering up of the foliage to protect it from the cold and wind (an

indispensable practice during the coldest period of the year because of the

geographical position of the Sorrento Peninsula, which is at the northern limit

of latitude for lemon-growing) and to delay the ripening of the fruit until the

best commercial periods. In the past the well-known "pagliarelle" were used:

straw mats resting on wooden stakes, usually of chestnut wood. Today they

have been replaced by more practical plastic nets, which are more suitable for

the steeper slopes of the area. The Sorrento Lemon already enjoyed a good

reputation during the last century, when it was mainly exported to England.Today a moderate quantity of lemons is still exported to European markets,


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mainly German and English, but most of the produce is reserved for the

domestic market; 40% is destined for fresh consumption and the remaining

60% is used to make the famous Limoncello liqueur from the Sorrento and

Amalfi area. Today there are a huge number of little shops that make this

liqueur by macerating lemon skins in alcohol, sticking scrupulously to oldrecipes from the local tradition. Demand for the Sorrento Lemon is constant,

thanks to its highly valued properties and, consequently, the prices are always

decidedly higher than (and sometimes double) that of ordinary lemons on the

market. Equally valued qualifications have brought prestige and credit to the

Amalfi Coast Lemon, also gratified with the much-deserved IGP recognition

in July 2001.

The presence of lemons on the Amalfi Coast is documented in several places

from the eleventh century onwards. Later on, the famous Medical School of

Salerno played an important role in its success when it began to spread themedicinal use of this yellow citrus fruit, which was grown all over the Amalfi

Coast. However, it was in the nineteenth century that the lemon took on great

economic and social value/or the whole area, thanks to the creation of

terraced lemon groves in the surrounding hills. At the beginning of the

twentieth century the lemon from Maiori was even quoted on the New York

stock exchange. At that time lemons were sold singly, they were handled by

women who had to cut their nails every morning and had to wear cotton

gloves. In that period more than 900 thousand crates containing 300-360

pieces each were sent all over the world every year. This splendid lemon is

mainly known by the name of the variety, Sfusato Amalfitano, where the first

term refers to the typical tapered shape. It is medium-large, with a thick,

rough, light-yellow skin, an intense aroma, thanks to its considerable richness

in essential oils, and a pleasant flavour. The flesh is juicy, moderately tart,

with a low number of seeds. It is also one of the richest lemons in ascorbic

acid (vitamin C), as results from recent studies at the Federico II University

of Naples. The production area of the Costa D'Amalfi Lemon includes all the

communes on the Amalfi Coast, in the province of Salerno, and occupies a

surface area of over 500 hectares, with an annual production of about 120,000

quintals. As well as commercial success and international renown, the Sfusato

Amalfitano also shares typical elements in common with its 'brother' from

Sorrento: late production (from March to October), terrace cultivation incalcareous stone that characterises the landscape, the use of straw mats to

protect the lemon trees from the elements and a regular ripening period. Also

the Sfusato Amalfitano lemons are used to make Limoncello, the "traditional

liqueur of Costa D'Amalfi Lemons" and the Consortium for the exploitation

of Amalfi Coast Lemons (COVAL) has laid down rules/or its production.

Arancia di Sorrento (Orange of Sorrento)

Oranges and lemons were already an

important source of income for the Sorrento-

Amalfi Peninsula as far back as 1300 and fed


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an intense flow of direct export to the main

Italian and European markets. The two species

have dominated alternately through the

centuries. This has depended on the ups and

downs of the market, which have madefarmers turn to one crop or the other and

sometimes make unwise change backs.

Consequently it is necessary to reorganise

local citrus growing today, as its importance

for the landscape is invaluable.

The Sorrento orange and the lemon share the same cultivation technique:

wooden stakes (usually made of chestnut wood from the surrounding areas)

are used and may be anything up to 7 metres in height. Straw mats are

arranged over the top (the traditional "pagliarelle") to form a cover that can bereplaced or used with nets and windbreaks to protect against the wind and

cold. This cover delays the ripening of the fruit, which can be sold at a later

period than other Italian oranges, thus allowing wider profit margins. From

the mother cultivar, "Biondo comune", two local ecotypes have reproduced

and gradually become established: the "Biondo Sorrentino" and the "Biondo

Equense". Both are vigorous, upward-growing plants, which often reach 7

metres in height.

The fruit are an orange-yellow colour of varying intensity and large in size

(the Sorrento is the larger), with medium-thick skin, numerous, seedless

segments and sweet, juicy flesh. The harvest begins in May and continues to

the beginning of August for the fruit that develops from the later flowering. A

syrup can be made by macerating the Sorrento oranges, it has a rich aroma

and flavour and is on the regional list of traditional products. The

Consortium for the protection of the Sorrento Lemon has turned its attention

to the excellent juice of this orange in order to attain DOP recognition

(Protected Denomination of Origin).

