It's called "Spirits at the table" the new column of MT Magazine that aims to promote good mixed drinks also within, and not only in combination with, haute cuisine dishes, but also pizza, desserts and ice creams.
The mixology boom has overwhelmed the Italian beverage and food market, bringing a fresh breath of novelty to the counters of our country. In some cases the changes were immediately received, in others it took a little longer, but after the proliferation of new innovative cocktail bars everywhere, spirits have made and are still making their entrance into the kitchen.
The spirits, that is, liqueurs and spirits, are finding an increasingly significant role in Italian cuisine, not only in glasses but also in dishes. These ingredients bring complexity and depth of flavour, enhancing traditional preparations or giving life to innovative combinations. One of the most iconic examples, if we think of Italian cuisine, is the use of Marsala, a Sicilian fortified wine, used to enrich the flavour of scaloppine or desserts such as tiramisu and zabaglione. Also the lemon liqueur, symbol of the Amalfi Coast, is the protagonist in desserts such as semifreddo or in aromatic icings for cakes and biscuits. In contemporary cuisine, the distillates instead find even more creative uses: the gin, with its botanical notes, is often chosen to marinate fish or enrich light sauces for white meats. grappa, thanks to its intense aromatic profile, can be used to flavour risottos or to flavour sauces. And again: the whiskey can be used to give a smoky touch to grilled meats, while the rum It is often combined with reductions to season meat or seafood.
Well, with the column “Spirits at the Table”, MT MagazineAnd wants to explore and tell this new horizon of the bar. Today, spirits are no longer (just) in bottles or inside the glass, but actively participate in recipes of restaurants, pizzerias and pastry shops, playing an increasingly prominent role. He had seen far ahead Paola Mencarelli, founder of the brand Italian Cocktail Weeks, which since its first Florentine cocktail weeks has created and promoted the various events “Dining with the Spirits”, “Pizza with the Spirits”, “Pastry with the Spirits” and “Gelato with the Spirits”, specific events in which chefs, pizza chefs, pastry chefs and master ice cream makers use spirits as ingredients in their dishes.
But let's take some concrete examples. He got everyone to agree in the 2023 edition of the Florence Cocktail Week there Veal Tongue and Raw Scampi with Old Tom Winestillery Gin and Yuzu prepared by the chef Paul Lavezzini to theAtrium Bar of the Four Seasons Florence. A combination of rich and heterogeneous flavors, in which the Tuscan distillate signed by Master Distiller Enrico Chioccioli Altadonna was able to keep at bay, indeed enhance, the intensity of the tongue and raw scampi.
At the Venice Cocktail Week, again in 2023, he thought about it Aman Venice with its dedicated evening “An evening with Chef Norbert”. Here is the tasting proposed by the ethical chef Norbert Niederkofler It was accompanied by a cocktail pairing curated by the Bar Manager of the suggestive Venetian hotel, Anthony Ferrara, in collaboration with the Italian premium vodka brand Altamura Distilleries. The result? Refreshing, imaginative and authentic pairings, where the blank canvas represented by vodka allowed for the construction of colorful tributes to the mountains. Just like the chef's.
Here we are finally on the coast for the Amalfi Coast Cocktail Week, the latest creation of Paola Mencarelli's brand, which last September saw the pizzeria Mimi Pizzeria&Kitchen of Ravello to realize through the genius and hands of Sergio Siniscalchi a pizza with amberjack and peach, together with Amaretto Adriatico. The sweetness of the latter gave that extra touch of flavor to the amberjack and, above all, a sense of continuity both in terms of concept and palatal perception to the peach ingredient.
This column was born from the need to explore and enhance the interaction between spirits and cuisine, a combination that, if wisely measured, can elevate a dish to new heights of taste. Introducing spirits into the kitchen doesn’t just mean adding an alcoholic touch, but playing with their aromatic characteristics, from the smoky notes of whisky to the citrusy ones of gin, to enhance the flavours and create surprising contrasts. “Spirits at the Table” therefore wants to become a point of reference for chefs, bartenders, enthusiasts and the curious, offering practical advice and new recipes to experiment with the use of spirits in an innovative way. In an era of great gastronomic research, the union of spirits and dishes represents a stimulating challenge and an opportunity to discover new sensory horizons.
“Dining with the Spirits and Pizza with the Spirits are two formats born in 2020 in Florence during FCW20. With these initiatives I wanted to connect my two great passions. The world of cooking with that of mixology.”, he proudly told us the same Paola Mencarelli. We couldn't help but start from here to inaugurate our new column, which every month will offer you a new recipe (or a new food&cocktail pairing) in which the spirits are the masters and certainly not as sparring partners of the ingredients that are next to them.
