Colomba di Pasqua
- At March 29, 2021
- By Zia Lucy
- In lifestyle in Positano, Positano
- 0
A Special Easter Pastry
Colomba di Pasqua, literally translated as Easter Dove, is a traditional Italian dessert we eat at Easter. We love to call it the Sister of Panettone as their recipes are similar. The classic recipe is filled with candied fruit, which on the Amalfi Coast is mostly candied orange zest, and studded with almonds and sugar pearls. During the centuries its recipe has changed a lot and many are the legends surrounding this sweet.
Origins
All the legends start in Northern Italy so we all agree that Colomba is a typical Northern Italian dessert.
People from southern Italy won’t complain as we are very competitive about pastries and we have invented the Easter Pastiera which is a must to have on our tables! But, let’s talk about the legends…
The Battle of Legnano: in 1176, during a battle between the Lombardy and the Holy Roman Empire, the leader of the Lombard League saw two doves flying and he interpreted it as a sign of victory. He later ordered the cooks to prepare a dove-shaped bread with Yeats, Flour and Eggs.
The Legend of King Alboino: during 572 BC, King Alboino of the Lombards finally entered in Pavia, after years of siege and this happened three days before Easter. A baker offered the King a dessert with a shape of dove. According to the legend, the King liked this pastry so much to promise the peace.
Queen Teodolina and the Irish Abbot: this legend talks about a group of pilgrims and the Irish Abbot “San Colombano” who arrived in Lombardy in 612 BC. The King and the Queen offered to pilgrims a delicious meal full of meat but San Colombano declined the invitation as it was time of Lent. In change, San Colombano turned the meal into a Dove shaped bread.
How Colomba became popular all over Italy
The Dessert we know nowadays is recent and its recipe is completely different from the original which is similar to bread or more simple in the ingredients.
Angelo Motta, a baker from Milan, in 1930’s had the great idea of making the Colomba the dessert that everybody should have eaten at Easter. As He was already popular for a Christmas dessert, called Panettone, He decided to use the same recipe but He changed its shape. So, Colomba was spread all over Italy by the most popular Italian Brand for Industrial Bakery.
Ingredients and preparation
I love eating Easter Desserts but I am terrible in cooking them. That’s the reason why I asked Giosuè from Bar Paradise in Positano to show me how He makes the Colomba, and I also made a video.
The ingredients are simple but its preparation is complex and it requires almost 2 days.
The base ingredient is sourdough which rises for 4 hours.
Later, the dough is mixed with ingredients such as sugar, butter and eggs and rests for 12-15 hours.
Then the dough is mixed with other ingredients and is left to rise for about 2 hours.
After this long time, the pastry chef creates the shape of a dove and leaves it to rise for another 5 hours, adds a glaze and bakes it. After baking, the Colomba cools upside down and finally it’s ready to eat!
There are different varieties of our Colomba di Pasqua. My favourite one is the one with white chocolate and pistachio glaze.
Look at my video:
How To Get Out of 2020 and stay positive
2020 has been a terrible year? We must find something positive.
I completely lost my job, I couldn’t go out for more than 2 months, when I finally found a part-time job I realized It was just for a few months.
Despite all, I survived… and in a very positive way!
Would you like to know what happened later?
Government closed Campania Region again!
Too many covid-19 cases and a few hospitals to take care of all.
Two days to decide if we were red zone, yellow zone or orange zone… is this a joke? Unfortunately not!
So guys, after discovering that I am at home again, without a job, with a broken Iphone and lots of sunny days outside, I started using some positive methods of how to get out of a 2020 existential crisis.
Good News: This lock down is a bit easier, we can go out for a fitness workout. Thanks God I am not feeling like a prisoner into my own house (which is very comfortable though).
When you are out of your comfort zone you realize you are able to move on. You can’t make future plans, you can’t do what you like, you can’t see your family and friends every time but there’s an energy helping you to survive and you must release this energy.
How did I release this energy?
With Simple things and here are some suggestions (I hope it helps you too):
1.Make a Plan of Things to do
You have lots of free time you never had before and if you have nothing to do, It’ll end you’ll get bored and depressed. So try to find a plan of things to do and make a list.
2. Hiking Therapy
I know the Amalfi Coast has the best scenery in the entire World and I must consider myself lucky to live here, but hiking really helped me. it doesn’t matter whether you are in the most scenic place of the Heart or just in the Green Park close to your house. The most important is to walk!
It’s not only necessary for you stay fit but it really helps your mind to keep away bad thoughts and have happy dreams at night. Walking into Nature really helps because it improves your creativity, it strenghtens your body and mind and gives you positive energy.
