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WHAT IS THE APPETIZER?

We always like before sitting down for lunch or dinner to be able to open our mouths after a busy day, or when we are with friends and while we are waiting for the others, we greet each other, we joke after a while, having a drink with a snack is an ideal moment to quench our thirst and to open our mouths.

Olives, anchovies, potato chips, dried fruit and nuts and a refreshing drink is a combination that makes for a pleasant and relaxing moment, which many days after stressful or hectic moments you are even more eager to enjoy.

And there is a drink made for just that, the Aperitif. A drink whose flavour and components help you to stimulate or increase your appetite, as they improve salivation and the digestive process, helping to satisfy your hunger before a meal.

We are always used to having our favourite drink such as beer, wine or soft drink when we are going to have a snack before lunch or dinner. But to be able to have a drink that really cheers up that expectation and is made for our body to enjoy, awakens those sensations and is in keeping with that moment is truly ideal, and that is where the Aperitif comes from.

This word comes from the Latin word "apeire" which means to open, and that is exactly what it does, it whets our appetite. Aperitif drinks are made in different ways, they can contain wine or not, as well as alcohol, but its function is that, so the drink should be dry, bitter notes and composed of citrus fruits such as lemon, orange, tangerine or grapefruit.

HISTORY OF THE APPETIZER

Medicinal purposes, as in most of the early days of beverages or spirits, were sought, and aperitifs were already used by the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans for these purposes. In the Middle Ages, monasteries became specialised in the preparation of herbal concoctions.

It was discovered that bitter substances have the function of stimulating the sensation of hunger, which is why most aperitif drinks have a bitter taste. This is because the mucous membrane lining the inside of the mouth and the tongue, when it comes into contact with bitter substances, causes an increase in the secretion of saliva and its enzymes, thus promoting the digestive process.

As early as the 19th century, in Turin, liqueurs such as Martini, Cinzano, Gancia and Campari were the first to mix herbs with low-proof alcohol. This combination is the basic component of aperitifs. In fact, they are the major producers of this drink.

PRODUCTION PROCESS

The production of the different Aperitif drinks varies from producer to producer.

In the end, Aperitifs are spirits with bitter notes obtained by distilling or macerating a base made of herbs, roots and flowers in alcohol, some of which may contain wine and some of which may not. In fact, the alcohol content of Aperitifs usually varies from one to another, but is usually less than any other drink.

In fact, in the old days, they used to be dry drinks, low in sugar precisely because sugar limits the appetite and the aim was the opposite.
A large majority of them contain citrus fruits, as the bitter component of these fruits is what works to whet our appetite.

TYPES OF APPETIZER

The different types of aperitif will vary according to the elaboration process, whether they use a wine base or not, the amount of flavourings they may contain, citrus fruits, or the degree of alcohol, as many of them are nectars and non-alcoholic beverages.

Also, depending on the elaboration process, with more natural products or process, Premium aperitifs can appear. The most important types we find are:

Vermouth

It is the drink par excellence of the Spanish aperitif. The base of vermouth is wine, and it is also composed of absinthe, herbs and other bitter substances. It comes in three varieties. White, red or dry, there are vermouths for all tastes. The white vermouth has the flavour of wormwood, the red vermouth has the herb gentian, and the dry vermouth has the flavour of camomile.

Campari

The vibrant red colour of this aperitif bitter is its hallmark. Produced in Milan, Italy, under a unique formula that features a blend of herbs, spices, fruit zest and peel, with quinine, rhubarb and orange standing out. It is said that Campari either you like it or you don't like it, as its bitterness and density is not to everyone's taste. It is usual to dilute it with ice, soda or orange.

Bitters

These are bitter drinks, made from alcohol, fruit extracts and herbs.

Sherry

This is a type of wine produced in Jerez de la Frontera, made from ripe grapes using the Solera maturation system. There are several types of sherry wine: fino, manzanilla and oloroso.

Porto

It is a wine produced in Portugal, very dark in colour, tasty and with a high alcohol content. The dry variety is the one that is drunk as an aperitif.

Madeira

A wine made from grapes grown on volcanic rock on Madeira Island, produced using a Solera system similar to that used for sherry.

TASTE OF THE APPETIZER

In the different Aperitifs we can find different flavours and sensations. As we have seen before, everything depends on the type of aperitif we choose to drink.

Where there is no doubt and if we are going to notice in its base in all, is that it is a drink the bitter notes or extracts, along with the different citrus fruits that each brand uses, where we will like one more than others depending on our palate.

In vermouth, Campari or Jerez we will appreciate more the base made of wine and then there will be bitter where they will not have a wine base, but we will appreciate the mixture based on fruits, aromatic herbs where the bitterness will be present for the purpose of whetting our appetite.

APPETIZER COCKTAILS

• Classic Vermouth
• Negroni
• Bloody Mary
• Aperol Spritz

APPETIZER BRANDS

• Aperol
  
• Campari
  
• Cynar
  
• Pimm's nº1
• Amaro

CURIOSITIES

According to historians, the origin of the aperitif goes back to Ancient Greece, to the 5th century BC, where Hippocrates developed a drink based on wine, wormwood and herbs in order to remedy a lack of appetite. It was a bitter drink that was called vinum absinthiatum, wormwood wine, and the reason it had this taste was that it stimulated the sensation of hunger.

It was in Italy until the end of the 18th century that the distiller Antonio Benedetto invented an aromatic wine to which he had added cinchona and which he called "vermouth". This is when it began to become a social drink.

The drink became popular and in fact became a favourite of kings, such as Italy's King Victor Emmanuel and historical figures such as Garibaldi. By the 19th century, vermouth had become a drink of choice in political and intellectual circles and at the bar. This custom also spread to France and, of course, to Spain.

The aperitif is of Italian origin, although once it made the leap to our country it seems to have become one of our signs of identity. In fact, we Spaniards have turned the aperitif into something very special if we take into account that the way we eat it has nothing to do with the way it is eaten in France or Italy.

In our country, the aperitif can be eaten both before lunch and before dinner and it is usually accompanied by a tapa, another of our signs of identity and in this case much more typical.