A couple of weeks ago I was permitted a glimpse into an international network veiled in secrecy - real cloak-and-dagger stuff. The kind of operation that puts the characters in DaVinci Code to shame.
The mafia? Heck, no.
Amari - bitter spirits, crafted from a dizzying array of herbs, fruits, seeds, nuts and more.
According to my guide into this clandestine world, Toby Cecchini, owner of Passerby Lounge, noted amari aficianado and host of the evening's Slow Food Spirits amari tasting event, the recipe for each of these spirit-based herbal aperitifs/digestifs is strictly confidental. From Fernet Branca to Ramazzotti and Chartreuse to Cynar, no more than three individuals on the planet know their individual recipes. One dies - another is told the secret formula. Three. No more. No less.
And so, throughout the evening, I was privileged to sample a collection of these bitter liquors - some slightly sweet and reminiscent of colas, others as sharp as a paper cut - while learning a few amari mysteries.
If anyone could uncover the secrets behind amari - outside of the circles of three - it would be Toby, who's enthusiasm for these bitter brews knew no bounds. And, indeed, Toby had discovered a key ingredient to one of my favorites - Campari - known for its bitter orange peel bite and beautiful scarlet hue. For a spirit composed in Italy, one of its prime ingredients comes from Mexico - beetle juice.
I'm not kidding. Apparently, Toby stumbled upon this fact during a visit south of the border, at a plant where deep red, carmine coloring was manufactured - manufactured from female cochineal beetles who live on cactuses. (Said red bug, pictured above.)
Yick!
And, yet, I felt giddy with the knowledge. I was one of the very few who knew this secret.
Or was I?
No sooner was I feeling puffed-up with confidential info, when my bubble was burst - by the Associated Press:
The Food and Drug Administration proposed Friday requiring food and cosmetic labels to list cochineal extract or carmine if a product's ingredients include either of the two red colorings that have been extracted from the ground bodies of an insect known since the time of the Aztecs...
...The widespread use of the dyes in everything from yogurt to lipstick hasn't exactly been well-disclosed: The ingredients typically are listed as "color added" or "E120," the FDA said.
Carmine puts the red in ice cream, strawberry milk, fake crab and lobster, fruit cocktail cherries, port wine cheese, lumpfish eggs and liqueurs like Campari, according to the FDA. Carmine is also used in lipstick, makeup base, eye shadow, eyeliners, nail polishes and baby products, the agency said. Meanwhile, cochineal extract shows up in fruit drinks, candy, yogurt and some processed foods.
So, it seems the only secret I ever had is in my medicine cabinet.
