Reportage
p. 022
The amaro makers of the Dolomites
Thirty-two herbs, one secret, and a family that hasn’t changed the recipe since 1902.
The recipe for Amaro Fiamma is written on a single card, in pencil, and kept in a drawer in the family kitchen in Val di Fassa. It lists thirty-two herbs, roots and barks. It has not changed since 1902.
Most of the herbs are still picked by hand on the slopes above the village in July: gentian, yarrow, wild thyme, mountain arnica. They dry in the attic for a month before they go into the alcohol.
The taste of winter
Amaro was medicine first: a digestive, a tonic, something to get you through a long winter at altitude. The bitterness was the point.
“Bitter is the taste of something that has been through winter.”
About the writer
Luca Ferrante
Luca writes about bread, saints’ days and the small rules that keep southern Italian kitchens running. He teaches Latin when he isn’t on deadline.
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