Here at in-the-spirit we need no excuse
to check out cocktail recipes on your behalf!
Of course, we are looking forward to that most
romantic day of the year - St Valentines on
14th February - and as ever, we have had a
fab time choosing a selection of cocktails
for this special occasion - all featuring our
favourite romantic Italian liqueur - Disaronno
Amaretto.
So what is Valentines Day all about then?
One of the many stories takes us back to Rome
in
269 AD in the reign of Emperor Claudius II.
During his time in power Claudius found it
more and
more difficult to recruit men into his army
as they preferred to stay with their families.
Believing
that this was the main cause of his lack of
recruits, he introduced a decree which outlawed
marriage
for young men, thinking that this would allow
him to build a greater military base. Valentine
was a young priest and thought that Claudius'
decree was unfair and chose to continue to
marry young couples in secret. When the Emperor
Claudius
discovered Valentine's activities he had him
put to death on 14th February.
Another tale has it that Valentine was imprisoned
and fell in love with the daughter of his
jailor. The jailor's daughter visited him regularly
and kept his spirits up. Before he was to
be
put
to death, he sent the first “valentine” himself
when he wrote a letter to her and signed it “from
your Valentine”. To continue with our romantic theme, we have
a selection of Valentines
cocktail recipes for you to try made with the world's favourite
Italian
liqueur - Disaronno
Amaretto. Legend has
it that Bernadino Luini, a young Milanese artist
in the
Renaissance period began working on a commission
to paint a fresco of the Madonna. When he
started
his work in 1525, it was customary for actual
members of the congregation to be asked to
represent the characters portrayed. Bernadino
asked a beautiful
young widow to model for the Madonna. After
working closely for some months, they fell
passionately
in love. As a sign of her devotion to him,
the young widow created a sweet almond tasting
liqueur
called Disaronno. The secret recipe of herbs
and fruits steeped in apricot kernel oil
has not changed since that love affair in 1525.
Disaronno means literally “of” or “from
Saronno” and the fresco painting can
still be viewed in the chapel of Sante Maria
delle
Grazie in Saronno to this day.
Using the most romantic liqueur there is
as the focus of our feature, we have a
Valentines cocktail
menu for you showing the incredible versatility
of Disaronno - so you have a selection
to choose
from which should cover all your romantic
cocktail requirements! |