Well… if you can’t do Hiking Therapy, you can try to stay fit at home by using different Apps such as
http://: https://www.kaylaitsines.com
At least those apps help you to stay fit and do some workouts.
I really missed traveling and my job. As a tour guide, my job is more like having a holiday on the Amalfi Coast with my customers and showing them hidden corners, describing the places with incredible stories. In a positive way I know we will travel again and I know maybe you need to get some inspiration for your next trip to Italy. So, I started making some short videos on my YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GduTZmfh4fw
Read more»Vali Myers and her magic world of femininity
- At November 16, 2020
- By Zia Lucy
- In lifestyle in Positano, Positano
- 0
Vali Myers, a unique character of the authentic Amalfi Coast lifestyle in the 60s.
Vali Myers was not only an artist who refused a lifestyle scheme imposed by modern society. She represents an inner conception of connections between the femenine world and Mother Nature.
I remember when I was a little girls and I used to watch her on the pier, catching the small boat with a red fish sign which used to bring her at Adolfo’s restaurant. I was fascinated by her tattoos, her long skirts and her beautiful and wild red hair. She was the lady who inspired me for loving art and nature. At that time, lots of artists who created that unique cultural soul of Positano died or had gone. I only had the possibility to see Vali, Nureyev and Zeffirelli walking on the streets of Positano at a time when our beautiful Positano was becoming an international Jet Set place.
Many people at tat time were wondering if She was popular…
I don’t think She cared and for sure we didn’t care. It was important what she represented for us: a free soul, a pagan spirit, a woman who taught us how to deeply connect with Nature.
Who was She?
In 1952, Vali left Paris, together with her companion Rudy Rappold, after a hard period of life. They arrived in Capri but, as it happened with many artists who were looking for a simpler life, they moved to Positano. Here they restored an old wreck sited outside the town centre, and area called Vallone Porto which nowadays is a protected Natural Reserve, unique for its microclimate and flora.
Surrounded by an incredible vegetation, sheep, dogs, frogs and her beloved Foxy (a Fox Vali saved and adopted), Vali and Rudi embraced an ecological lifestyle that anticipates the hippie search of ascetic and ancestral life where man speaks the same language of Nature!
With her eclectic paintings representing the feminine world through a mystic trance, Vali became muse of Francesco Scavullo, Patti Smith and Marianne Faithfull.
Between all, Vali inspired Gianni Menichetti, an important artist for Positano, who still lives in Vallone Porto and protects this hidden corner of Positano:
Gianni first arrived at Vallone Porto when he was 18. Not long after his arrival, Gianni became Vali’s lover and willing slave, and she, his Goddess, mentor and muse. With Vali as his teacher, Gianni learnt fluent English, a wealth of poetry and literature, hundreds of songs, and a charming collection of colloquial Australian sayings:
http://www.giannimenichetti.com
Vali never had kids, She once wrote:
“I use the mythical Madonna figure a lot in my art. The center of life is female – we all come from our mothers. I’ve always drawn women or female spirits. I feel deeply about this – who gives a damn about some guy on a cross? My mother’s creativity was smothered after she married and raised a family, but she was supportive of me – even my father expected me to carry on in her footsteps. I prefer to have no kids but lots of animals.”
and here’s what she wrote about Marianne Faithful:
“Marianne Faithful turned up one day with her boyfriend to see some of my work. I thought, who is this scrawny little guy, so I said to him, what is it you do Micky? How would I know who the bloody hell Mick Jagger was? – I wasn’t interested in Mick Jagger, I was always into Marianne. She was a real fighter.”
For extra info, you can visit the following websites:
https://www.valimyerstrust.com/about-vali-myers/
https://www.rocaille.it/vali-myers-the-witch-of-positano/
Via Positanesi d’America, a romantic small road in Positano
- At February 08, 2017
- By Zia Lucy
- In lifestyle in Positano
- 0
Considered the most romantic road in Positano, via Positanesi d’America was dedicated to all the locals who moved to the USA in search of a new life.
This tiny small road, that we can call a short paved path, goes from the main beach of Positano, the famous Spiaggia Grande, to one of my favourite places, Spiaggia di Fornillo.
Along the walk, suspendend on a cliff, it is possible to admire prickley pears and pine trees but the most spectacular thing is the view on Fornillo’s tower, a medieval watching tower converted into a villa by the swiss Gilbert Clavel at the beginning of the 20th century.
I love taking a walk here during the winter, especially to admire the rough sea clashing on the cliff.
