Amarelli (Rossano): Pure high quality licorice

The liquorice plant, whose scientific name is "Glycyrrhiza glabra”, is known and used for about 35 centuries, it is present in many countries, like Italy, Greece, Turkey, Afghanistan, Iran and Mongolia, but - as stated authoritatively into the Britannic Encyclopaedia - the best quality of liquorice "is made in Calabria”. The plants of Calabrian liquorice grow wild along the coast, where the natural characteristics of the soil and climate contribute together to raise the content of glycoside whose presence derives from the peculiarities of the juice of liquorice. In the Amarelli warehouses in Rossano (in Calabria), where the licorice is worked exist still a great millstone of 1700 (obviously mechanized and protected according to all current safety standards), which was used to crush the branches of licorice. Today, the roots, crushed by a special machine, pass through a series of stages modern and computerized, while in the final cookers goes back to the craft stage. Here the process is not unlike that described and admirably illustrated by the great travelers of the eighteenth century. Certainly there is no direct heat under the big "bowl" where the black pasta boils, nor are there more men running hard liquorice which is becoming less fluid, but there's still - next to the "valley" - a "liquorice master" controlling the exact point of solidification of the product. The thick paste, dark, shiny and fragrant is brought to the desired shape through a series of prototype machines, the result of centuries-old experience of the company. At this point another procedure follows, the polishing, which is still only with the use of strong jets of water vapor, without adding any chemicals. Finally, then, liquorice, black, bright and attractive, is ready to be packed in elegant metal tins that reproduce old pictures taken from the archives of the House. The range of products "Amarelli" includes everything which can be derived from licorice roots: the simple stick of rough wood, the pure licorice aroma with natural or added flavor of anise or mint, the chewy licorice scented with orange and finally a series of products of liquorice coated, from the classic "black and white" to the "pebble of the Ionian Sea”. There are, then, the most imaginative products such as liqueur, brandy licorice, chocolate, cookies, nougat, the noodles licorice and, finally, the licorice eau de cologne and the licorice shampoo/shower. The type of Amarelli customers is varied and is divided into three different categories: confectionery and liquors, herbal and pharmaceutical sector. www.liquirizia.it