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The Amalfi Coast
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There's much more to Italy's Amalfi Coast than pizza.
From sweet lemons to umami anchovy sauce, the food of the Amalfi Coast is a celebration of its gastronomic history, microclimates, and ample sunshine. With both sea and fertile mountains on hand, the cuisine is rich, bold, and bright. Often, trying a typical food can be extended into a leisure activity, whether that’s visiting one of the lesser-trod towns or hiking to a pizzeria.
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Sfusato Amalfitano Lemon
The landscape of the Amalfi Coast is renowned for the kilometers of stepped terraces carved into the hillside. Here, a dwindling number of farmers cultivate the prized sfusato amalfitano lemon, a local variety with an elongated shape, thick wrinkled skin, and distinctly sweet taste. It is the protagonist of myriad dishes of the coastline. Delizia al limone is a dome-shaped dessert of sponge and tangy lemon cream, while pasta al limone is a primo piatto of exquisite simplicity using lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic, and olive oil. Don’t forget to finish your meal with chilled limoncello liqueur.
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Sfogliatella di Santa Rosa
In the 17th century, nuns at the Convent of Santa Rosa da Lima in Conca dei Marini invented a pastry to use up leftover ricotta, semolina flour, and candied fruit. It was an instant hit and became the forerunner of the sfogliatella now more commonly associated with the nearby metropolis of Naples. The shell-shaped pastry of wafer-thin layers is filled with ricotta from the coastline’s Lattari mountains and crème pâtissière. You’ll sometimes see them topped prettily with amarena cherries, too.
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Cuoppo
Mixed fried fish in glistening light batter is a dish you’ll find all down the coastline. In Amalfi specifically, you’ll find it served in a paper cone known as a cuoppo or cuppetiello. This means you can wander the shoreline while tucking into crunchy shrimps, calamari, fresh anchovies, and local white fish paranza freshened with a thick wedge of lemon.
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Colatura di Alici
Colatura di alici is a prized condiment from the coastal town of Cetara and probably the closest product to the Roman garum we have today. It is made by fermenting and pressing locally caught anchovies in oak or chestnut barrels. Gradually, the fish mixture oozes a potent amber liquid that is collected and used to enliven pasta dishes, grilled vegetables, or pizza.
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Spaghetti di Nerano
Visitors usually expect fish and seafood from the Amalfi Coast, but fresh cheese may come as more of a surprise. The lush mountains behind the shoreline are dense with farms and dairies producing ricotta, mozzarella, fiordilatte, and Provolone del Monaco. The latter is a semi-hard, piquant cheese that melts mouth-wateringly and is a key ingredient in the classic dish of the coastal town of Nerano, spaghetti di Nerano.
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Pizza di Tramonti
The pizza of Tramonti is not simply a variation of Naples’ famous pie. It was invented independently in the mountainous town of Tramonti on the Amalfi Coast in the medieval period. At first, it was a dough of rye, millet, and orzo topped with lard and spices while still hot from the oven. At the beginning of the 19th century, most families in Tramonti had their own wood-fired oven. Now, there are pizzerie serving the modern derivation: a bread base topped with creamy local fiordilatte cheese, corbarino tomatoes from Campania, and sometimes a drizzle of colatura di alici.
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Scialatielli all'Amalfitana
Scialatielli is a type of pasta found on the Amalfi Coast and in the Campania region. The name comes from the Neapolitan dialect and literally means touselled hair–a bit like what these thick, flat pasta strands look like when served on a plate–or to enjoy (scialare) in a pan (tiella). They were officially invented by Amalfitano chef Enrico Cosentino in 1978 but were likely already a household staple. There is no set sauce to pair them with, but being the Amalfi Coast, they are most often served topped with a mountain of fresh seafood like mussels, clams, and calamari, cooked with some cherry tomatoes and sprinkled with parsley.
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'Ndunderi
If you’re visiting the town of Minori, tasting this dish should be on your itinerary. According to UNESCO, ‘ndunderi is considered one of the oldest types of pasta in the world dating back to the ancient Romans. Similar to gnocchi, these pillow-like parcels are made from flour, ricotta, egg yolk, and cheese. The classic version is topped with meat sauce and provola cheese and crisped in the oven while alternative takes now see them served with seafood or tomato and basil sauce.
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Totani e Patate Alla Praianese
Translating as Praianese-style squid and potatoes, this dish is a symbol of life in the town of Praiano before tourism when the economy revolved around fishing and agriculture. The calcium-rich soil of the characteristic terraces around the settlement are ideal growing conditions for potatoes and in the evenings, a member of most families would once have been out at sea fishing for catch like squid. As such, housewives combined the two products into a single dish, pepped up with garlic, chili, and fresh parsley.
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Melanzane al Cioccolato
If you find yourself on the Amalfi Coast on the 15th of August, a national holiday known as Ferragosto, you can treat yourself to this culinary extravaganza. Melanzane al cioccolato translates as chocolate eggplant and was supposedly dreamt up by medieval monks in Tramonti. While the monks doused the eggplant in liqueur, residents of Tramonti and nearby Maiori developed a version with chocolate. It is often prepared as an eggplant parmigiana with layers of the vegetable fried alternated with layers of melted chocolate.
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