How The Tradition Of Italian Aperitivo Was Born ( Make With Me) (subs)

Tutorial Transcript

Hi everyone and welcome back to my channel! Activate the subtitles here. As you can see from the title of this video, today we'll prepare an aperitivo at home together, however, before I do that, I want to tell you the history of the Italian aperitivo tradition. Because I think it's very interesting and it's always nice to go back in time and find out how these traditions were born, which are predominant and very present in the daily life of practically any Italian. When it comes to aperitivo, no one backs down! And so it is for this reason that I want to talk about this topic today, because it is a very important cultural part, in my opinion. So, you will think that the place of birth of the aperitif tradition is Milan, because of Campari, or Venice or Padua, because of the spritz. Actually the place of origin of the tradition the aperitif is Turin. We have to go back in time, we have to jump a few centuries back, just a couple of centuries, and go back to 1786in Turin, when Antonio Benedetto Carpano, in his own wine and spirits shop in the center of Turin, developed a mixture of muscat wine, herbs and spices, which gave life to vermouth. So in 1786 Antonio Benedetto Carpano made vermouth. So the story of the Italian aperitif was born in this moment, in the moment in which Carpano he creates a drink which will then be consumed at aperitif time, at that time at "vermouth time". We know that the expression "Vermouth time" thanks to written testimonials, such as the "Turin 1880" novel in which Edmondo De Amicis writes: "Turin has vermouth time and the liquorists' shops are crowded". His shop becomes a meeting place for the whole city. When I say that this drink was appreciated by everyone, I mean by everyone, even by the King, who decided to make Vermouth the Savoy official aperitif. And everyone went to Carpano's shop, from the common person to, for example, people like Camillo Benso and Giuseppe Verdi. As these advertising posters of the Carpano vermouth of the time testify. So it is in the Carpano workshop that the drinking and being together gave life to the social moment of the aperitif. It is important to emphasize that it was and it is a social moment. If you go to Turin, it is still possible go to what was once Carpano's workshop, now the name is different, it's called Caffè Elena. And when I went to Turin a few years ago, I wanted to go for an aperitif there. And there is also a vlog of this in the vlog playlist. And it was a wonderful experience, it was like diving into the past, because the furnishings of this cafe, this bar, of this shop, they are still the same, originals, from the early 1900s, then late '800 early' 900, when the shop was in the hands of Carpano's son. So obviously over time and over the years the management has passed to the son and the shop expanded, they founded a factory to keep up with the request from customers. On my instagram there is also a very nice photo, which is this. It is me sipping an aperitif in the place where the Italian aperitif tradition was born. That was a time when the stars in the sky alligned for me. Obviously the success of vermouth resounded in other parts of Italy and then, years later, during the 19th century, other people were busy making the list of aperitivi longer. In addition to Carpano, some names to remember during the 19th century until the beginning of the 20th century are: Ramazzotti, Martini, Campari, Cinzano, Gancia, Cocchi. All these names should make you think of some very famous drinks today. For the birth of Aperol and spritz, and therefore of Aperol spritz as we know it today, we will have to wait until the 1920s from 1900. It was born precisely in 1919 when Aperol house was founded in Padua. If we mention Aperol, we must necessarily mention Select as well, which was born in Venice a year later, in 1920, with which the Venetian Spritz is made. If the topic interests you and you want to know more, I recommend you read this book: "The Turin Vermouth" written by Fulvio Piccinino, a great expert in the sector. Now we are ready to prepare our aperitif at home. Today I will make an aperitif called "Milano Torino", which features Vermouth and Campari. It is for this reason that it is called "Milano Torino", to celebrate the union between these two ingredients, the Vermouth of Turin and the Campari of Milan. If you go to my instagram profile, you will find a series of short videos on the aperitif at home, so I did the Campari spritz, I did the Aperol spritz, the Select spritz, I made Vermuttino, I made Negroni sbagliato, you can see them on my instagram profile. Today we'll make an aperitif called "Milan Turin ", this aperitif is really simple, because there are only these two ingredients, together with ice. We take a glass like this and pour in Campari and Vermouth in equal parts.. Since we have to check the doses, the ice will be added later. I do by eye, however if you want, you can help yourself with cups or a measuring cup. At this point we add the ice. Let's take our usual metal straw and turn it gently. And our aperitif Milano Torino is ready. The funny thing is that if you add soda to this, you will get an "Americano". Our aperitif at home is ready, of course then you can indulge yourself with some nibbles to eat. I'll show you: here I have Apulian taralli, Turin breadsticks, I'll also have some olives. These are the olives of Cerignola, which is located in Puglia. Do you see how big these olives are? I hope you enjoyed watching how I prepare the aperitivo at home, I know right now we can somehow try to cheer ourselves up even if we have to stay home longer than usual, right? Let me know in the comments below if you have ever tried to make an aperitif at home. And what is your favorite Italian aperitif? I'm curious to know! My favorite is the Select spritz, though I also like Vermuttino very much, I must say! So, thank you and see you in the next video. See you soon, bye!