Count Negroni must have been having a hard day.
Goodness knows what the barman at Cafe Casoni Florence’s reaction was. The fashionable drink, then in 1919, was the iconic Americano; the cocktail, not the black coffee: Campari, Vermouth, ice and a slice topped with soda.
The Count’s request wasn’t an olive instead of the slice of orange (it’s delicious with the olive FYI) but a swap of gin for soda. Three spirits in the same drink. Maybe he should have “proof” read his aperitivo? Clearly, he needed something stronger than his usual tipple.
16 – 22 September you can enjoy your “first” Negroni at £7 (usually £12) at Cannonball Bar or Contini George Street to celebrate that moment of madness that has turned into one of the world’s greatest cocktail hits.
After your first, you can follow with a new classic that I’m sure Count Negroni’s mistress or wife (let’s not make assumptions) would love a Negroni Pina Colada (Tequila Patron Reposado, Martini Riserva Speciale Ambrato, Malibu, pineapple, Amalfi lemon, agave) at George Street.
Or my new favourite, “Clarified Negroni”. To keep things elegant we take the classic drink and clarify it via milk-washing, producing a clear, smooth and silky version of the original drink. It’s a stroke of genius from Adam, our restaurant manager. Only available at Cannonball Bar.
Campari, that iconic Italian liquor, is working with Slow Food, that worldwide community dedicated to good, clean, fair food. Any Negroni’s drunk this week will be for the greater good.
Another Slow Food initiative is the biannual, Terra Madre; Salone del Gusto. Eric our duty manager at George Street will be in Turin from 26th – 30th September representing us alongside the Scottish Convivium. This worldwide movement is at the heart of our food choices. This year’s theme is “Our place in nature”. The festival is dedicated to restoring a balanced relationship between humans and the rest of nature. It’s a big task, but we all have to start somewhere.
It’s no secret that I’m in my 50’s. I had a hysterectomy in my 40’s. Hormonally I’m probably not as balanced as I should be. Daughter No. 1 has encouraged me to take advice. So I’ve started some natural supplements with the help of one of the herbalists at Napiers. I look forward to sharing positive improvements. Looking at what nature has to help us, advice our grandmothers and great-grandmothers would have shared has been lost for many of us. Prevention rather than cure to restore balance.
Our new Government is telling us we’ll need lots of unnatural medicine to get the country back to health. It’s disturbing my humoralism. Keir Stamer’s been having some hard days. He’s clearly opening up the drinks cabinet to find a bill from the gin distillery while the cases of unopened tonic have been piled up in the corner. Not the tonic any of us need. I think it might be no-groni time for him.
Keep well and thank you as always, your support is never taken for granted
Carina
NB I should be caviating this with a drink responsibly message. Scotland has recorded the highest drink-related deaths in 15 years. As Nonna G says, everything in moderation.
