L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2022 www.italoamericano.org 4 FRANCESCA BEZZONE NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS A re you ready to c o m e b a c k to Italy? Have y o u p a c k e d y o u r b a g s already or are you still think- ing about the best destina- tion for your yearly visit to the Belpaese? W e l l , i f y o u f o l l o w o u r suggestion and take part in our new sweepstake, the A m a l f i C o a s t E x p e r i - ence, you may well get to fly to Amalfi for free and enjoy t h e C o s t i e r a o n u s f o r a week… So, introducing you to some of the area's most beautiful locations seems just the right idea, in case you need more reasons to p i c k u p t h e o p p o r t u n i t y . Capri, Positano, Amalfi, P o m p e i i , t h e b e a u t y o f Italy, and the wealth of its artistic and historical patri- mony are all there. And how can we forget a b o u t f o o d ? B e c a u s e t h e Costiera Amalfitana is home to many delicacies besides, of course, gloriously good p i z z a . B y t h e w a y , I s t i l l think the best pizza in my l i f e w a s t h e o n e I h a d i n Capri, some 27 years ago, w h e n I t r a v e l e d t o t h e C o s t i e r a A m a l f i t a n a a n d Naples on a school trip. And I eat a lot of pizza, so I know I thing or two about it. From A m a l f i ' s s u n - d r e n c h e d lemons to ancient Cetara's c o l a t u r a d i a l i c i – the great-grandchild of Rome's own garum – from chest- nuts, which you wouldn't really expect to be typical of this part of Italy, to tiny and delicious tomatoes. On the Costiera Amalfitana, there is really something for every- one. Let us start with the sym- bol of our roaring but ele- gant Dolce Vita: small, per- fect, bejeweled Capri, an island that even the ancient Romans loved. Its piazzetta i s w h e r e t r u e H o l l y w o o d s t a r s o f t h e g o l d e n a g e would lounge having their aperitivi, and nothing com- p a r e s w i t h a s t r o l l a l o n g the Belvedere di Tragara, w i t h i t s v i e w s o n t h e faraglioni and the elegant villas lining the road. But Capri is not perfect only for those who dream of glorious a n d g l a m o r o u s t i m e s , because here you can also visit important archaeologi- cal sites. Among them, the most outstanding is that of an ancient villa. As I said, our feisty ancestors adored Capri and the Costiera, it was their "home away from home." The rich and famous of the Empire all had beau- tiful villas along the Amalfi coast, where they enjoyed r e l a x i n g h o l i d a y s i n t h e company of their friends, eating fresh, juicy local pro- duce and drinking locally made honeyed wine. This is, in the end, the l a n d o f P o m p e i i , t o o . A city, that, in the year of its destruction, was among the w e a l t h i e s t i n t h e w h o l e Empire. A city filled with villas, theatres, and stores, that built its wealth on the production and export of wine, as well as garum, the tangy fish sauce the Romans went crazy for. Speaking of which, history buffs – espe- cially those with a penchant for Classical times – will d e f i n i t e l y w a n t t o t r y Cetara's own colatura di alici. Colatura is a tradi- tional fish sauce, obtained by letting anchovies macer- ate in salt. Why do I men- tion it here? Because colatu- r a i s c o n s i d e r e d t h e h e i r of garum, for which Pom- peii, which is just a stone's t h r o w a w a y f r o m A m a l f i and Positano, was known throughout the Empire. L e t ' s d e l v e i n t o t h e knitty-gritty of making colatura: the procedure is long and it requires months to be brought to completion: it all starts with the selec- tion of the best anchovies fished in the Salerno gulf between March and July; t h e y a r e , t h e n , c l e a n e d , heavily salted, and layered in a container for 24 hours. Afterward, they are placed in terzigni, special oak wood containers used exclusively to make colatura, alternat- ing a layer of fish and one of s a l t . T e r z i g n i a r e t h e n Continued to page 6 The sun sets on Positano (Photo: Rudi1976/Dreamstime) The beauty and flavors of Italy's Costiera Amalfitana Raito, a beautiful village on the Costiera Amalfitana (Photo: Giambattista Lazazzera/Dreamstime)

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