The first couple of trips I made to the Amalfi coast were memorable for very different reasons. I was in Amalfi town for the outpouring of shock and emotion the night former Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro’s body was found riddled with bullets in the back of a Renault 4 in Rome, after his brutal kidnapping and fifty five day imprisonment by the Brigate Rosse, and then again a while later for of all things to attend a rock star drummer’s wedding in Naples. Years later with our 10 year old daughter in tow Sabrina and I drove south from Rome where we’d spent a few days staying on the Campo de Fiori and being comprehensively and pleasurably fleeced as only Roman hoteliers, restaurateurs and retailers know how, to enjoy an indolent Easter in Positano, an hour or so south of Naples.
If there’s a better, more beautiful family beach holiday location I’ve yet to find it, despite or even perhaps because of the pebbly beach. This got me out of sandcastle building duty with our daughter (pebble ‘Jenga’ is a whole lot more fun and the ammunition for skimming stones is unlimited).
In between beach pursuits and long indulgent lunches, we walked the coastal paths through lemon groves and the bottles of Limoncello we brought back home to LA inspired Sabrina to ‘distil’ her own from the lemons in our garden.
My Limoncello
4 cups vodka
10 lemon peels (just the zest)
2½ cups sugar
3½ cups water
Place the lemon zest and vodka in a sealable jar and let it sit for 4 days in a cool place. Make up a ‘simple’ syrup with the sugar and water by bringing them to the boil for 5 minutes. Let the mixture cool and then add it to the vodka and lemon. Allow it to sit overnight and then strain through cheesecloth, pressing on the solids firmly. Chill and allow to sit to sit for a week before enjoying.
You can get out onto the water too, where a speedboat taxi (outrageously expensive) will whisk you to Amalfi or Sorrento for lunch or in our case on a pedalo, which gave us a whole new appreciation of this vertiginously lovely village.
Of course, you’ll want to make the most of that dress circle view of the Tyrrhenian Sea. La Sireneuse is the classic lodging choice, but the Albergo Anchora where we were staying, has the same panorama for considerably less money and a lot less attitude. We spent hours on the steamer chairs on our large balcony day and night, sipping Pinot Nero and nibbling on freshly sliced mountain ham and cheese, with just that view for company. Back at the beach we had our choice of artfully distressed beach shack restaurants any of which can serve you a perfect Fritto Misto followed by a gelato for lunch.
Fritto Misto with my Asian twist: Serves Six
1lb medium shrimp, peeled
1lb fresh small squid; cleaned bodies sliced into rings and tentacles set aside
1 lb scallops
Oil for frying
Potato starch for coating (I substitute this for regular flour to make the dish gluten-free).
Marinade:
¼ cup sake
2 tbsp mirin
4 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp ginger juice
Place all the seafood in the pre-mixed marinade and leave for 30 minutes. Drain and coat the seafood with the potato starch. Heat a deep pan with about 3” of oil to 350 degrees F. Fry the seafood in batches. They will turn quite dark in color because of the marinade. Serve with a spicy sauce.
One stupid attempted excursion into nose to tail traffic towards Ravello had us fleeing back to Positano and our sybaritic routine after just an hour, and we discovered that same afternoon that our hotel had a sister property, the Covo di Saraceno down on the beach, with a pool we could use and its own excellent restaurant; all just a short walk from our daughter’s newest hobby, the village’s shooting gallery, where she shattered glass bottles with screams of delight!
What a part of the world - remember our family trip staying in a wonderful place, just the other side of Atrani - Villa San Michele! Great times.
Super simple and delicious, Lynn!