Liquor & Spirits: Ratafià Abruzzese (Homemade Italian Sour Cherry Liqueur) Ratafià Abruzzese joins two agricultural traditions that define the region: sour cherries and red wine. Ripe visciole are combined with sugar and wine, then the flavored liquid is filtered and commonly strengthened with alcohol. The finished drink should retain the vivid sweet-tart identity of the fruit while carrying the structure, color, and vinous depth of its base. It is richer than a simple cherry

Sorbetto all'Amarena (Italian Sour Cherry Sorbet) A sorbetto is the most exposed dessert in the Italian repertoire. There is no cream to hide behind, no egg yolk to round the edges, no fat at all to coat the tongue and soften a mistake. There is fruit, there is sugar, there is water, and there is the temperature at which the three of them freeze. Get the proportions right and the amarena tastes brighter frozen than it did fresh. Get them wrong by two percent and you have eith