A Symphonie of Cello's

As Chefs, We are always looking for new ingredients, new flavours, new methods... And I remember when I used to work with my dad in the shop, we used to make our own Limoncello for one of our pastries. Or in the Dorchester we made a super nice housemade crunchy salted peanut praliné for one of our afternoon tea pastries. And I've always thought that making as much as you can yourself is a good way to distinguish yourself from the competition. Of course I agree it's more easy to just buy a bottle of limoncello or a tub of praliné from the shop, but it's the fact that you're being creative, that you're thinking outside of the box that makes me feel that this is the right way to go. Last year I was lucky enough to be able and work with chef Alphonso Iaccarino in his michelin star restaurant "Don Alphonso" in Sant'Agata Sui Due Golfi near the beautiful city of Sorrento. I learned a lot over there and in a culinary world witch is dominated by Rene Redzepi from Noma, Don Alphonso is an unknown underdog. But they prove that underdogs do find glory. The restaurant, made beautiful simple and seasonal dishes with ingredients coming fresh from their own farmhouse, called "Le Peracciole in Termini. They had some of the best products growing there on the hills near Punta Campanella where the Gulf of Napels meets the Gulf of Salerno. They had vegetables, herbs, fruits,.. they even had chickens for eggs and a cow for milk. But let me tell you, when you're handpicking one of those huge Amalfi lemons in the blistering sunshine on the hillside with a view of Capri, then you know you are in a magic place. This brings me straight to what this post is all about...Limoncello and all the other cello's those Italians make themselves by heart. Its baked in their culture and I had a first hand look at how they make it, so now its up to me to show u guys how its done. and i'm not gonna show u just one, but three variations of this popular digestif. All of the liqueurs are based on the same principal so its actually quite easy. First one is Bergamocello, made with Bergamots from the north of Italy, Next up is Lamponello made from raspberries, and finishing up we do with Zenzerino made from oranges and ginger. The basic recipe consists out of only 4 ingredients: Pure alcohol 96% (333ml), sugar (355gr), water (333ml) and last your flavour (which in these three cases is the zeste of 4 bergamot, 150gr raspberries or zeste of 3 oranges and 15gr of ginger). Although this is not really a pastry related thing, I do feel it belongs on the blog. So to start, you need to have patience because the first step alone already takes you 3 months. You begin by adding the flavour to the alcohol in a hermetically closed jar. You keep it in a cool and dark space and leave it alone for 90days. You will see the alcohol will take all the flavour and colour from the fruit. After 3 months of waiting it's time for step 2 by making a 30degree syrup from the water and the sugar. You let the syrup cool down before adding it to the sieved alcohol. You pour your mix into hermetically closed bottles and and store them again for another 3months in a cool and dark place to mature. After all that waiting you are finally able to enjoy your homemade digestif. Last but not least, the best way to serve is ice-cold...and for al you creative minds out there, this recipe lends itself to any ingredients, so be original, go nuts and create your own flavour combinations. dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">