Torino, Amaro, shake me ..

Torino, Amaro, shake me..

The fascinating city of Torino surprised me with its unexpected beauty. That’s what was going on in my mind while I was also realizing I was in arguably the best place for Amaro, vermouth and all that stuff. Something I have a strong weakness for.

Whereas in the United States vermouth is a fad or a relatively new awakening in culinary culture, I  grew up with vermouth.

My parents drank it before lunch on a Sunday, the neighbors did too all over the streets you could see advertisements; those vintage posters with funny drawings. Back then we would only get the low quality ones, except for a few other ones that stood up in quality.

Cynar; artichoke vermouth; artichoke? I would wonder when I was a kid; why someone would drink artichoke? 

Fernet Branca; deserves a post just by itself; and then many other ones that are still there nowadays with the same old posters and labels.

But my realization was that I was in Torino; the Mecca of this kind of drink and I was there. I certainly drank amaro’s twice a day during my stay; before lunch and before dinner , to make up for those years In which i hadn’t drunk up outstanding vermouth, I suppose. 

But I was fascinated being in Caffè Mulassano; a classic in Torino; an old cafe with marble and brass, pristine vintage glassware, and old bottles, with an impeccable bartender dressed in a white jacket.

And here I was sipping an amaro.

When you find a bottle with an art nouveau  label of traditional amaro with the name Mulassano on it, made by the exact bar where you are in, sip and look around and realize that, that was the absolute highlight of my visit to Torino.