Limoncello and Arancello. Italian traditional liquors
Although once thought it was the prerogative of the aunts or grandmothers from the country, I find that more and more people are dedicated to the realization of homemade liquor. Even peolple of my age, unthinkable boys, in fact, I am pleased to notice that they exchange tips and tricks for this kind of "Ammazzacaffé", coffee killer, as we call it here. Without deepening the alcoholic reasons why people create limoncello or arancello, it is certainly a great way to preserve aromas and flavors of organic lemons using the zest that is too often wasted.
Limoncello (as its variant with oranges), in fact, perfectly represents Italy, its warmth, attention to the prime matters. It reminds me of the Gulf of Sorrento, but also a sunset in Taormina and at the same time makes me think of a yellow bottle after a meal on a wooden raw table with checkered tablecloth. Scene that could happen at any spot on the peninsula. In short, I felt compelled to give my own version of this fantastic liquor.
Preconditions: Here I present arancello recipe and in this case I replace white granulated sugar with the equivalent in brown sugar, possibly whole. The positive side is that the brown sugar contains molasses, which gives it a distinctive flavor that will be inherited by the liquor. The downside is that, compared to white sugar, it muddies the compound depriving it from the clear and shiny orange color. The taste is still fantastic. Anyway, we report a standard recipe and you can find with the experience a combination that suits you. Using six oranges because they are larger than lemons (of these even 8 if you want) and then a lot of zest do not necessarily equate to much flavor, but it largely depends on its thickness and the citrus quality that we use.
Ingrediedienti for about 3 liters:
6 organic Oranges (or eight if you are making lemons limoncello) 1 kg of caster sugar (or if you want you can try the brown sugar like I did) 1 liter of pure alcohol 1.5 liters of water
Method:
Wash the oranges with the bicarbonate. Peel them, taking care to limit the presence of the white part. This fact would transfer bitterness to the liqueur.
The work takes time and patience. Put the peels in a container with alcohol and left at room temperature for about forty days, taking care to shake the container every day.
You will see the color of day intensification by day, until the zest will give everything. In time you will learn to understand how long to leave the zest to infuse looking at the color of the liquid. After this, you can start preparing arancello.
Dissolve the sugar in a pot to obtain a very liquid syrup. Allow to cool and then filter the alcohol in another container. Pass the sugar syrup into the colander where the skins are left. This step will help sugar to absorb even more flavor. Stir and refrigerate. The liquor will stabilize in about a week. Serve cold, of course.