The Bellini: Venetian Cocktail Par Excellence

The Bellini cocktail was created at the venerable Harry's Bar in Venice in the 1930s by the bar's founder Giuseppe Cipriani. Basically it's a mixture of peach puree and sparkling wine - generally one part white peach puree to three parts of ice-cold dry Prosecco from Italy's Treviso region. The drink's particular shade of pink reminded Cipriani of a pink toga worn by a character in a painting done by painter Giovanni Bellini, hence the name.

At that time, Bellinis were only available from June to September, when the fresh white peaches were in season and the cocktail was served up in small, frosty glasses. The peach puree itself was obtained by squeezing the juice and pulp from the ripe peaches and forcing it through a fine sieve. That has changed of course, the Bellini being in season all year long now. And many say this has been to the detriment of the drink's taste. Using a food processor is still frowned upon even today by Bellini purists too, by the way, but depending on your point of view, this could also be seen as being a great step forward for the rest of mankind.

This wonderfully refreshing drink might never have caught the public's attention at all had it not been for one of the bar's most famous patrons, Ernest Hemingway. Or Harry's Bar itself might not have caught the public's attention, I should say. It was Hemingway who referred to Harry's Bar in his book "Over the River and Into the Trees", this of course doing much to spread the locale's fame. But Hemingway wasn't the only celebrity who spent a lot of time here. Harry's Bar has been frequented by the rich and the famous throughout the years. If you take a look at Harry's Bar website you will find the signatures of well known figures like Somerset Maugham, Charlie Chaplin, Orson Welles, Truman Capote and even Woody Allen, to name just a few.

Yes indeed, Harry's most famous cocktail has gained a large following, but it has unfortunately spawned some really awful copies as well. Many restaurants and bars around the world feature Bellinis on their menus, but the drinks they offer rarely live up to the genuine article. In some cases, champagne has been substituted for the Prosecco, it unfortunately being too fine to mix properly with the peach puree. In other cases, yellow peach puree gets substituted for white peach puree and sometimes even peach schnapps or canned peaches are used. Only frozen white peach puree will do of course, if you want to enjoy the real thing. Speaking of which, here is the original recipe:

Take approximately two thirds of a cup of white peach puree, one bottle of well-chilled Italian Prosecco and one teaspoon of raspberry puree. Place one tablespoon of puree at the bottom of each tall champagne flute you will be serving, add a few drops of raspberry puree, then add the Prosecoo and serve.

So if you ever find yourself in Venice, make sure to make your way to Harry's Bar, its right next to a little pier from where the water taxis ferry back and forth to Guidecca Island. But take a deep breath before going inside because the prices here are ridiculously high and the waiters seem to think that they are aristocrats, which, well, maybe they are. But ignore this uppity behavior as best you can because it is truly a wonderful place to cool off from a long day of sight-seeing, especially with a chilled Bellini in your hand. Of course you don't have to travel to Italy to enjoy one of these wonderful drinks you know, but I take it you've already gathered that.