Think On It

Honey liqueur — warm up winter

November 16th, 2007

I ate lunch at my local dive the other day, where they use printed place mats that change monthly. One of the items on the place mat is always a recipe. This is this month’s and it sounded good enough to tear that corner off the tableware. I’ll try to translate the quantities and come back to edit it.

Idromele

700 gr (25 ounces…about a fifth) pure alcohol (Everclear in the US) at 180 proof, or 90% alcohol
5 grams (1/5 ounce– I don’t know how to do that either, maybe a stick?) of cinnamon sticks
3 cloves
the skin of one lemon

800 gr (28 ounces) honey
2 liters of water

Zest the lemon or peel it thinly, getting only the yellow part.

Use a glass jar with a tight lid, and put the alcohol, the cinnamon, the cloves and the lemon peel into it. Close and leave it to macerate for ten days.

Open the jar and filter the contents. You can use a coffee filter for this, or a few layers of clean dish towel in a strainer.

Put the honey and the water into a pan and bring it to a boil, then boil until it has reduced by half. Allow it to cool somewhat, then mix the strained alcohol and the honey mixture. When the liquid is completely cool, bottle it and leave it for 2 months.

Use liberally to brighten winter days or cure colds and flu. It’s probably really good with cheeses as a dessert substitute.

N.B. When I say a clean dish towel, I mean no bleach, no fabric softener, no additives at all. You’ll taste that stuff.

Entry Filed under: Italy, Italian food, cucina