Fernet

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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.

Popularity[edit]

Fernet and Coke (Fernet con Coca in Spanish), a popular drink in Argentina

It 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.[6][7] The massively popular drink (Fernet-Cola) was popularized during the mid-1980s encouraged by advertisements of Fratelli Branca in Buenos Aires TV stations with national scope,[8] its popularity growing steadily ever since.[9] 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 their menus 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.[10] San Francisco bars usually serve fernet as a shot followed by a ginger ale chaser.[1]

Cocktails[edit]

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.[11]

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.[12]

In popular culture[edit]

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

"Two Fernet please" - a drink order request in Le notti di Cabiria [Nights of Cabiria], directed by Federico Fellini - 1957 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

In The Sopranos Season 1 Episode 5 "College," the character Carmela Soprano tells her priest that she was "having a little fernet. It settles the system." .[13]

It forms the titular subject of James Hamilton-Paterson's 2004 novel of Tuscany expatriate life, Cooking with Fernet Branca [14]

In the 2012 film The Dark Knight Rises, Bruce Wayne's butler Alfred Pennyworth remembers himself sitting in Florence, Italy drinking a Fernet Branca.[15]

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

Fernet was reported to be the favorite drink of 2007 U.S. Open (golf) winner Ángel Cabrera.[16]

In Scandal (TV series) Season 6 Episode 6 "96. Extinction (2017)," the character Eli Pope while reminiscing about the past with Sandra prepares her "a drink," a very tall pour, and plays a Marvin Gaye record. A bottle of Fernet is visible on the table during the whole scene and its label can be read clearly as the camera zooms in to cuts away.

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  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[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Cavalieri, Nate (2005-12-07). "The Myth of Fernet". SF Weekly. Archived from the original on 21 February 2007. Retrieved 2010.  Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  2. ^ a b c 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. ^ a b 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). Archived from the original on 2008-02-14. 
  6. ^ a b "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. ^ Advertisements of Channel 9, Bs.As., circa end 1987 beginnings 1988. See time 10:43 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wN-eX0DfwYk
  9. ^ Vecino, Diego. "Fernet: una historia de amor argentina". Conexión Brando. La Nación. Retrieved 20 March 2016. 
  10. ^ Curtis, Wayne (November 2008). "The Bitter Beginning: Learning to love a bracing Italian liqueur". The Atlantic. 
  11. ^ Felten, Eric (2009-01-03). "Making Bitter Fernet-Branca Much Easier to Swallow". Wall Street Journal. 
  12. ^ Henderson, Fergus (April 2004). The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating. Ecco. ISBN 0-06-058536-6. 
  13. ^ https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2011/12/fernet-the-best-liquor-youre-still-not-yet-drinking/250381/
  14. ^ Michael Dibdin (19 June 2004). "Strange brew". The Guardian. 
  15. ^ Watercutter, Angela (2012-07-20). "9 Unintentional Dark Knight Rises Lessons". Wired. 
  16. ^ 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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