I need to be really careful as the sea is so rough that sometimes I am bathed by the high vawes.
During Spring and Summer, at night time this path becomes really romantic: couples come here to have a pizza under a pine tree or a kiss under the moonlight shadows.
Well… if you think you don’t want to stop, you can just have a walk to reach the beach of Fornillo where you can find restaurants and beach clubs.
Travel Tips: here is a list of my favorite places where you can eat:
Covo dei Saraceni, via regina Giovanna, 5: it’s a famous hotel in Positano with a nice restaurant and a great bar on the street. My favourite food here is pizza, I love eating focaccia with parma ham, cherry tomatoes and parmesan cheese. Ask for Pizza Integrale (whole wheat).
Lo Guarracino, via positanesi d’America, 12: me and my cousin love eating here. It’s a simple place with a beautiful view and delicious food. I love eating everything here, my “favorite” are mussel soup, stuffed squid and fish grilled on lemon leaf.
Fratelli Grassi, Beach Club, via Fornillo, 70: the Grassi’s is one of the first beach clubs you see when you arrive in Fornillo beach. It’s a great spot if you like to lay under the sun and there is a small restaurant where you can eat for lunch (closed for dinner). I always ask for Piatto del giorno (dish of the day) as I love their real positanese home way of cooking. In case you prefer a light lunch, they have good salads.
Da Ferdinando, Beach Club, via Fornillo, 24: a family-run beach club with nice food, good music, fun atmosphere… and great drinks.
For any further info, feel free to send me a mail. As a born-resident guide in Positano, I am happy to give suggestions so you can have the best time of your life and you will bring Positano into your heart forever.
Enchanted Towers of Positano, where dreams come true!
When you arrive to the Amalfi Coast you soon notice some towers.
Besides their historical function (lookout against invasions), some of the towers hide incredible and charming stories to be discovered.
They are also large and complex projects made on men’s dreams and hopes.
In 1909 Gilbert Clavel bought the Torre di Fornillo, inspired by the unique shape of that fortress, and had the idea (considered crazy by local people) to convert it into his private residence, into a place where he could relax and create. Clavel was a little great man, an artist, a writer, a genius who suffered from tuberculosis and had several phisical problems. He chose the Torre di Fornillo to avoid places which for him were considered crowded, for example Capri.
“Everything began with a dream: a man from Switzerland fell in love with a watching tower and decided to create his great escape there!”
After many years and difficulties, his dream was almost complete: a beautiful, mazy building where he met his guests and inspired their poems, art, music. Clavel was the connection between artists such as Prampolini, Depero, Marinetti and Norman Douglas. He was also a good friend of Leonide Massine and Pablo Picasso. He died leaving an unfinished but almost perfect work: La Torre di Fornillo.
Read more»Positano for Foodies
There are many great ways to experience the Amalfi Coast and to enjoy its food.
From boat tours to Cooking classes and Hiking to kayaking, you can really choose to experience the Amalfi coast in any way that you want. While these are all wonderful ways to spend your time on the coast, there is now another option.
Italy is known for many things and if you ask around, the most common thing people imagine when they think of Italy… is the food. Italian food is a favorite for millions of people across the world and now there is a tour specifically tailored for the foodies. The Coast Ranges about 25 miles from one end to the other, and in between are any number of the finest authentic Italian Restaurants you have ever experienced.
When life gives you lemons, make liqueur… or granita!
- At January 15, 2017
- By Zia Lucy
- In lifestyle in Positano
- 0
In southern Italy, there lies the Coast of Amalfi. The Amalfi Coast is known throughout the world for its cultivation of lemons that seem to have a specific potency that is difficult to replicate, and its limoncello.
The lemon is the cultural staple of Amalfi and the coast is a very popular place for tourists to visit in Italy. It is not the lemons themselves that draw the tourists in, however. Life gave Amalfi Lemons ad they did more than just make lemonade, they made liqueur and granita (lemon slush).
The limoncello is a very popular liqueur produced in many the small towns located along the coast, which runs along the coastline from the town of Vietri sul mare in the east to Positano in the west. There are thirteen municipalities along the Amalfi Coast and many of them are centered on tourism, which is not surprising considering the beautidul scenery that all of Italy has to offer. Limoncello is typically made from the zest of Sfusato Amalfitano, a kind of lemon produced in the Amalfi Coast and Sorrento. The production proces is rather simple zest, is the peel without the pith which is steeped in highly concentrated alcohol until the oils are extracted. The result is an extremely tart, yellow liquid that is then mixed with a syrup to control certain variables like sweetness, thickness and overall flavor. This liqueur is generally about 40% alcohol and it is served cold as an after-dinner “digestivo”, which is an italian term for an alcoholic dessert drink that is meant to aid in the digestion of a meal.
