Fernet

Fernet drinks products.

Fernet (Italian pronunciation: [ferˈnɛt]) is an Italian type of amaro, a bitter, aromatic spirit. Fernet is made from a number of herbs and spices which vary according to the brand, but usually include myrrh, rhubarb, chamomile, cardamom, aloe, and especially saffron,[1] with a base of grape distilled spirits, and colored with caramel coloring.

Fernet is usually served as a digestif after a meal but may also be served with coffee and espresso or mixed into coffee and espresso drinks. It typically contains 45% alcohol by volume. It may be served at room temperature or with ice.

Fernet's smell has been described as "like black licorice-flavored Listerine".[1]

Popularity

Fernola, a massively popular drink in Argentina

Fernet is very popular in Argentina, where it was introduced by Italians during the Great European immigration wave to the country.[2] It is particularly associated with Córdoba Province, which has been called "the world fernet capital"; almost 3 million litres are consumed there annually, representing just under 30 percent of national consumption.[3] National production is around 25 million liters, 35% sold in Buenos Aires Province and the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires.[4][5] Fratelli Branca is by far the most popular brand in the country, leading the market and reaching a "mythical" status.[6] Other popular brands include 1882, Capri, Ramazzotti and Vittone.[3] Fernet is commonly mixed with Coca-Cola, a drink commonly known as "Fernandito" or simply "Fernola".[6][7] The massively popular drink was invented during the mid-1980s in Córdoba, encouraged by an advertisement by Fratelli Branca, and spread to Buenos Aires during the 1990s, its popularity growing steadily ever since.[8] In fact, fernet has had the highest growth in consumption in the last 10 years.[2] The popularity of fernet is so strong, that many bars in Buenos Aires have removed it from its menu to encourage consumption of more expensive drinks.[2]

The drink has been popular in the San Francisco Bay Area since before Prohibition.[1] In 2008, San Francisco accounted for 25% of US consumption.[9] San Francisco bars usually serve fernet as a shot followed by a ginger ale chaser.[1]

Cocktails

Fernet can be mixed into cocktails, though the strong taste can overwhelm other ingredients. It can replace bitters in recipes; for instance, the Fanciulli cocktail is a Manhattan with fernet instead of Angostura bitters.[10]

The chef Fergus Henderson offers a recipe, entitled both "A Miracle" and "Dr. Henderson" that approximates Branca Menta by combining two parts fernet with one part crème de menthe over ice. The recipe describes this cocktail as a cure for overindulgence.[11]

In popular culture

Fernet receives a mention in the novel Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald.[lower-alpha 1]

It forms the titular subject of James Hamilton-Paterson's 2004 novel of Tuscany expatriate life, Cooking with Fernet Branca [12]

In the 2012 film The Dark Knight Rises, Bruce Wayne's butler Alfred Pennyworth remembers himself sitting in Florence, Italy drinking a Fernet Branca.[13]

Fernet Branca (as Fernet-Branca) is mentioned in the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt.[lower-alpha 2]

Fernet was reported to be the favorite drink of 2007 U.S. Open (golf) winner Ángel Cabrera.[14]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ "Silence while he stared at a shelf that held the humbler poisons of France—bottles of Otard, Rhum St. James, Marie Brizzard, Punch Orangeade, Andre Fernet Blanco, Cherry Rochet, and Armagnac."
  2. ↑ "Hobie had an iron constitution; whenever he came down with anything himself, he drank a Fernet-Branca and kept going."

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Cavalieri, Nate (2005-12-07). "The Myth of Fernet". SF Weekly. Archived from the original on 21 February 2007. Retrieved 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 Petovel, Pablo (1 January 2013). "Todo lo que hay que saber sobre el fernet" (in Spanish). Día a Día. Contenidos Mediterráneos. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
  3. 1 2 Marchetti, Nicolás (15 October 2015). "Eligieron el mejor fernet de Argentina y no es el que estás pensando" (in Spanish). La Voz del Interior. Clarín Group. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
  4. ↑ "El fenómeno fernet". Clarín (in Spanish). Retrieved 2014-08-11.
  5. ↑ "Los argentinos vuelven al vermouth y al whisky importado". Clarín (in Spanish).
  6. 1 2 "EBranca reconoce que la mezcla de fernet con Coca nació en Córdoba" (in Spanish). La Voz del Interior. Clarín Group. 3 May 2013. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
  7. ↑ Rathbun, A. J. (2009). Dark Spirits: 200 Classy Concoctions Starring Bourbon, Brandy, Scotch, Whiskey, Rum and More. Harvard Common Press. p. 207. ISBN 978-1-55832-427-5.
  8. ↑ Vecino, Diego. "Fernet: una historia de amor argentina". Conexión Brando. La Nación. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
  9. ↑ Curtis, Wayne (November 2008). "The Bitter Beginning: Learning to love a bracing Italian liqueur". The Atlantic.
  10. ↑ Felten, Eric (2009-01-03). "Making Bitter Fernet-Branca Much Easier to Swallow". Wall Street Journal.
  11. ↑ Henderson, Fergus (April 2004). The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating. Ecco. ISBN 0-06-058536-6.
  12. ↑ Michael Dibdin (19 June 2004). "Strange brew". The Guardian.
  13. ↑ Watercutter, Angela (2012-07-20). "9 Unintentional Dark Knight Rises Lessons". Wired.
  14. ↑ Shipnuck, Alan (2009-04-20). "Angel Cabrera emerged from a drama-filled final round at the Masters with his second major title". Golf.com. Retrieved 2015-09-13.
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