Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/39104
LIQUEURS Lemons from Sicily are thought to be the best in the world, and even the L.A. Times has opined that “the very best limoncello is made in Sicily.” Considering the nature of hot Sicilian days and warm summer nights, limoncello may just be the most wel- coming of liquids, chilled and fragrant, lowering the body temperature while sweetening the palate. These sun-soaked Southern Italian lemons are sharp on the outside, and the skins pack a punch. “But the best lemons must suffer—we don’t give them a lot of water,” says Paolo Sperone, co-founder of Caravella, the number- one-selling limoncello in the U.S. The Beginning When Paolo Sperone was a child, he spent the summers on his family’s farm and vineyard in Puglia, where he would always help out with harvest in September. “It was still warm that time of year, and I can still picture my grandmother sitting under a tree offer- ing her chilled homemade limoncello to cool everyone down.” Those wonderful moments would continue to linger in his mind. And, after a trip to the Amalfi Coast 25 years ago, where he visited a restaurant called Caravella and sipped limoncello, that memory would be the impetus for Paolo and his brother Antonio to make—and ultimately market—their own homemade limoncello. The Zip of the Sip “Our Italian-ness is our reason for being,” insists Sperone, whose recent visit to California sparked a get- together with THE TASTING PANEL. We met at Prego, an open, airy and decisively modern Italian restaurant in Irvine. There, Executive Chef/ Partner Ugo Allesina accompanied us to sip Caravella. “What I love about limoncello is its simplicity,” the Italian-born chef notes. “I drink it as an aperitif, as a digestif; I use it in the kitchen,” he shrugs. “We even use it in our signature cocktail. But what sets Caravella apart is that the Our Italian-ness is our reason for being.” Prego’s Executive Chef Ugo Allesina shares stories with Caravella’s Paolo Sperone. 54 / the tasting panel / august 201 1