Sad news - you can try the real Bellini only within 3 months in a year, during a season of white peaches. In any other time it will be only the pathetic copy. And it is even better to do it in Italy. This drink — one of fleeting pleasures of summer.
Giuseppe Cipriani, the founder of Harry's of Levers in Venice, invented Beilini in 1945, and in 1949 named this mixed drink under the influence of characteristic pink color in the pictures Giovanni Bellini (1430-1516). Drink consists of two ingredients: juice of a white peach and sparkling wine. Color of drink is created by "red veins" which are in the place of contact of pulp and a stone of a peach.
Abundance of peaches in Italy proceeds throughout the period from June to September, and Giuseppe Cipriani had addiction to them so strong that he began to ask a question - whether there is a way to transfer this magic fragrance to drink which he could offer in Harry’s of Levers. He decided to experiment a little with puree of small white peaches, having added a few Prosecco. For many years in kitchen of Harry's of Levers the small fragrant white peaches turned into puree, squeezing out them manually.
There is an opinion that nobody in sensible mind drinks Bellini in the winter, let the frozen puree also do possible to throw down a challenge to the nature. Nevertheless, in the movie ""Brodsky Is Not a Poet"" you can see how the friend of the poet, the American artist, comes in the winter into this institution where they were to Iosif, and orders this cocktail.
What to tell about time of day? Cocktail too heavy as aperitif before a lunch or a dinner. The best time - the beginning of day, for breakfast. Or, on the contrary, at the end of the day, accompanying a dessert.
How sweet has to be Bellini? Moderately sweet that the taste of peaches was expressive.
Lemon juice as one of ingredients occurs in some recipes. From where did this idea come? Perhaps, from misunderstanding of the recipe of Harry’s of Levers. In the course of preparation of puree, lemon juice in the ratio 1:10 a.m., promoting prevention of an oksidation of peach juice is mentioned.
Proportions - a matter of taste. The recipe with a ratio of 1:3 purees to sparkling is presented to The Harry’s Bar Cookbook.
And , at last, of what to use type of a glass? Giving in a glass to a flyuta is graceful and beautiful. But in the photo in The Harry’s of Cookbook Levers it is imprinted not to a flyuta, and a type of the toggle-switch with quite thick bottom. In such glass serve cocktail in the movie ""Brodsky Is Not a Poet"".
Cocktail has 3 most known variations: Puccini, Rossini and Tiziano.
In Puccini there is a replacement of peach puree by tangerine juice. The first mention is found in the book 1992 Bluff you way in Champagne behind authorship of Nikolas Montesde. This drink - a tribute to the famous Italian composer of the 19th age of Giacomo Puccini, namely - to the work Madame Butterfly.
In Rossini peach puree is replaced with strawberry. As well as the previous twist, this was given birth by inspiration with works of other composer - Gioachino Antonio Rossini.
And, at last, Tiziano is drink on the basis of sparkling wine and juice of red grapes. It was framed in honor of the Italian artist of the Venetian school 15 of a century - Tiziano Vecellio.
Thus, these 4 variations develop in a uniform picture which forms 4 consistently replaced season. The spring is marked by emergence of ripe strawberry (Rossini), the summer gives sweet peaches (Bellini), the fall is rich with juicy grapes (Tiziano), and the winter presents bright citrus tangerine (Puccini).