Negroni

If like us, you tend to travel places for the food, it's more likely than not that you will remember the first time you tasted something or other. My first Negroni was in a small bar at the water's edge after a stiflingly hot day in Lake Garda. I thought I had actually ordered an Aperol Spritz, but it seems the bar staff decided otherwise, and as everyone else in the place seemed to be drinking Negronis too, it seemed rude not to...

The Negroni was supposedly invented in Florence in 1919 at Caffe Casoni, when Count Camillo Negroni asked the bartender to adapt his favourite Americano to make it slightly stronger by replacing the soda water with gin... And so the short, swift and ridiculously strong Negroni was born, and it really does suit this time of year...

Today marks the end of Negroni week in the UK, a campaign that allows bars to raise money for a charity of their choice from a list of 46 International Causes supported by Negroni week. Whilst many Winchester Bars and Cafes partook (The Cabinet Rooms, The Winchester Orangery, and The Green Man to name but a few), over 12,000 venues worldwide took part altogether, but I made do with mixing my own one particularly blustery Summer evening:

25ml decent gin;

25ml sweet vermouth;

25ml Campari;

Ice, Orange peel..

Pour the gin, vermouth and Campari together over ice, stir until the outside of the glass is cold, add a generous slice of orange peel and enjoy! That first sip always takes me back to Lake Garda...