Federica: God-Given Oranges

“If God gives you lemons, make lemon juice”; or so said Forrest Gumps’s mother.

God gave Valencia quite a few lemons, as well as oranges, mandarins and even grapefruit, mainly thanks to the Silk Trade with China, which brought all the best that China had to offer to the Levante shores many years ago.

The Italians, never content to let sleeping dogs lie, or to just slip a slice of lemon into a gin and tonic, applied all their creativity to that sourest of citrus fruits and came up with ‘limoncello’, an alcoholic drink using macerated lemons.

A Valencian company applied the same concept to oranges and came up with Federica, which after only a few years on the market is now on sale on 15 countries, and finally in February 2014, the flavour found favour in North America.

It was already conquering the normally sober Swiss only 6 months after its launch through the popular chain of gourmet stores Globus, and in February 2014 took a stand at the ANUGA Fair in Cologne, Germany, the most important gourmet fair in Europe.

‘Federica’ is produced by the  Pago de Tharsys winery in Requena using traditional manufacturing methods and quality, natural ingredients, and is now on sale in countries such as Belgium, Holland, Finland, Portugal, Greece, China, Japan and Lebanon, all of them countries in need of a little Mediterranean light and happiness.

The British market has been conquered through the retail giants Fortnum and Mason, Selfridges, Marks and Spencers and The Conran Shop. In Germany they now sell in Galería Kaufhof and Käfer, and the City Super chain of Hong Kong also stocks their elixir.

The company has now widened its range of products, producing its own version of limoncello, called ‘Celestino’, and also ‘Federica Cream’, which as the name indicates is a creamy liquor made with oranges.

Federica was conceived on holiday on the island of Capri, just off Naples and in full view of the Vesuvius volcano, which may account for its feisty, romantic flavour; or maybe it’s just the 30 per cent alcoholic content.

In the Uk it can be found on the fussy shelves of Selfridges, while in Germany shoppers at Kaufhof need no longer dream of next summer’s Spanish holiday if they want some Mediterranean solace.