It's suddenly struck me as odd that after some months of writing about food, I haven't discussed digestion. For an Italian that demonstrates remarkable restraint. Whereas in Ireland digestion and bowel movements are conversations we have with doctors, in Italy these are daily topics of discourse. Italians talk with affection and knowledge about their liver and spleen. I suspect most people in this country would be hard-pressed to locate either. Ask an Italian how he feels this morning and the chances are he'll tell you - in detail.

For a nation of hypochondriacs a preoccupation with the digestion produces some tangible effects. Italy has more pharmacists per capita than any other European country and they are stuffed, not only with all the usual pharmaceuticals, but with aids to digestion. Tablets to take before you go out to eat too much, capsules to help you digest when you have eaten too much, pills to stop you eating too much. Bars can provide you with an apperitif to stimulate your appetite, or a digestivo to help cope with that same appetite's results. Never forget, this is the country that brought you Fernet Branca.

Since digestion is so much discussed and so well catered for, it's tempting to believe all that you hear about it. I mean, if they spend so much time thinking about it, maybe they know something. For instance they believe that once past the age of thirty we can no longer digest with ease everything we throw into our stomachs; raw sweet peppers are a good example. This is where the digestivo, the post prandial liqueur, comes into its own. A good digestivo after an enormous meal will have you ready to start again.

The best digestivo you can have is a nocino, which is based on walnuts. Perhaps it can be bought here, but if not you can make your own. First you need alcohol. Now on the continent you can buy it in supermarkets - 100% ethyl alcohol ready to make into liqueurs. Since most recipes call for alcohol at 50% by volume, you dilute the pure alcohol by a half. This means that if you can't get access to pure, neutral alcohol, you'll need to find a comparable spirit. A high alcohol vodka or perhaps poteen would do the more neutral the taste the better.

Fill a large storage jar with green walnuts - the ones that still have the outer covering on - and cover them with the alcohol. Seal the jar and leave it for a month, shaking occasionally. Strain the liquid and add sugar. For a litre of 50% alcohol by volume you need to dilute 200 grammes of sugar. For a 75 cl bottle you'll need 150 grammes. At this stage you can add a little strong coffee if you want. Bottle it and it's ready to drink - however like many drinks it improves cosiderably with time.

If you like the idea of making liqueurs, the basic recipe is simple. Half a litre of alcohol, half a litre of water, 200 grammes of sugar and whatever flavour catches your fancy.

ORANGE LIQUEUR (Cointreau style)

Take a wide topped jar big enough to take a large orange easily through the opening. A 2 litre mayonnaise jar is ideal. Pour in half a litre of alcohol. Now comes the fun part. Take a ripe, perfumed orange and thread a string through the middle of it. Hold the string by both ends and lower the orange into the jar until it is about 1/2 an inch above the alcohol. Now put the lid on the jar trapping the string so that the orange remains suspended. Put the jar away for 21 days. Now measure out a half a litre of water and warm it enough to dissolve 200 grammes of sugar in it. Add this to your flavoured alcohol and you have Cointreau.

OTHER LIQUEURS

Most liqueurs are not made like the Cointreau, they are made by infusing the alcohol with the desired flavour. Here are two made this way.

LIMONCELLO (Lemon liqueur)

Take the rind from six large, well-washed lemons - avoid the bitter pith. Put it into a jar and cover it with 1/2 a litre of alcohol, or if no alcohol is available, the vodka or poteen. Give the jar a shake every day for 10 days. When the time is up, dissolve 200 grammes of sugar into 1/2 a litre of water (or if using vodka into as little water as possible) and add it to the strained alcohol. Bottle it, and it can be drunk once chilled, but it will improve enormously in flavour over a couple of months.

Coffee Liqueur.

Simple, quick and ready to drink immediately although like the others is does improve with bottle age. Make 1/2 litre of strong black real coffee and dissolve 200 grammes of sugar into it. Add 1/2 a litre of alcohol, shake well and refrigerate.