The Alkermes of Florence is a Traditional Agricultural Product (PAT) on the national list approved by the Ministry of Agriculture Food and Forestry, the requirements of which are regulated by the production discipline of the Tuscany Region.

Features

The Alkermes in Florence is a sweet liqueur, elixir type, bright red, with a spicy-aromatic flavor, ph 5.1 and 35 degrees alcohol.
It is said to be an “invigorating” liqueur that revives spirits and strengthens the organism.

It is used in pastry as a dye and flavoring and is used in the preparation of the Prato mortadella.

The name comes from the Arabic qarmiz which means “scarlet color” or “alchermes” or “kemir”, a term by which the Arabs designated the dried body of a cochineal that lives on the cocciferous Quercus.
Female insects are called chermese and once dried and reduced to powder provide a strongly dyed red substance still used today in the preparation of the liquor.

Processing

The method of processing is still the artisanal one, according to the ancient recipe.

The drugs are macerated with alcohol to get the “tincture” to which will be added water distilled of rose and orange flowers, sugar and the coloring solution obtained with the cochineal.
Everything is mixed and ripened in oak barrels for 6 months. After that it is filtered and bottled to be intended for consumption.

Traditional Alkermes is produced in the Herbal Workshop of Santa Maria Novella in Florence.
No other original productions of alkermes are known, except home preparations according to the recipes present in the various texts of typical cuisine. Industrial production is also noted, but these are hydro-alcoholic solutions flavored, not colored with cochineal.

The annual amount produced is 250 liters, although the production potential is 2000 liters.
The sale is mostly done directly in the store.
Only a small amount is sold to wholesalers for distribution outside the province (even abroad) or to local restaurateurs.
The product participates in many of the food and wine events that are organized annually in Tuscany and in the rest of Italy.

History and curiosity

The oldest preatory of this liqueur, produced in the perfume-pharmaceutical workshop of Santa Maria Novella, dates back to 1859 although the original recipe of The Alkermes is that dictated by Fra Cosimo Bucelli, director of the Workshop of Santa Maria Novella already in the 1743, found in the cookbook of the Foundry of the Workshop itself.

But the history of the Alkermes is much older: according to historical sources, it is said that this liqueur, considered a medicinal specialty, was already produced, as an elixir of long life by the Sisters of the Order of St. Mary of the Servi of Florence, founded in 1233.

At the beginning of the sixteenth century there were also news of the preparation of the friars of Santa Maria Novella and the Certosini (alkermes of Florence or rosolio). He became famous thanks to Catherine of the Medici who introduced him to France.

The alkermes was and still is used today in the preparation of the English soup, a sweet Italian whose origins some trace back to the Court of Medici.