One of the oldest and most consolidated Altamura traditions is the “Padre Peppe”, a walnut, herb and spice liqueur produced by the Striccoli family since the early 1800s. The ancient recipe was invented by a friar, Father Giuseppe Ronchi, who retired to at the end of the 1700s in the Capuchin monastery in Altamura, he found the time to extract medicinal juices from the herbs and fruits that grow on the Murgia.

Father Peppe is the result of the collaboration between Nature and Tradition. Nature provides the raw materials: walnuts still wrapped in the green husk; spices and herbs always selected in the same combination of doses. Tradition assures Father Peppe the wisdom of the ancient method of preparation and conservation in oak barrels in the ancient cellars, casings of livid stone and mazzaro.

In fact, since 1832 the liqueur is still produced according to the original recipe. Green walnuts required to macerate in alcohol with the addition of herbs and spices, and after 4 years of aging in oak barrels, it is subsequently diluted with sugar syrup and colored with natural caramel.

With a bright dark color and exquisite flavor, a classic of the aroma of green walnuts, Padre Peppe has 42 percent alcohol and in addition to the recognized digestive virtues it is also an excellent tonic.

It can be eaten straight, at room temperature or frozen, but also as an addition to coffee or washed down on ice cream and to compose affogati. Warm is an excellent punch thanks also to the spices it is made of; after all, the virtues of walnut and its fruits as well as oriental spices have been known since ancient times, both in the official pharmacopoeia and in folk remedies.

Today, this family business also produces a Demisec version (with a lower amount of sugar) and a Walnut Cream, intense in taste and aroma.