Italy: The Final Chapter

I have been meaning to do a last post about our trip to Italy, but the longer I’ve waited, the harder it’s become to remember all the details. Luckily I kept a travel journal to remind myself where I’d gone and what I’d done, so I will tell you a little about the Cilento Coast and the day I spent alone in Salerno. In case you need a refresher, I wrote two other posts about our vacation, which you can read here and here.

Having two weeks for the vacation really gave us a chance to see things at a leisurely pace. If Sonny had his way, we would have been at the beach each and every day. BIL and SIL were more about hiking and getting outdoors in nature. If you’re that type, you will love the Cilento Coast. There are tons of hiking possibilities and numerous grottos you can visit, if you’re into dank, dark places and bats. I’m not. Bedstemor wanted to see archaeological ruins and she enjoyed Paestum and Pompeii. I preferred visiting towns and cities to see what they had to offer. I even ventured alone around Salerno while the rest of the group went to Pompeii.

Paestum is the site of an ancient Greek temple. I thought this was a funny picture taken by SIL of BIL debating with his imaginary friends.

Pompeii. The picture was taken by SIL.

Notice the kid's wearing sandals? Bad idea if you are going to be walking in dust. By the time he got home, his feet were caked and black.

This kid is a hoot! He's vogue-ing! In Pompeii!

If you plan on sight seeing along the coast, you will need two things: a car and a good supply of Dramamine. Buses will get you to Paestum and Pompeii and the cities along the coast, but it’s just easier to have a car at your disposal. You’ll get to see more in less time and you won’t have to worry about deciphering bus schedules, late buses and the occasional crazy Italy dude (more on this later). Be warned that driving amongst the Italians can be a little nerve wracking, but BIL said that after a couple of days, he figured out there was some method to their madness.

The Cilento Coast highway is not as jaw clenching as the Amalfi Coast, but if you are prone to carsickness, you’ll want to have a barf bag handy. Even the Dramamine wasn't enough at times. The upside is the scenery. It’s gorgeous. You’ll want to pull over and snap photos every half mile. The only thing to keep in mind is that the national “nap time” is generally between 1 to 5 PM, which happens to be prime touristing time. Luckily the outdoors are so gorgeous you could just pack a lunch and explore outside while the locals are "napping".

As I mentioned, I spent a day by myself venturing around Salerno and a little ways up the Amalfi Coast while the others went to Pompeii. Hubby’s parents dropped me off near a post office in Salerno with their cell phone on their way north, and the plan was to pick me up a few hours later on the way home. Did I mention I didn’t have a city map? Or a GPS unit or even a compass? I just decided to follow the signs toward the stazione, which I believed would be a train or bus station. My plan was to squeeze in a bus trip to Amalfi since Rick Steeves said it was worth a visit. I got a little lost, and after a little aimless wandering and some gelato to help me get my barings, I found the station. The ticket to Amalfi only cost 6 Euros, which was a good bargain.

Salerno

The next bit that follows is what Rick Steeves would call turning a travel mishap into a magic travel memory. Or something like that.

When I got onto the bus at the terminal, it was already over half full, but I was lucky enough to snag a window seat. At the next stop a guy with a big bag sat down sat next to me and his mom sat in the seat in front of us. He set his bag down between his legs so he had to spread his legs as far open as they’d go. Compared to what Americans are used to, the circle of personal space is a bit smaller in Italy, but he was really pushing the limit. I suppose I could have given up my seat so he could sit next to his mother, but I wanted the window seat. Almost immediately the dude introduces himself as Marco and begins to rattle off in Italian. He asked me my name, but I tried to politely indicate that I didn’t understand what he was saying (although I did understand he was asking my name and where I was from). His mom kept turning around and rolling her eyes at him, like she knew he was annoying. Did I mention he was like 35 years old? Once he realized I wasn’t able to socialize, he put on his earphones and serenaded the entire bus. And he was no Eros Rammazotti. Occasionally he’d reach over me and point his Razor phone at the window and snap a picture. I can only imagine what they looked like, pictures taken with a camera phone from a moving bus. I wanted to move, but there weren’t any seats left and I would have definitely barfed if I had to stand for that bus ride, despite taking a dose and a half of Dramamine. I thought I could get off at one of the bigger stops and wait for the next bus, but once we got to driving on the cliffs, the stops were in the middle of nowhere. I didn’t want to get out to wait half an hour by the side of the road. I ended up sitting next to Marco for a good 45 minutes (he sang most of that time and used my side as an elbow rest), until we reached Maiori, a small town about 5 km of Amalfi. I walked around Maiori a bit to shake off the Marco experience. Snapped some pictures. Ate gelato...again. Got back to my vacation happy place. I never did make it all the way to Amalfi, because the next bus was very late. I decided to head back to Salerno and have a look around. It turns out I didn’t get to see much of Salerno either. By the time I got there and got myself another gelato (that's number 3, if you were counting), Hubby’s parents were on their way to pick me up. The day definitely did not turn out the way I planned, but it was certainly quite memorable.


