If you like farm~to~table experiences, here’s an splendid situation waiting for you on the Amalfi Coast of Italy.
At the end of the Path of the Gods trek, unbeknownst to us, a table was set for a most satisfying lunch in Mamma Luisa’s dining room in the sleepy ancient hamlet of Nocelle resting above Positano.
Little did we know, as we walked by the hedge of borage {a lovely blue edible flower that grows almost everywhere} that we were about to take a small step back in time. We were about to experience a lunch in the tradition that has been practiced here for centuries.
The hills above Positano are rich in agricultural land, benefitting from the intense sun and tiered dry stone growing beds. These slopes are covered with orchards of lemons, olives and vineyards, but also with many individual family farms. These families truly live off of the land, cultivating the food to sustain them throughout the year. They preserve all that they can when the produce is ripe to sustain them over the winters.
It was such an incredible opportunity for us to experience a typical meal in an authentic Italian hillside farmhouse overlooking Tyrrhenian Sea with the Il Galli islands {closer to which I was expecting to be hiking near in a few days…} in our view.
On the menu was an array of healthy, flavorful vegetables {including crunchy, hot zucchini blossom fritters!} and a simple omelet all made from ingredients from the family garden and served on the traditional, hand~painted dishes from the area.
The meal was complemented with homemade bread and pitchers of a deliciously simple red table wine
made in house from their vineyards.
For dessert, what else {?}, in this land of limioni but a lemon cake, filled with a luscious lemoncello infused curd and espresso.
After lunch we were invited to the cellar to see how they stowed the fruits, vegetables and meats they cultivate in the Italian tradition. Here we see random jars and bottles of marinara sauce made from their tomatoes picked at their peak of ripeness and simply cooked with olive oil, garlic, herbs and sea salt.
A slab of bacon, sausages and cheeses sealed in wax hung from the ceiling beams to age.
Bottles and jars of homemade lemoncello at the ready.
You can never have enough sausages and cheeses.
Grazie Mamma Luisa e Zia Lucy e Mountain Trek aver condiviso la tua bella vita con noi!
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