Sunday, August 29, 2010

Experience Capri Like a Local--Travel Tips, a Menu and Recipe from Chef Titna

If you're headed to Southern Italy any time soon, stop by Capri Flavors and chat with Chef Titina, or send a email to her husband Costanzo about their home island of Capri.

They will send you to Restaurant Gemma, where you will sit high above the ferry crowds and enjoy the island's best seafood plus a great blue on blue sky and water view.


They will tell you to spend the night on the island so you can stroll and enjoy the soft, easy evenings. And for the best views, skip the small packed buses and take one of the vintage convertible cabs to Anacapri and then a chair lift to the top. You'll come home with pictures like these and great memories of a most beautiful place.


If you're not traveling anytime soon, consider the Capri Menu Titina is cooking this week (and again later this fall)

CAPRI Menu

Limoncello (Lemon Liquor)

Spaghetti Sciue’-Sciue’ (Spaghetti in Marinara)

Aragosta Marinara (Lobster in Red Sauce )

Carciofi e Patate (Artichoke and Potato Saute)

Torta di Capri (Almond and Chocolate Cake)

Capri Dates Monday: 8/2, 8/30, 9/27, 10/27 Friday: 8/6, 9/3, 10/1, 10/29


All the dishes are classics from the her family restaurant on the beach at Capri.

Limoncello is the signature drink of the island. It's sold in gift shops and stores all over Capri and the nearby city of Sorrento. But Titina says the best Limoncello is homemade.

Here's her recipe from an earlier blog post. It's great to have in the freezer for special meals and deserts. Limoncello also makes wonderful holiday gifts, so why not make a batch next month.

Titina's Limoncello
Ingredients:


¾ Liter of pure grain alcohol (Everclear)


8 lemons very fresh and a little green


1 ½ Liter water


1 cup of sugar




Makes : 2 ¼liter limoncello




In cold running water wash the lemons well. Dry them and peel them very thin, being careful not to peel the white of the lemon. In a glass container big enough for a 2-Liter minimum, pour the alcohol and add to it the lemon peels.


Close the container and keep it in a cool place for 15 days. After the 15 days have elapsed go back to it and add the following mixture: boil in a pot the water and the sugar and let it boil for 10 minutes. This mixture must be left to cool.

Once cool, add the sugar/water to the container together with the lemon peels and the alcohol that have marinated. Close the container and let it stay for another 3 or 4 days after which remove the lemon peels and pour the liquid in bottles ready for drinking.


I prefer to keep it in a freezer and to drink it ice cold. It is a nice digestive and ends the dinner with a beautiful taste.



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