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Vincenzo is back on his home ground at last
he celebrates with a wonderful meal in Seiano and explains some local gourmet terminology

Editor's note: we try to preserve Vincenzo's charming Italian accent as far as possible! It's interesting how rooted to their "land" Italians are. Regionality for them is as strongly defined by the variety of local food, wine and culinary traditions as the geography and micro-climate which in turn determines those traditions. Do Italians say terra in the same way that the French say terroir?

After nineteen months far away from my home, I have the urgent need to have a nice dinner at the one of the best restaurants of my beloved Penisola Sorrentina. So, without any hesitation I went to La Torre del Saracino, at Seiano, the lowest hamlet of Vico Equense; Vico Equense, you remember, I'm sure, it the Northern gate of Penisola Sorrentina and it has thirteen hamlets. The chef-patron of La Torre del Saracino (The Saracen's Tower ) is Gennaro Esposito. Gennaro Esposito is a very young chef: less than thirty years old, married with Vittoria; his wife is the pastry chef.

We arrived on a lovely early spring evening, (eat your heart out, England!) with no problem to park, no problem to find the reserved table for the two of us. Let's begin with an overture of Zuppa tiepida di ricotta di fuscelle con triglie dei Galli e ricci di mare. Zuppa tiepida means a sauce neither hot nor cold, and ricotta of fuscelle is a very fresh handmade cow cheese. Triglie is a delicious kind of fish that's easy to catch in winter near the small islands named Galli, very close to the coast of our Penisola. Ricci di Mare are sea urchins, but Gennaro is very careful to remove all the spines!

It was a wonderful start-up. Which wine ? Greco di Tufo Cutizzi '99 by Feudi di San Gregorio. Only one glass; ok: two and stop. We're ready for first course; which is the first course ? Gennaro told us he was the decision maker of our dinner: no problem. In Gennaro we trust. First course: Paccheri di Gragnano mantecati con scampetti, calamaretti e vongole veraci. Paccheri is an old kind of short macaroni, now rehabilitated and smart. Gragnano is a little town on the hills near Vesuvio, named Monti Lattari. Gragnano is the headquarters of top quality of macaroni making. Mantecati is an Italian term that means when you stop to cook macaroni while it's boiling and cooking follows in the sauce. Scampi, calamari and vongole are shellfish that you know already in England!

We carried on drinking the Greco di Tufo Cutizzi. Not the first bottle but the second by now. We are by the Tirrenian Sea and we cannot approach the second course leaving our sea. So, Pescata di paranza con salsa di acciughe di Cetara, pomodori appesi, pinoli, involtini di scarola maritata. Pescata di paranza are whatever little fishes are caught in the net of the fishermen when the fishing boat is a small type known as a paranza. Cetara is a sweet small town in Costiera Amafitana. Acciughe means small blue anchovies; pomodori appesi are the small tomatoes that are wind and sun dried. Scarola is our vegetable and scarola is married ( maritata ) with pinoli.

Which wine to go with these flavours? Only at this moment I decide that Gennaro is not my decision maker; but only at this moment, and Gennaro forgives me. I want a red wine but not produced in my land (region). I want to drink and appreciate Maiana Rosso '98 by Leone de Castris: a red wine coming from Puglia, another region in the South of Italy on the eastern side.

We arrive at the cakes: Babà al rhum con crema e fragoline del Faito. Rum Babà you know by its pale English shadow: here it's a typical Neapolitan cake swimming into a sauce of rum. Faito is the mountain watching Vico Equense in the dark nights. Only a small glass of a sweet wine: Aleatico di Sovana '99 by Antinori: noblesse oblige. I hope I'll have many and many dinners during this current year; I cannot tell you if some other meal will achieve or even surpass the satisfaction of this wonderful dinner.

We were two persons and we paid one hundred euros.

Vincenzo D'Antonio February 2001

LA TORRE DEL SARACINO
Loc. Seiano
VICO EQUENSE ( Naples )
Tel. 0039 081 8028555.
Closed on Monday.

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