THE LEMONS OF AMALFI
The last morning in Naples found us wandering around an area of the city packed with fish markets. It’s astounding how fresh everything is. It’s also a little alarming to foreigners and northern Italians alike how often the locals haggle and argue with the sellers. Buyer expectation is very high and this is what drives quality.
Around the many containers of seafood, almost framing the glistening shells and scales and eyes like garlands, were the famous Amalfi lemons. Not just a few here and there, whole branches of them.
At one stall we happened to mention to the owner how good everything looked and what a shame we were in a hotel room and couldn’t cook. After the required negotiations of five euros a piece we were eating finely sliced raw fish and freshly shucked clams simply dressed with the family’s olive oil and a squeeze or two of those sweet, tangy lemons.
Lemons seem as much part of life in Naples as pizza, ricotta and mozzarella. Lunch on that last morning was eaten standing up, on the street, leaning against the counter of a hole-in-the-wall tripe stall. Served on food-grade paper, it consisted of various tripe, tendons, pig’s cheeks, ears, snout, rind and belly. All cooked perfectly, thinly sliced and served cold with a judicious dressing of salt and the juice of those amazing lemons.
We finished with a tangy, sweet granita made from Amalfi lemons and mint. Making it is easy and lasts longer in the freezer than gelato because it is not dairy based.
LEMON AND MINT GRANITA
INGREDIENTS
- 1.25 litres filtered or still mineral water
- 2 cups mint leaves
- 190g caster sugar
- 250 ml lemon juice, freshly squeezed
- Fresh berries to serve
METHOD
Wash mint leaves thoroughly and dry well. Place them in an airtight container with a litre of filtered water and keep refrigerated for 24 hours. Cold infusion, to my mind, works better than heat with mint. It imparts the fresh flavour without the "stemmy" bitterness and doesn't leech the green from the leaves, keeping the granita white. Bring remaining 250ml water and sugar to the boil. Remove as soon as it's boiling and let cool. Sieve mint infusion through muslin to remove any fine particles and stir into cooled sugar syrup, along with lemon juice. Place in a clean, shallow, plastic container, with a lid, and put into the freezer. After an hour, it should begin to freeze. Remove and give mixture a quick whisk so it forms small crystals rather than setting hard. Repeat every 15 minutes until it has set. Spoon into serving bowls with some fresh berries.
Serves 8-10.