Snapped this picture when the bus stopped along the route. You can't really see it, but there is a road cut into the side of that cliff!

Maiori

The beach at Maiori was nice and calm, and as you can see sparsely popluated. But I heard it can get really crowded during peak season.

Our trip to Agropoli was completely the opposite of my Salerno trip. Agropoli is probably the largest city on the Cilento Coast yet it doesn’t seem to get a lot of attention. Maybe because it doesn’t look very welcoming from the highway. The only notable thing we saw all the times we drove by was the gi-normous, dreary looking hospital. But once we got to the city proper, it was so pretty. The pedestrian shopping street was very charming and lead up to the old town. It was very similar to Castellabate in that the streets were narrow alleyways and steps. The view from the top of the old town was just as beautiful as the view from Castellabate. We saw the harbor, waterfront homes, and the sea.

Entering the original portion of Agropoli. The next picture shows the view of newer Agropoli from these steps.

Looking down from old Agropoli towards the newer portion of town.

Looking north from old Agropoli.

We were also fortunate enough to happen upon a large outdoor market a little ways from the town center. It turned out to be larger than it looked and I scored the most awesome souvenir of the trip. It was an extra long (19.5 inches / 50cm) wooden spoon I use for stir-frying or making a big vat of tomato sauce. Some of you are probably rolling your eyes, but I honestly haven’t been able to find a tool long and heavy duty enough to withstand high heat cooking. Sonny scored some clothes (the Transformer pajamas were his favorite) and sweets. Agropoli was my favorite of our ventures and to think we almost didn’t make it!

In addition to plants, clothing and foodstuffs, one could buy chickens.

Nuts and dried fruits.

Who knew there were so many types of beans?

I hoped you enjoyed this final bit about our trip!

Italy, part II

When Italians go out to eat, they go all out. There’s the antipasti, primi (pastas or risotto), and secondi (meats or fish) with a couple bottles of wine. If you’re feeling really ambitious you can add on dessert with your coffee and grappa or limocello. That’s a lot of eating. That’s the kind of eating we normally reserve for anniversary dinners or when other people are paying.

Even with the ridiculously weak dollar we didn’t feel prices were completely unreasonable. We were there before the start of the busy season so the prices were not as inflated as they may be in the summer. On the other hand, Castellabate and Santa Maria are a little pricier than the towns that are more inland. For 6 adults to have a 3-course meal with 2 to 3 bottles of wine we usually didn’t pay more than 200 Euros. Hubby and I had a private dinner one night with a bottle of wine that cost 100 Euros. Pizzas were generally between 5 to 9 Euros, and while it seems most people order their own individual pizzas, they are large enough for two people to share. Almost every restaurant charged a sitting fee, which was normally 2 Euros per person. Some places added an extra percentage (we saw 10% at one place) on top of that. To save a little on food costs, we generally reserved 3-course meals for dinner and had more modest fare for lunch. We found a good and less expensive option was to pick up something savory at the local bakery or at take-out bars that featured foccacia or calzones.

Sonny showing us his favorite gelato shop.

