Wine, etc. 

Fernet-Branca

Fernet-Branca – is a unique Italian digestive with 150-year history. It is a bitter balsam, extracted from many herbs and spices (saffron is one of 40 components) and then aged in oak barrels for at least one year. It is traditionally served at the end of the meal and helps to digest food as well as to “clean” the tongue. Moreover, Fernet-Branca can be added to espresso and so we get “caffe corretto” (possible translation is “corrected coffee”). By the way, during the cholera epidemic of XIX century Fernet was heavily used for the prophylactic purposes.

Not less popular is Fernet-Branca’s close relative, more precisely, its sweetened derivative with a strong mint accent, called Brancamenta. It can be used not only as a digestive, but also as an aperitif, especially if served with crushed ice and a bit of mineral water. Anyway, experiments are welcome: for example, Americans successfully combine Brancamenta with bourbon.

Sergei Gusovsky

When using materials from the site www.pantagruel.com.ua place a link to osteria Pantagruel, Italian restaurant in Kiev, Ukraine.