This Christmas -Buon Natale, Tutti - Part 1

I remember my first Campania Christmas more than 20 years ago.  Days and days of nonstop eating from the 24th of December to the 6th of January.  Flavors and recipes much different than I had grown up with.  I must confess that I love my turkey and stuffing, but I thought it would be neat to ask some of Campania's top gourmet chefs what dishes are found on their family's holiday tables.  What dishes they grew up with - what memories have followed them throughout their careers - what dishes they cannot live without.
It was interesting to note that at home - each chef sticks with tradition, and almost all of the dishes are prepared by their moms, mother-in-laws and/or grandmothers.

Chef Lorenzo Montoro

Chef Lorenzo Montoro ( Il Flauto di Pan, Ravello) is from Sarno.  His family is rooted in traditions from the Sarno region - they even own a farm that produces quality herbs and vegetables for many of the top restaurants in Italy.  Fried codfish, stuffed escarole, and fried eel are musts. Eel and river shrimp are typical farmer's dishes in the area since for many farmers, fish was out of their price range.  Another typical dish?  Broccoli, simply boiled and topped with lemon and olive oil.

Chef Domenico Stile

Chef Domenico Stile (Enoteca La Torre, Rome) is from Gragnano.  His family also sticks with tradition with dishes such as fried codfish and reinforcement salad.  This sald is quite popular during the season with ingredients such as cauliflower, Neapolitan peppers aka papacelle, green and black olives and capers. On Christmas Day?  Lasagna with meatballs ( made with ground beef and sausage), hard boiled eggs, and chiodini mushrooms.

Chef Angelo Carannante

Chef Angelo Carannante (Caracol, Bacoli). One of Carannante's dishes that he cannot live without is his mother-in-law's reinforcement salad.  It wouldn't be Christmas without  her version that includes anchovies.  The chef assured me that it is really really good!

Chef Antonio Lebano

Chef Antonio Lebano (Terrazza Gallia, Milan)  A few weeks ago I was in Milan and spoke with this young chef about his holiday traditions.  Lebano is from the Vesuvius area, and his eyes shone brightly as he spke to me about this Christmas Eve snack from his childhood.  Pane cafone, escarole, piennolo tomatoes (produced by his uncle) , and anchovies.  I made some myself today.  Fantasticaaa!

Chef Domenico Candela

Chef Domenico Candela (George Restaurant, Naples) Candela is from Marano, a small town in the Naples province.  And though he has spent years outside of Naples, primarily in France, his heart is rooted in traditions from his beloved Napoli.  So what can we find at his family's Christmas table? Many fish based dishes.  One that sticks out?  His mother's linguine allo scoglio - linguine with seafood such as mussels, shrimp, and  clams.

Chef Antonino Montefusco

Chef Antonino Montefusco (Terrazza Bosquet, Sorrento).  Montefusco shares with his diners a dessert that his mother has prepared for years during the holiday season.  Mostaccioli.  This typical Neapolitan recipe includes a dough that needs to rest for at least 5 days before baked, then glazed with white sugar and a cocoa.

Boun Natale, tutti!

Amazing Appetizer , Chef Domenico Candela, George Restaurant, Naples (Na)

La Venere di Botticelli

I decided to treat myself to a night out.  Get dressed up and go out to an elegant restaurant in Naples.  You know, enjoy the city by night.  I chose George Restaurant , who less than a week earlier received a prestigious Michelin Star.  Quite an accomplishment for a restaurant that has been open for less than 2 years.  This was my fourth visit to George, and I was familiar with several of Chef Domenico Candela's signature dishes - but not none that were on his Spasso Sensoriale tasting menu rich with new specialties for the fall/winter season.   Spasso Sensoriale which could be translated as a sensory/ sensual stroll.  Dishes pleasing to the eye and palate like this appetizer that Candela entitled La Venere di Boticelli - after the painting The Birth of Venus painted during the Italian Rennaissance by artist  Sandro Botticelli. 

The theme comes from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, a very important oeuvre of the Latin literature. Venus is portrayed naked on a shell on the seashore; on her left the winds blow gently caressing her hair with a shower of roses, on her right a handmaid (Ora) waits for the goddess to go closer to dress her shy body. The meadow is sprinkled with violets, symbol of modesty but often used for love potions.   ( visituffizzi.org)

Candela's Venus is a scallop carpaccio caressed by a cauliflower puree, bergamot, lychee sauce and Siberian caviar.  

Botticelli's Birth of Venus can be found in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.  Candela's?  Much much closer - in the splendida sala of George Restaurant.