Gastronomy
Our cuisine is based on Neapolitan Cuisine, whose date back to Greek and Roman times. It was enriched over the centuries by the foreign dominations of the city and its territories.

Aristocratic and popular cuisine
Being the capital of the Kingdom, Naples has acquired many culinary traditions of the whole region and the foreign dominations, particulary the French and the Spanish which had also a great influence, creating a division between an aristocratic and a popular cuisine.
The first is made up of elaborate recipes such as "Timballo" or "Sartù di riso". The second is based mostly on vegetables, cereals and legumes. "Pasta e fagioli" (pasta with beans) is very popular.

Among typical products of the region are "friarielli", "scarole", broccoli, savoy cabbage, "verdure da minestra" and "puntarelle". Courgettes are widely used. The larger variety are cooked "a scapece" (fried and seasoned with vinegar and mint leaves). The sprouts picked at the end of summer are called "Talli". They are used for soups or fried. Besides yellow and red peppers, typical products are small green peppers and "mammarelle" a big, round-shaped type of artichoke. It is served boiled with "pinzimonio" (sauce of extra-virgin oil, salt and pepper).

Green salad is often served with seafood dishes. Widely used is the "Incappucciata" salad (similar to iceberg salad), mixed with carrot, fennel and rocket salad. Lettuce is also used. A typical summer dish is tomato salad seasoned with onion, basil, oregano and olive oil.

Black olives, another product largely used in Neapolitan Cuisine, come from Gaeta, a town that is nowadays in "Regione Lazio" but was once part of the Kingdom.

Pasta
One of the most important ingredient of Neapolitan Cuisine is pasta, widely used both in aristocratic and popular cuisine.

Campania is the country of pasta and Gragnano, a small town a few kilometers away from Agerola, boasts the best pastamakers of Italy. Pasta is known and loved across the world. It is produced with durum wheat, dried slowly to keep intact its flavour. Neapolitans are known as "Mangiamaccheroni" (maccheroni eaters). Its appearance in Naples dates back between the 12th and 13th Century, during the Kingdom of Federico II° di Svevia, coming from Sicily where pasta has been used since the 11 Century, imported there by the Arabs in the shape of spaghetti (itrya). It was just with the introduction of tomato in 17th Century that pasta gained its crucial role. Before that Neapolitans were known as "Mangiafoglie" (leaf eaters) because their daily diet was mostly based on broccoli and vegetables.
Among the most simple and delicious pasta dishes of our tradition we like to remember "Vermicelli aglio e olio" (Vermicelli with olive oil and garlic), "Nemmicule cu a pasta" (Pasta with lentils), "Tagliatelle a sapunariello" (Tagliatelle with olive oil and onions), "Paternustielle 'nzogna e caso" (Pasta with lard and cheese), "Perciatelle cu' 'e friarielli" (Pasta with friarielli), "Lengue 'e passero a vongole e pummarorelle" (Linguine with clams and tomatoes), "Spavette e pesielle" (Pasta with peas), "Cicere e laganelle" (Pasta with chickpeas). A famous recipe from Amalfi is "Scialatielli" (handmade pasta) cooked with clams, tomatoes, parsley, pepper and parmesan cheese.

Neapolitan pizza
Another worldwide known excellence of Neaplitan Cuisine is pizza.
Its origin is uncertain. The word first appeared in a document of the 10th Century in common latin of Gaeta but similar "focaccia" were already known by Egyptians, Greeks (meza) and Romans (offa and placenta).

The pizza dough is leavened in single portions, strechted out in circle and cooked in a red-hot wood oven.
Since the 4th of February 2010, the Neapolitan is the only Italian pizza recognized from the European Community as a guaranteed traditional product.

Its dough is made of water, flour, yeast and salt. It is always and only cooked in a wood oven.
But the wide variety of products offered by our area has allowed us to enrich the new pizza ingredients. From us you can taste the pizza with Zucchini, aubergines, onions ...
In 2011, the Neapolitan pizza from Italy was presented as candidate to the UNESCO recognition as intangible heritage of humanity..

The City of bread
Agerola is part of "Associazione Nazionale Città del Pane" (National Association Cities of Bread). It is spread among 15 Italian regions, gathering 47 local areas.
Two typical products of the town are "Taralli di Agerola" (salted baked biscuits with fennel seeds or almonds) and "Biscotti di Grano Integrale e Granone" (integral wheat biscuits) both belonging to an ancient culinary tradition of the town.

His Excellency Fiordilatte
The most famous product of Agerola is definetely "Fiordilatte".
Cow breeding on the Monti Lattari has a secular tradition, dating back to Roman times.
Fiordilatte is a fresh cheese made with whole milk obtained from several milkings done in 16 hours and delivered within 24 hours from the first milking to the dairy.
It is made through a process called "filatura". It requires a highly skilled dairyman. Fiordilatte can be square or round, depending on the area of production.
A typical Agerola's Fiordilatte is "Treccia" (plait).

Another famous cheese is "Provolone del Monaco". It is made with different breeds of cow's milk and it is seasoned from 6 to 18 months

Pork products
Pork products are another renowned tradition of local gastronomy. "Salame Napoli" is manufactured in the whole region. It is made with several parts of pork meat such as shoulder, leg, "coppa" and loin.

The processing and seasoning are made following traditional methods and the drying takes place in well-aired rooms.
Salami is smoked during the seasoning, which lasts at least 30 days.

Another famous product is "Capocollo". It is made with pork meat taken from the neck, salted, spiced and smoked. The seasoning lasts from 2 up to 4 months.

The 'sfusato' amalfitan lemon
The origin of lemon cultivation on the Amalfi Coast is uncertain but recent archeological excavations in Pompei prove that it was already known by the Romans.
Limoncello is a typical liqueur of Agerola and the Amalfi Coast. It is very well know around the world. It was traditionally a home-made liqueur. The recipe was handed down from father to son.

If you want to make your own Limoncello at home, here is the recipe.
Ingredients: 1 lt. of alcohol 95°, 1 lt. still mineral water, 350 gr. sugar, 8 green (or yellow) lemons.
Wash and dry the lemons. Peel them taking care to avoid the white part which would give the liqueur a much more bitter taste. Put the thinly sliced zests in a jar with hermetic sealing, pour in the alcohol and close it.
Leave it in a dark place for 48 hours, shaking the jar well every 12 hours. After that make a syrup with lukewarm water and sugar. Let it cool off and filter it with a thick strainer.
Take the lemon zests out from the alcohol and filter it. You can now mix the two liquids and bottle the liqueur which is already drinkable after 3 days. Serve it chilled.
You can make an "Agrumi Liqueur" with the same recipe, using the zest of an orange and two tangerines instead of lemons