 | The Italian limoncello liquor is pretty young in Italian food scenario. Some legends say that it was the attraction of a bar located in Capri, made by the old grandmother of the owner, during the first years of the XX century. A grandson of the old lady opened a kind of local restaurant during the 1980, and then registered the trade mark of Limoncello during 1988. |
This liquor became very popular in Italy about ten years ago and it is keeping its fame alive. Now it's produced in many regions of Italy and offered as a digestive drink in quite all restaurants.It can be made anywhere, the important thing is to use good ingredients. The lemon has to be the Sorrento quality, the yellow, long and with a huge skin. The original recipe requires a few but good ingredients, to have 1 1/2 liter of Italian limoncello liquor: • 10 medium sized lemons (preferably organic) • 1 liter of alcohol 90° • 400gr of white sugar • 1/2 liter of water tip: - the quality of the alcohol is very important. A bad quality results in a "heavy" liquor that causes headaches and so on. To know if an alcohol is good, rub a little on the back of your hand. Then feel it, if it smells good, it's a good alcohol, otherwise it smells of burned.
How to do it:
Wash accurately the lemons and then peel them carefully taking out a thin skin, with no white part.Take the skin and mince it, then put them inside an airtight glass together with the alcohol. Leave it rest for 15 days in a dark and fresh place. |  |
After 15 days, put the water and the sugar together on low gas. Mix them until they get melted. Leave it until it's cold. Add the infusion, mix everything well and then filter it using a linen or paper filter. Do it twice and squeeze the skins weel, as they keep the alcohol. Using the funnel put it into the bottles and make it rest for a couple of weeks. After then they are ready to be used, and so you can put them into your freezer (limoncello is usually served very cool). tip #2: Take another lemon and squeeze its skin adding these very few drops into your liquor. This important ingredient, the essential lemon oils, will increase the aroma of your liquor. | 