I once heard that pizza was not as popular in Italy as it is in America. I can assure you that’s not true, at least in Naples and the Campania region. They don’t eat the types of pizzas most Americans are familiar with though. Their pizzas are thin crust with no more than 2 or 3 toppings and a moderate dusting of cheese. Sometimes the toppings aren’t baked with the pizza but added on top after the pizza is taken from the oven. I much prefer the Italian pizza to the American-style pizzas that are drowned in sauce and topped with 10 tasteless toppings and 1 whole pound of cheese.

Funny thing about pizza, almost every restaurant had a pizza menu, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they will serve you pizza. From what we could figure, pizzas were only available on days that contain the letter S. Or if someone in your group was named Vincento. Or some other insane criterion. I don’t think we ever figured out the system, and it was probably sheer luck we ate pizza at all.

My favorite restaurant in Castellabate was one called Divino. Wonderful food and atmosphere. We all liked it so much, we ate there twice. It’s run by an enthusiastic Italian who lived in England (and thus speaks English). We could order off the menu a la carte, but they made it easy by offering a couple of prix fix menus (25 Euros for 3 courses, not including drinks). The menu mare had fish in every course and it was wonderful. I highly recommend it. If you’re not a fish eater, then you can get the menu terra. Delicious as well, but if I had to choose again, it would be the fish. The owner (oh, I wish I could remember his name!) was also very helpful with recommendations for local wines. At the end of the meal, he put a bottle of grappa and a bottle of limoncino (from what I can tell, it’s the same as limoncello) on the table and told us to take as much as we wanted. We didn’t want to seem like neanderthals, so we only took a couple of servings each.

Divino's outdoor seating is on a small piazza in Castellbate. When you're done with dinner, you can go to the bar just a few steps away. Quite convenient, really.

Paccheri with fresh tomato sauce at Divino. So delicious!

Ristorante Divino by day.

There were a couple of other restaurants I’d recommend too. Cantina Belvedere has a beautiful view and very nice atmosphere. Hubby and I had a nice romantic dinner that lasted 2 hours, which is so rare now that we have the munchkin (not that I’m complaining; it just makes it all the more special). Consider sharing the second or third course because the portions are super generous. When they brought out my spaghetti, there must have been enough for 3 servings! Again, I’m not complaining because it was good. Hubby had a delicious gorgonzola and raddichio risotto. We both had fish for the last course: Hubby had herb-crusted tuna and I had a fish mixed grill. Both were delicious.

Another good restaurant is Il Calesse, which used to be a horse stable back in the day. After learning that, I always referred to it as the horse restaurant. But don’t let the nickname give you the wrong idea. The food was also good. I had a spaghetti with tomatoes, basil and prawns and it was the best pasta I’ve ever had. I’ll always remember that pasta. And their foccacia bread, which was more like flatbread sprinkled with spices. Delish. Thing is, they only take cash and I thought we were going to have to do dishes to pay the bill.

As I mentioned before, we spent a lot of time shopping for supplies or at the beach in Santa Marie, so we often ate lunch there. There were a couple of restaurants near the beach and pedestrian shopping street that were open during “nap time”, as Sonny called it. Il Cantuccio is a nice establishment with covered, outdoor seating on a piazza, so we could people watch while we ate or Sonny could run around if he was feeling antsy. We ate there a couple of times. Once I ordered marinated anchovies and it was delicious. It was nothing like what most Americans think of anchovies. They resembled sardines in appearance, marinated in olive oil and white wine vinegar and served with arugula and sweet cherry tomatoes. I thought it was wonderful, but no one believed me. Their loss. The second time I had pizza. I can remember it being good, but I can’t remember what was on it.

Marinated anchovies in white wine vinegar and olive oil.

He doesn't look like the brightest kid on the block, does he? This cannon kept him entertained while we ate our lunch at Il Cantuccio in Santa Marie.

Closer to the beach was another restaurant called Arlecchino with an outdoor eating area. They also served pizza throughout the day. The good thing about this place was you could get pizza to go and bring it to the beach for a picnic. It was here I had my favorite pizza: anchovies, capers and buffalo mozzarella. I love anchovies on pizza, but it never occurred to me to add capers. I don’t think I can do without either topping ever again.

I was going to include some stuff about the day trips we took in this post, but I think I’ll wait with that. Think you can handle the suspense? But I don’t want to leave you without a recipe since I haven’t posted one in a while.

