Mosto Cotto

• • • Makes about 3 cups • • •

My friend Marta Carrozza owns a small, beautifully appointed bed and breakfast in the historic heart of Sulmona. For much of the year, guests enjoy breakfast on the rooftop terrace, with the city’s steeples and tile roofs and the surrounding mountains as their backdrop. Every morning, Marta sets out a selection of freshly baked cakes, bowls of seasonal fruit, and fresh ricotta accompanied by a small bowl of mosto cotto. This thick, dark syrup is a prized condiment and ingredient throughout much of Italy, from Calabria to Emilia-Romagna, where it is known as saba.

Mosto cotto is simply grape must—the freshly pressed and filtered juice of wine grapes—cooked down into syrup. But that description doesn’t really do it justice. Once cooked, the syrup is put in bottles and left to age. It is here that the real transformation takes place. Over a period of weeks and months, the mosto cotto darkens in color to a deep, rich brown. It becomes smoother and more mellow, with notes of prune, raisin, fig, cherries, and spice. In Italy, mosto cotto was traditionally used as a sweetener in cookies and cakes before sugar was widely available, and it lends these sweets a rich, complex, fruity flavor (see Mostaccioli, page 270). There is really nothing like it. It is delicious drizzled over vanilla ice cream, fresh ricotta (page 203), or aged cheeses, as well as whisked into salad dressing and savory sauces.

Procuring fresh grape must will be your biggest challenge here, but I urge you to look for a source. Make friends with a winemaker. I have found them to be interesting, interested, and more than willing to help out. I have Michael Heny, the winemaker at Horton Vineyards, in Charlottesville, VA, to thank for providing me, over the last several years, with must from Cabernet Franc, Norton, Petit Verdot, Syrah, and Tannat grapes. Each variety yielded a slightly different flavor, with Norton being the most vegetal and Syrah the spiciest.

I got an unexpected bonus while working on this recipe: tasting real freshly pressed grape juice for the first time. Fresh grape must is bright and tart and sweet and, yes, thirst-quenching. I would drink it every day if I could. While I was tasting, I decided to mix myself a glass of homemade grape soda, which I did by adding a splash of sparkling spring water and a couple of ice cubes to half a glass of must. What a treat!

1 gallon fresh grape must

Equipment

Fine-mesh strainer

Tight-weave cheesecloth

Narrow funnel

1 sterilized 1-liter swing-top bottle with rubber gasket, or several smaller bottles

1 • Pour the must through a fine-mesh strainer lined with damp tight-weave cheesecloth into a large heavy-bottomed pot. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and cook at a lively simmer for 1½ to 2 hours. Skim any foam that rises to the top. As the must cooks, it will reduce in volume and begin to thicken slightly. It will start to smell “cooked.” Here is where you need to be careful, as the must can go from perfectly cooked to overcooked very quickly. Reduce the heat to medium-low or low and continue to simmer gently until the must is reduced to about one-quarter its original volume, or even a little less. It will be thickened, but not too thick; it should coat a spoon but still pour easily. If you start to smell burnt caramel, remove the pot from the heat immediately.

2 • Let the syrup cool to room temperature. Strain it through a fine-mesh sieve lined with damp tight-weave cheesecloth and funnel it into the prepared bottle or bottles. Store in a cool, dark spot for up to 1 year. The mosto cotto will continue to improve in flavor as the months go by.