Sunday, April 22, 2012

A Learning Experience


The flavor text for this drink begins: "Tradition dictates that any variation in the Bellini's recipe is a bastardization best shunned."  Given the amount of work we've put into finding the correct liquors, glasses, etc. for the rest of this project, you'd think that upon reading that we'd take extra care to make the Bellini exactly like the recipe called for.  You would, of course, be wrong.

The Bellini was created by the proprietor of Harry's Bar in Venice, Italy.  Legend has it that Cipriani, the proprietor, put together this drink and found the color reminiscent of the robe of a saint in a painting by Giovanni Bellini.  While the Internet is unclear on which painting it is, my best guess is the Madonna and Child with Saints Peter, Catherine, Jerome and Lucy, which is near the altar of the San Zaccaria in Venice.  The kneeling saint, if she is indeed a saint, has a robe that is close to the bright pink color of a correctly made Bellini.  The painting is arranged so that at particular times of day a beam of light hits each saint's robe in turn (cite), so it is easy to see how this would have left an impression on a Venetian bartender.                                     

Drink #5: Bellini




  • 4 oz prosecco (an Italian sparkling wine)
  • 1 oz white peach puree
Peel and puree 3-4 white ripe peaches, mix with 1oz simple syrup and strain, chill.  Pour 1oz nectar into chilled champagne flute, top with prosecco.

The astute among you will notice that we didn't quite make it to saint's robe color.  Our first recommendation for this drink is to make it when peaches are actually in season and you don't have to choose between unripe fruit from Chile and a can.  Secondly, yellow peaches, even organic ones, are not a recommended substitution.  Finally, puréeing and muddling are really not the same thing, no matter how much you don't want to clean the blender.

The end result was that while the prosecco was delicious on it's own, the drink as a whole was a flop and borderline undrinkable. 

Final Verdict 


Worth a re-try using the proper recipe during peach season.

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