To Market to Market to buy a BIG FISH!!!

It was a weekend full of experiences!!! Capri & the Napoli Fish Market!!





Sunday morning I was up at 3:30AM to hit the road for the Napoli Fish Market!!! Chef Biagio, a guest of the B&B as well as two other students and I left Sant'Angello at 4AM to drive the curvy roads and head through the tunnels to see what kind of treasures we could find. The market is open from 2 to 6AM. We were there in time to pickup a bag of clams, a tub of razor shell clams, mussels, oysters & a few large snapper for our Sunday afternoon and evening meals. The adventure ended with an outstanding cup of cappuccino and a cream filled croissant. The industrious deli owner who owns the little place at the end of the market has a gold mine! His offerings were Delicious and he captures all the traffic of the market early every morning!





With much encouragement (that overcame my hesitation) I sampled my first raw razor shell clam & raw mussel at the market. Chef said that is really the only way to determine the freshness and certainly flavor! So... before 6AM I was sampling raw shell fish!! I suppose I can no longer truly beg off when offered sushi on the pretense that eating raw fish is "not my thing".





We were back in Sant'Angello at Mami's by 7AM before the rest of the house even began to stir. For lunch we prepared fresh pasta and steamed up all the clams & mussels. The oysters were devoured raw, on the half shell. It was an outstanding meal shared with all of didn't make it up to join the party. For dinner we enjoyed the snapper fillets.





Saturday I made the trip to Capri on the Capitano Ago boat .... what a remarkable place! You'll see from the photos how incredible the water is and the views! They are even hard to describe. The photos will tell the story! I enjoyed my favorite treat.... gelato... pistachio. It was a rather small cup and it was 5 euro... so roughly $7! But, it was really just about the best gelato I have ever had in my life. Not a drop was left in the cup!!





I began my last week in the kitchen here at Mami Camillas and next week will be moving to a local restaurant in Sorrento. I am a bit nervous about the transition because my Italian is SO rudimentary. The 3 weeks I have had have in language class have not been enough to get me ready but at least I know the critical kitchen terms so I can understand if I am to boil water or cut up an onion! We'll just have to see how that goes!!



There is so much to see and do here and the time is flying by! Heading to Positano this weekend and I am certain that I'll have wonderful photos and food stories to share!



Torta Caprese.... almond torte!



500g sugar + 1 T

250 g margarine

500 g white chocolate (chopped and broken into small pieces)

12 eggs ~ separated

100 g flour

500 g. roasted almonds

Zest of 5 lemons

pinch of vanilla



Cream the margarine & sugar.

Add the white chocolate, blend until mixed

Add egg yolks and mix thoroughly

Once almonds are roasted, chop finely in food processor

Add the almonds to the mix and blend well.



Whip egg whites and 1T of sugar



Fold the egg whites & flour into the batter

Add the pinch of vanilla



Bake 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes (until knife comes out clean)



Sprinkle top with powdered sugar & serve on a plate dusted with cocoa.