Patxaran

Patxaran [ patʃa'ɾan ] (Spanish: pacharán ) is an anise - sloe liqueur that is widely used since the Middle Ages in Navarre. The name derives from Basaran from, a Basque word for " Blackthorn ". The liqueur is today in Spain known and available, but the main area of ​​distribution remains Navarre, the Basque Country and Aragon.

Patxaran is reddish in color, sweet and has an alcohol content of 25 to 30%. He is drunk after a meal, chilled or with ice cubes as a digestif.

History

Patxaran be demonstrated in Navarre until the 15th century. So should have taken the liqueur in the monastery of Santa María de Nieva as medicine in the year 1441 the diseased Queen Blanche of Navarre.

However, until the 19th century, it was only to be found in rural Navarre. In the 1950s, he was known by the onset of commercial production and marketing. A leading role were the families Velasco ( Ambrosio and Jaime ) in Viana, which also established the first known today Patxaran brands.

Originally wild sloes were also used for the liqueur produced commercially. Since about 1997, the sloes are cultivated in plantations to meet the increased demand.

To protect the poor quality Patxaran from Navarre after its more widespread before copycat products, was established the supervisory authority for Patxaran - production of the Regulating Body del pacharán Navarro and the quality and origin label Designation of Origin del pacharán in 1988. Today, well-known brands are, for example, Baines, Basarana, Etxeko, La Navarra and zoco.

Preparation

In northern Spain, it is still customary to prepare Patxaran at home. These just picked sloes with sweet anisette be placed. Depending on personal preference, a few coffee beans or cinnamon sticks are added, sometimes ( Pomace ) will take anisette also grape marc used. The patch raises six months to the fruit ripens and then filtered by a further three months.