Limoncello is mainly popular in Italy, however, it is becoming more prevalent within the United States, Canada, New Zeland and the UK. Locals on the Amalfi Coast love drinking finocchietto too (a liqueur made of the wild fennel seeds). Besides the fact that it is easy to make limoncello, every family has it’s own secret recipe and my mother’s cousin created his own brand which is very famous in the area… and not only here!
His name is Valentino and his brand is called Il Gusto della Costa: http://www.ilgustodellacosta.it
Valentino produces liqueurs, marmelades and chocolate. It’s nice to have a tasting there while you stay in the Amalfi Coast.
There is another company that offer guided tours through the lemon groves where you can see how it is all done and experience the culture of Amalfi: http://amalfilemonexperience.it
If you visit Positano, you should not miss a taste of Granita, our lemon slush. To have the best granita experience you must taste the one made by a local family. They have a small stand in Mulini Square, just in the heart of Positano, and once tasted their granita you will have an addiction to it!
Of Course, people do not visit the coast simply for the liqueur either. The Amalfi coast offers breathtaking scenery and the towns offer a very comfortable atmosphere and make for a great vacationing spot. There are a number of other exciting things while visiting the coast beyond the lemons of course, such as guided excursions and driven tours, cooking classes of different varieties and even kayaking. Everyone’s taste is different and has their own way of vacationing and whether you are looking for a nice relaxing vacation, with great restaurants, an inviting atmosphere and a tour through the grove or if you are looking for something a little more fast-paced and exciting like kayaking and hiking, it is guaranteed you will enjoy the Coast of Amalfi.
Walking around Positano in April and May
April and May are beautiful months here in Positano.
The weather becomes warmer but not so hot, clothes shops expose their new collections on display and the scent of linen blends with that of wisteria.
Everybody is happy for the beginning of new season and the Sirocco Wind gives to the town a magic atmosphere.
Everytime I guide my guests around Positano, I like bringing them into some neighborhoods where it’s difficult to see lots of tourists and very easy to find local people and interact with them. In this way the tour of Positano is not only a good idea to have an orientation of The town and to discover its history but it also becomes a unique experience. Local people, infact, love talking with tourists and telling them the stories of their lives.
Positano is also full of stairs and some of them are really vertical, but you don’t feel like a local if you don’t walk on (at least) 150 steps. And if you think that the stairs are just shortcuts, you are wrong: every stair hides a beautiful door, a cat on the roof, an incredible view… all good subjects for a great picture.
April is also the month to have the first gelato or the first granita of the season…
… and it’s strictly forbidden to leave Positano without having seen or tasted our lemons
or without having had a special cocktail
Are these good reasons to come to Positano in April/May?
And if you are here, are you ready to walk with me and to discover the beauties of my hometown?
Have a great day and cheers from Positano!
Local Dishes: Totani e Patate
- At June 14, 2015
- By Zia Lucy
- In lifestyle in Positano, Positano
- 0
The Amalfi Coast is not only a beautiful place to stay. Its particular micro climate and it’s incredible position between the mountains and the sea had helped locals to create authentic and delicious recipes hand down through the generations.
Every single village of the coast shares its own recipe, even if there are common ingredients into it.
One of the most popular recipes in Positano and the Amalfi Coast is Totani e Patate.
Totani e Patate o “Totari e Patate” is a typical dish in Campania, made of potatoes and squids.
Even if people believe that the calamari (white squids) have a better taste and are more expensive as they’re finer, I prefer eating totani, maybe because I am a resident in Positano and my family used to go out at night to fish these delicious mollusca.
Almost all the restaurants in Positano serve the totani e patate but there are many ways of cooking them. The most popular recipes are from Positano and Praiano.
Praiano is a village nearby Positano and it’s not so far but its recipes change a lot and the way of cooking is different from our way of cooking in Positano.
The mail difference in the totani and patate recipe is the tomato sauce.
Positano style: you generally fry the squidds (cut into strips) into a pan and then cook them with tomato sauce. Add the potatoes cut into large pieces and cook all together. Then add chili peppers and parsley.
Praiano Style: the potatoes in pieces are fried into a pan. Then you can add the squidds cut into stips and fry them all togheter.
It’s hard to tell which is the best recipe. Why don’t you come on the Amalfi Coast and taste both?
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