Zucca Comm. ex Juss. is a synonym of Momordica

Momordica

Momordica is a genus of about 60 species of annual or perennial climbers herbaceous or rarely small shrubs belonging to the family Cucurbitaceae, natives of tropical and subtropical Africa and Asia and Australia...

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Zucca is Italian for pumpkin

Pumpkin

A pumpkin is a gourd-like squash of the genus Cucurbita and the family Cucurbitaceae . It commonly refers to cultivars of any one of the species Cucurbita pepo, Cucurbita mixta, Cucurbita maxima, and Cucurbita moschata, and is native to North America...

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Zucca is a commercial Italian

Italian cuisine

Italian cuisine has developed through centuries of social and political changes, with roots as far back as the 4th century BCE. Italian cuisine in itself takes heavy influences, including Etruscan, ancient Greek, ancient Roman, Byzantine, Jewish and Arab cuisines...

 aperitif

Aperitif

Apéritifs and digestifs are alcoholic drinks that are normally served with meals.-Apéritifs:An apéritif is usually served before a meal to stimulate the appetite. This contrasts with digestifs, which are served after a meal for the purpose of aiding digestion...

. Although its name is Zucca, the Italian word for squash, and is featured at Zucca's Bar located in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele in Milano, its base ingredient is Rhubarb

Rhubarb

Rhubarb is a group of plants that belong to the genus Rheum in the family Polygonaceae. They are herbaceous perennial plants growing from short, thick rhizomes. They have large leaves that are somewhat triangular-shaped with long fleshy petioles...

, hence its name Rabarbaro Zucca. It is also combined with zest

Zest

-Food ingredient:*Zest , the outer peel of a citrus fruit**Zester, tool for preparing zest**Twist , a piece of zest-Commercial product:*Zest , a Procter & Gamble trademark...

, cardamom

Cardamom

Cardamom refers to several plants of the genera Elettaria and Amomum in the ginger family Zingiberaceae. Both genera are native to India and Bhutan; they are recognised by their small seed pod, triangular in cross-section and spindle-shaped, with a thin papery outer shell and small black seeds...

 seeds and other curative herbs. After 10 days of rest, the drink is filtered and bottled. The liqueur has a delicate and pleasant bittersweet taste and is often mixed with soda water and ice. Zucca is closely related to other traditional Italian aperitifs, such as Campari

Campari

Campari is an alcoholic apéritif obtained from the infusion of herbs and fruit in alcohol and water. It is a bitters characterized by its dark red color....

, Punt e Mes

Punt e Mes

Punt e Mes is an Italian vermouth. It is dark brown in color and has a bitter flavour. Punt e Mes literally means "point and a half" in Piedmontese. It has been said that it owes its name to a sudden raise of the stock market which greatly benefitted the Carpano distilleries, which then created...

, and Cynar

Cynar

Cynar is an Italian bitter apéritif liqueur made from 13 herbs and plants. Predominant amongst these is the artichoke , from which the drink derives its name...

, as its relatively light, with a 16% volume in alcohol.

While it is nearly impossible to find commercially in North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

, it enjoys a certain amount of prominence as a featured drink at the Zucca bar in Galleria at the Piazza del Duomo in Milan

Milan

Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

. The bar is also the site where Gaspare Campari

Gaspare Campari

Gaspare Campari was an Italian drink maker.Born in Cassolnovo, Lombardy, he was a master drink maker at the Bass Bar in Turin, the major commercial centre for aperitif products, by the age 14. His recipe contained more than 60 natural ingredients including herbs, spices, barks and fruit peels...

 first introduced his alcoholic infusion of herbs in the 1860s.

It is not currently distributed commercially in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

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