One of the things I loved about the food in Italy was the use of the freshest ingredients. The tomatoes were ripe and sweet with a wonderful tomato flavor. The fish was fresh, like caught-in-the-morning fresh. They may have been liberal with the olive oil, but the food never felt greasy. Like that spaghetti I had at Il Calesse. After I finished the pasta and scampi, there was a little pool of oil on the plate, but I don't remember being put off by it. I liked that pasta so much, I have tried to recreate it several times myself. Once I used fresh bay scallops in place of shrimp and it was nice. The juice from the scallops gave the sauce a creamier texture. Another time I left out the shellfish altogether, and it was still tasty.

This pasta is so simple, yet so easy to miss the mark if you don’t use the right ingredients. For this recipe, I urge you to use fresh sweet tomatoes, such as cherry or some other type of small-ish sweet tomato. There’s something about the combination of sweet, slightly acidic tomatoes with the salty, briny anchovies and smooth flavor of a good olive oil. Those tasteless beefsteak type tomatoes just don’t have the sweet acidity to stand up to the flavor of the olive oil and anchovies. Don’t substitute with canned tomatoes either, even good quality ones. And most importantly, DON’T LEAVE OUT THE ANCHOVIES!

Spaghetti with Fresh Tomato Sauce
Feed 3 to 4

• 1 generous pound small-ish, sweet tomatoes, cut in half
• 3 anchovy fillets, roughly chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 handful fresh, sweet basil, roughly chopped
• 1/3 cup good quality olive oil
• Dash of dried chilli flakes
• 10 to 12 oz dry long pasta (spaghetti, linguine, etc)
• 1 pound scallops or shrimp (optional)
• Grated parmesan for topping

It seems silly to give directions on how to cook pasta, so I’ll call it tips rather than directions. Making a good pasta dish requires timing. The pasta should be done when the sauce is ready, and not sitting around waiting for the sauce. I generally like to cook pasta a minute or two less than stated in the directions. The noodles always get a little more heat when I turn them in the sauce, so if they start out overcooked, they will be really overcooked by the time they reach the table. Don’t forget to salt the water. I’m not talking 1 tsp kosher salt, I’m talking about a generous tablespoon or two, at least.

In a large skillet over medium heat, add the olive oil. When it’s hot (sufficiently hot enough to sautee, not stir-fry!), add the anchovies and garlic. Fry for about 20 to 30 seconds. The anchovies should start to break up, but make sure the garlic does not brown. Add the tomatoes, chilli and basil. Stir it every now and then. You want the tomatoes to break down and release their juices and the skin will separate from the pulp. This will probably take about 10 to 15 minutes depending on the size and firmness of the tomatoes. Then turn down the heat to low and let is simmer away until the spaghetti is done. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

If you want to use scallops or shrimp, I recommend sautéing them separately from the sauce. Start heating up your pan when you put the pasta on so that everything can be done at the same time. Do it in a little olive oil over high heat until they are just cooked through. I found with the scallops, they released a lot of their milky juice, but that’s okay. You could drain it away or add some to the sauce, which is what I did.

To put it all together, drain the pasta and return it to the pot. Add the sautéed seafood, if using, and the sauce. Give it a few quick stirs (over some heat) to distribute everything, then you’re done! Serve immediately. Top with copious amounts of fresh parmesan and more fresh black pepper. YUM!

Ciao, Baby!

Couple of things…

I finally joined Foodbuzz. Big deal, right? Well, it is to me. I’m generally scared of cliques and social networks, but decided to give it a try anyways. So now I need friendz. Will you be my friend? My handle is either dp or Blazing Hot Wok. I’m not really sure. That’s how good I am at these things.

I’m leaving for a 2-week trip to Italy in about 40 hours. I’m thinking I won’t want to post be able to post during that time. But don’t worry, I’ll write down every minute detail about what I see, do and eat so I can be sure to share it with the you, even if you don’t care to know.

Now I have to go clean out my fridge and push all the perishable food off on my neighbors. And do laundry. And start packing. And finish that final report for work. Ugh.

Happy posting!