THE
NEGRONI
The Negroni? A question? A question to
some? Most of America probably. Many so-called sophisticates have been
drinking this “The Negroni” quite a bit in the past 4 years or so. The truly
sophisticated, worldly folks have known about them far longer. Me? I’ve been
drinking this great Italian-Cocktail for some 28 years now. Yes, I’ve been
drinking Negroni’s ever since my first at a Bar in la Bella Roma back in the
Summer of 1985. Rome, “The Eternal City” is where I had my first, on that
marvelous first trip to Bella Italia. I was quite a young man, and that trip
was completely magical, discovering real Italian “Italian Food” for the very
first time, I had my first true Bolognese, Spaghetti Carbonara, Coda di
Vacinara, Bucatini Amatriciana, Gelato, and a true Italian Espresso, “Oh
Bliss!” Yes it was. I saw The Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo’s Moses at San
Pietro en Vincole (Saint Peter in Chains), I saw the Coliseum, The Roman Forum,
The Duomo in Florence, Venice and The Grand Canal, Positano, Capri, Napoli, and
so much more. Yes the trip was magical. It was magical hanging out at a Bar in
the Piazza Popolo drinking my first Campari, and that first of a thousand
Negroni’s, or more. Many American’s are just discov-ering its charms,
“me and the Negroni,” we go way back; in
Rome, Venice, Capri, Positano, Capri, Verona, Bologna, I’ve had Negroni’s all
over. And many in New York in restaurants and bars all over Manhattan, and
Staten Island where I drink some of the best Negroni’s I’ve ever had, certainly
in New York, at my buddy Pat Parotta’s house in Staten Island. Pat pours an
awesome Negroni, better than any bartender in the city. He makes them with love
and when I go to one of his wonderful little dinner parties, that’s the first
thing I have. It’s tradition for us now. Leaving my house in Greenwich Village,
I hop on the 1 Train and take it down to the Battery to the Staten Island Ferry
Terminal. I hop on the ferry, ride across New York Harbor, passing the gorgeous
Lady Liberty (The Statue of Liberty) along the way. I get off the ferry. Pat picks me up at the
terminal on the Staten Island side. We go to house, and I’m not through the
door two minutes and he’s mixing up a nice one. A Negroni that is! Well 2 that
is, one for me, and a Negroni for himself. We drink great Italian Wine at those
dinner parties, and some of Pat’s tasty food. But we always start it off with
our ritualistic Negroni’s alla Patty
“P” and you should too.
.
.
THE NEGRONI
Basic Recipe:
1 ounce Campari
1 ounce Sweet Vermouth
1 ounce Gin
Ice
Orange
1. Fill a Rocks-Glass or Highball Glass with Ice.
2) Add Campari, Sweet Vermouth, and Gin.
3) Stir ingredients. Garnish with a piece of Orange Peel or slice of Orange.
Note: Orsen Wells after discovering the Negroni
while writing a screenplay in Rome, wrote in a correspon-dence back home that
he had discovered a delightful Italian Cocktail, “The Negroni.” Welles stated,
“It is made of Bitter Campari which is good for the liver, and of Gin which is bad.
The two balance each other out.”
photo Daniel Bellino-Zwicke
THE BELLINO NEGRONI
For me, this is the Perfect Negroni. The basic Negroni recipe calls for 3 equal
parts(1 oz.) each of Camapari, Sweet Vermouth, and Gin in a glass filled with
ice, and garnished with an Orange Peel.
For the most perfectly balanced Negroni, I put in slightly less Campari (3/4 oz.),
¾ ounce of Gin, a little more
Sweet Vermouth with 1 ¼ ounces, over Ice,
add a tiny spalsh of Club Soda
and Garnish with a good size piece of Orange. Voila! The Perfect Negroni. Enjoy!
THE NEGRONI is Excerpted From Daniel Bellino-Zwicke ‘s SUNDAY SAUCE
New York Italian 