Catching sight of me he jumps up and gives me his usual bear hug of welcome and animates as if a switch has been thrown. He now answers the phone, yells out’turn the music down!’ in Italian to the staff, and passes me a copy of his and wife Katie’s new book’The Amalfi Coast’.
The phone conversation in Italian is lively, so he moves away while I turn pages. I’m grateful that it’s post-lunch as only my sad wet a manger sandwich earlier is stopping me from making little noises of greed as I catch sight of some of the dishes inside. It may be blowing a freezing wind in London, but between the book’s covers the sun and sea of Amalfi are shining and the food looks simply fantastic.
Ah yes, the famous Amalfi lemons “sfusato amalfitanoâ€Â. Much larger than normal lemons and as bumpy faced as Ray Winstone, they make the famous Limoncello drink but also feature in many dishes. In the Caldesi’s book you’ll find a light lemon and prawn risotto, as well as lemon and ricotta filled ravioli in butter and mint sauce. You can feel the golden sunshine radiating off the page.
On the Caldesi’s travels along the winding roads of the Amalfi coast,’truly hair raising driving,’ recalls Giancarlo raising his eyebrows to emphasise the horror,’you just have to stop worrying and accept it’, they met producers and chefs generous with their time and found hidden restaurants with hidden gems on the menu.
The Caldesi kids are in the book too, seen tucking into pizza, the famous Pizza al Metro (by the metre), as well as round ones topped with seafood. The book gives good instructions on making your own pizzas with a list of toppings so tempting you swear never to eat rubbishy takeaway pizza again.
Naturally there’s a large section on pasta, how to make it and how to bring it alive with both slow and fast cooked sauces. Anchovy pesto, ideally with anchovies ‘alici’ from the town of Cetara, will take just moments in a blender, but the salty kick of the fish with olives, nuts, capers and a teensy bit of dried chilli, is perfect for a livening mid-week supper dish.
From Positano to Ravello, Katie collects the recipes and writes while Giancarlo adds his chef’s eye and experience and there are dishes for everyone; meat, fish and vegetables and all simple in principle, as long as you can get the same quality of ingredients.
‘Our book isn’t just a journey of food it’s a journey of life, rereading it now a year after we went to Amalfi I remember not just the food but the wonderful people we met,’ says Giancarlo.’Katie does all the writing, I can’t spell I just cook, but it’s both our impressions that are recorded. We’re going back at Easter to give a copy of the book to all the people we featured as a thank you for the food and their stories.’
Good food, good stories. That could be engraved on Giancarlo’s gravestone. Katie and he have created a cookbook that warms the heart on even the coldest British day.
Try some of Caldesi’s Amalfi recipes
{ISBN:1742705545}