Noce di Sorrento (Walnut of Sorrento)

There is evidence that the walnut has been present in Campania since at least

the first century AD. In Herculaneum, the charred remains of very similar

shaped nuts to those of today have been found in the Casa D'Argo, while at

Pompeii, paintings portraying walnuts have come to light in the Misteri Villa.

The soil and climate in Campania are particularly favourable to the

cultivation of this crop and have enabled it to spread over most of the plains

and hills. It is not a coincidence that the most cultivated and valued Italian

variety of walnut originated in Campania: it is the Sorrento cultivar, native to

the Sorrento Peninsula where it has found a habitat with ideal environmental


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characteristics for the robust and harmonious development of the tree.

It has gradually spread from here to the classic fruit-farming areas of all the

provinces of Campania (the majority with the suitable volcanic soil in theprovince of Naples), giving rise to a wide range of ecotypes, all known as the

Sorrento Walnut, although there are two that are the most widely cultivated

and marketed. There are two main types of Sorrento walnut which differ in

shape: one has an elongated, regular and slightly pointed shell (the "pointed

beard") at the top and rounded off at the base whilst the other is smaller and

more rounded. The cultivation techniques, inspired by traditional growing

methods, and the organoleptic character are the same for both types. In both

cases the shell is light-coloured, not very wrinkled and thin enough to be

broken with light pressure. The kernel - i.e. the edible part of the walnut - is

cream coloured, not very oily, (though it can be preserved well for a certain

period), substantial, soft and crunchy, with an extremely pleasant flavour andan unusual aroma and aftertaste, both when eaten fresh and after a period of

preservation. The kernel also boasts a peculiar quality: unlike other types of

walnut, it can be easily extracted whole, which makes it popular with the

confectionery industry.

Cultivation of the Sorrento walnut in recent decades has gradually moved

from its origin on the Sorrento coast (mainly the communes of Vico Equense

and Monti Lattari) to the fertile areas of the Nolano-Palmese-Sarnese

countryside, Campi Flegrei, Vesuvius, Vallo di Lauro e Baianese, Valle

Caudina, as well as the Caserta Plain and the Irno Valley. The very first

Sorrento walnuts are sold, still unripe, in Campania at the end of August and

beginning of September, and they really are a speciality. The manual harvest

is concentrated in the months of September and October, after which the

walnuts are left to dry in the open, on trellises, in ventilated areas. The

enviable qualities of this walnut make it an excellent ingredient for many

recipes: it is delicious when eaten, for example, with home-made bread and

the unripe walnuts are macerated in alcohol to make the famous Nocino, a

dark, sweetly aromatic and digestive liqueur. The long-awaited IGP

recognition (Protected Geographical Indication) is finally on its way for the

excellent Sorrento Walnut, which is so appreciated by the market and hassuch close links with its traditional cultivation area. The Region has already

started the preliminary studies for the production regulations and for all the

documentation needed to apply for registration. This will help to protect and

exploit this crop, which is more and more exposed to competition from

foreign produce on the world market.

Pomodoro di Sorrento (Tomato of Sorrento)

This large, round, ribbed eating tomato is light red in colour, verging on pink with green hues

when harvested, it is very fleshy and firm and has a sweet, delicate flavour. Today the main


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production area of the Sorrento tomato coincides with its native land and is a limited hilly

area on the Sorrento peninsula, in the communes of Piano di Sorrento and S. Agnello. It is

these farms that have reproduced the "Sorrento ecotype", which was probably derived by

selection from the "Cuore di bue" or "bull's heart" tomato (so-called due to its

shape).According to others however, the cultivation of this variety was developed at the

beginning of the twentieth century, when the Sorrento shipowners, who shipped lemons to theAmericas, imported the seed directly from the New World.

Since the beginning of the nineties, when demand increased, this tomato has also been grown

in limited areas of plains in the communes near Vesuvius, such as Gragnano, Boscoreale and

Torre Annunziata (though the tomato has slightly different pomological and organoleptic

characteristics to the Sorrento tomato grown in the traditional production area). The Sorrento

tomato owes some of its success to the famous Caprese salad, the classic dish of tomatoes,

basil and local fiordilatte cheese (mozzarella) from the Lattari Mountains. The renewed and

considerable interest that this product has raised with local vegetable farmers has lead to the

setting up of a promotional committee to apply for the IGP brand (Protected Geographical

Indication).http://tasteofsorrento.sorrentoinfo.com/prodotti/pomodoro_sorrento_eng.asp

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