A specialty of Cetara on the Amalfi Coast is a centuries' old tradition of fish preservation, and the results are delicious. Cetara is a old fishing village between Vietri Sul Mare and Amalfi, where anchovy fish are a prized commodity.
The fish are caught only in the Gulf of Salerno and thanks to unique conditions of climate, water, and cyclical life cycle of the anchovies, have a lower fat content that are ideal for preserving in salt, just as it has been done for centuries. The fresh fish are cleaned immediately when they reach shore and layered in sea salt in special wooden buckets called "terzigni". A hole drilled in the bottom allows the liquid to drain off and it is collected and used separately. It is this juice that is colatura, and it is a delicacy that is used on pasta or drizzled onto many things, including potatoes, cheese, or anything that the cook wants to give a little extra "something". The fish is left in the salt to cure for 4 to 5 months; since the fishing season runs from April to July or August, the curing process ends conveniently at Christmas time. No celebration in Cetara is complete without the fresh colatura on spaghetti and the just-ready fish adorning antipasti plates for the Christmas Eve meal.
Try colatura when you're on the Amalfi Coast. It is an amber colored liquid, salty and briny and lightly anchovy flavored, not overpowering at all, and a surprise burst of flavor.
The villages scattered all around the Cilento coast maintain a very ancient fishing technique, but non so closely tied to it than the pretty town of Pisciotta.
If you have searched the web looking for activities to do while vacationing on the Amalfi Coast, there is no doubt that you have already read about Mamma Agata and her incredible cooking school in Ravello.
Once you have peeled your eyes away from the stupendous scenery of the Amalfi Coast, one of the first things you’re bound to notice is the large lemons hanging from the trees.
The hills that surround the city of Salerno and stretch from the Amalfi Coast to the Cilento National Park give an extra-virgin olive oil with an intense colour and a unique fruity taste.
Agerola is known as "Città del Pane" - city of bread – nationwide popular brand that recognizes some Italian towns where this product assumes a special value due to the peculiar characteristics.
At Summer in Italy we do care about our guests, and this is why, in order to help you making your food shopping in Italy just perfect, we would like to share a few tips about high-quality local products.
Its unique and special characteristics, very much appreciated even abroad, gives the name to "Fico Bianco del Cilento": once dried, the sweet peel gets light yellow coloured rather than chestnut brown if oven-cooked.
Amalfi Coast
Sorrento Coast
Tuscany
Cilento National Park
Lake Como
Rome and Latium
Umbria
Capri and Ischia
Venice
Puglia (Apulia)
Liguria
Sicily
Lake Maggiore
Lombardy
Sardinia
Lake Garda
Abruzzo and Marche
Calabria
