RUCOLINO is a very unique spice liquor of herb - rockets (rucola). You will sense rocket's herbal aroma, mild sweetness and bitter. Please enjoy your relaxing time with freezing in freezer.
Immersed in the blue of the Tyrrhenian Sea, Ischia is the biggest island in the gulf of Naples and it owes its origin to the intense volcanic activity of the Phlegraean Fields which started over a million years ago. All over the territory you can find more than 40 volcanoes, among these even the current Ischia municipality’s port, which was actually the crater of a dead and sunk volcano that originated a lake. And it was left as such until 1854 when Ferdinand II of Bourbon, king of the Two Sicilies, had a way through opened, ushering in the port. It was the clairvoyance of the royal family, who loved the island as a holiday resort, that made Ischia so easy to reach, giving a great impulse to the commerce.
Along the centuries, phenomenon linked to the volcanic nature urged fascinating myths like Typhon, the rebellious giant who was trapped by Zeus under the island and who was constantly fighting to break his shackles and spitting fire, hence causing the waters to be hot and earthquakes. Such culture was so deeply established that it merged with the local toponymy: “like the historian Giuseppe d’Ascia says, it was called Ciglio [eyelash] because it was believed by the old mythologist and foreigner poets, a place where Typhon’s eyelashes were located while not far a country field was called Bocca [mouth] and the belly of the giant, whose head was in Testaccio [head] and feet in Pieio or piede [foot]”. Whereas many others associated the birth of the thermal springs and the fumaroles to the loves and tears of the gods, which have precious therapeutic qualities and are considered an elixir of life and wellness appreciated all over the world.
Ischia is caressed by the wind, with the perfumes of the Mediterranean scrub that restores your body and your soul, and it goes by the name of ‘green island’ thanks to blooming nature of its botanical gardens, of its woods and pine groves, not to mention the drowned world where fauna and flora make diving and snorkeling particularly interesting. Its beauty tickles the art of painters, sculptors, the creativity in the ceramist shops and the artistry in the production of wicker and raffia baskets. The first name that was given to Ischia was, in fact, “Pithecusae”, the monkeys island, but it was not long until the historians realized that the real etymology was from the Greek “Pytos” [big clay vase] that would refer to the industry which is still currently practiced - the terracotta vases.Those who associate Ischia to fishing boats that dock at dawn along with flying seagulls will be mistaken and realize that the island is mostly dedicated to land activities. The popular “cave rabbit”, included in Slow Food International’s Ark of Taste, followed by a rich gastronomy of local products, the Rucolino, not to mention the Neapolitan tradition spread by Gaetano Fazio, who’s considered an institution for the Neapolitan pizza, great master of this “white art”. Viticulture, then, would deserve a chapter of its own, with its old origins - evidences in fact prove the exportation of plates and wine amphora. Moreover, the island is proud of local vine varieties that produce wines such as “Biancolella”, “Forastera” and “Piedirosso”.
The history of Ischia intertwines the Greek, the Roman, the Arab, the Norman, the Spanish and the French dominations, though the most significant discovery was made by the archeologist Georg Büchner, who found the Nestor’s cup, a clay drinking cup dated to the VIII century BC that bears the oldest inscription found in the West and is now kept in the Villa Arbusto museum, in Lacco Ameno municipality. In the museum you can go through different life and activities aspects of the Greek colonists, who landed in Ischia at around 770/760 BC, whose prosperity was based on the trade, the metallurgic industry and the ceramic production. During this time of maximum expansion, Pithecusae’s commercial relations went from near East to Carthage, from Greece to Spain, from southern Etruria to Puglia, from Ionic Calabria to Sardinia. Angelo Rizzoli has been one of the most important protagonists in the development of Ischia, he was a publisher and a philanthropist from Milan who landed on the island in the Fifties and madly fell in love with it. Thanks to him, spas have become a dragging economical phenomenon, that has turned Ischia from a peasants and fishers community into the place to be for holidays. At that time were hosted intellectuals, heads of state, princes and celebrities [Clark Gable, Charlie Chaplin, Hitchcok, to Fellini, Vittorio De Sica Reza Pahlevi, Liz Taylor, Esther Williams, the Dukes of Windsor], those who loved to stay at the “Regina Isabella” Hotel in Lacco Ameno, which still retains the fascination of a luxurious and fancy place. A prosperous time that initiated the island to the film industry. Ischia’s glimpses made natural sets for the big screen and, as a matter of fact, here were shot cult movies like “Cleopatra” with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Barton, or “En Plein Soleil” with Alain Delon, just to mention a few. Still today, small and big productions land on Ischia, that becomes an ideal location especially in the summertime - from May to September - for events linked to music, journalism, tradition and cinema like the Ischia Global Film & Music Fest which, in July, for a week, offers premieres in the moonlight, press conferences, meetings, master-classes and soirées with international celebrities, Academy Awards winners and singers.
Text ©2013 Alessia Impagliazzo