Woolworths TASTE

Zest for life

Start your limoncello project now and in a week you’ll have bottled sunshine – a taste of warmer days to come, says Jeanne Calitz

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*It’s important to use organic fruit – the pesticides used in convention­al fruit penetrate the skin and will seep into your drink.

Have you ever had the good fortune

of enjoying a chilled, well-made glass of limoncello? No? What pleasures await you. It tastes like summer, distilled. The good news is you can make your own. I’ve been making limoncello for years, and it has become a delicious tradition.

Granted, I have very positive associatio­ns with this digestif.

Ten years ago, my husband and

I and a group of friends travelled to France and Italy. The circumstan­ces were fortunate, enormously so.

We’d all saved up to get there, everyone’s leave had synced, we could keep costs down by travelling as such a big group. We were having a glorious time.

One night in Lamole near Florence, our host reserved a table at the excellent restaurant across the road. I don’t remember what we ate – I’m sure it was delicious. What I do know is that our table was probably quite rowdy, compared to the sophistica­tion of the other diners. (Yes, we were that table. What can I say? We were young and elated to be there.)

What I remember is that the staff visibly enjoyed our enthusiasm, so much so that after the first round of limoncello, the friendly waiter simply plonked the bottle on the table with a smile and murmured “Bene”. It remains one of the best nights of my life.

And here we are, a decade later. A lot has happened. There have been births and deaths; growth and change. And now, a pandemic. Who would have thought? Here we are, unable to travel, to imagine how life in a post-pandemic world will unfold. So many questions; so much beyond our control.

But some things you can control. If you add egg yolks to milk, it will thicken. If you add lemon peel to vodka and let it sit, and sweeten it with sugar, you will get limoncello. You’ll get a home-made batch of liquid sunshine – a small but powerful talisman against the storm outside. @jtcalitz

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