A (Not So) Typical Saturday with Gino Sorbillo and Chef Ernesto Iaccarino

Gino Sorbillo and Ernesto Iaccarino

My craving to discover more about my Campania through its food and prodotti tipici gave me a craving for…pizza.  And what better way to satisfy those cravings than a trip back to St Agata sui Due Golfi and back to Don Alfonso 1890.  A typical Saturday afternoon became not so typical when pizza maker Gino Sorbillo dropped by to make a few pizzas.  He brought a few friends. They brought some amazing products. But more importantly, Sorbillo took the time to explain what he was putting on his gourmet pizzas…the flavors, the textures, the origins.  Products such as   mozzarella di bufala, olive Nocellara, Fagioline Paesanelle, and dried San Marzano tomatoes.  I was more than curious to try the famous  cipolla ramata di Montoro...sweet onions grown in Montoro in the province of Avellino.  Then there were tomatoes from Sorrento, fiordilatte, tomaotoes from Corbara.  The Cilento region presented itself with a beautiful bread made from figs.  There were  chick peas..tan and black, and fresh figs as well.  Caserta stood proud with its  prosciutto di maiale nero casertano and mozzarella.

But what about the pizzas?  Sorbillo flew into action.  Hard to believe that he had  received 7 stitches in his left hand less than 36 hours earlier as he tossed disks of dough prepared with a touch of wheat germ into the air.  As he quickly prepared pizzas like; Pizza con fagioline paesanelle, mozzarella, nocellara, and dried San Marzano tomatoes, Pizza with cipolla ramata di Montoro Sorrento tomatoes, Pizza con corbarini and olive oil from  Le Peracciole.  There was a Pizza with a chick pea cream from Cicerale and fiordilatte from Agerola.  On this Pizza, Sorbillo delicately grated Truffles from Bagnoli Irpino (Av).  Pizza with provola and lemon peel.  Pizza with black chick peas and a grating of the tasty, piccante conciato romano cheese.  An interesting   pizza with caprino dei Lattari  cheese, Sorrento walnut, and grape shish kabob.    A taste here, a bite there.  Host Chef Ernest Iaccarino even got into the act by making a world premiere Pizza Don Alfonso with zucchini from his personal garden, pecorino cheese, olive oil, and fresh mint. 

A not so typical Saturday at Don Alfonso.

I could get used to this…


Italian version