This week I checked out Cicchetti’s new menu which aims to take diners on a delicious tour of Campania, southern Italy.
Each month Cicchetti offers diners a giro d’Italia (journey through Italy) menu which explores the culinary specialities unique to one of the twenty regions of Italy. To date Cicchetti’s Grio d’Italia has visited Group celebrity chef Aldo Zilli’s home region of Abruzzo and San Carlo Group Chairman Carlo Distefano’s Sicily. August sees Cicchetti take a gastronomic tour of Campania in southern Italy and September sees Cicchetti head to Calabria.
(Above the stand out dish for me, Cuoppo-misto; Typical Neopolitan street food, fish and veg in a bag. Looks fantastic and tastes even better)
The Campania region of Italy – which lies south of Rome on the west coast of the country, along the Tyrrhenian Sea – should be on every culinary traveller’s list. Its capital, Naples, is the birthplace of Pizza Margherita and its pizzerias are praised (and copied) around the world.
The area, which includes travel hot spots Pompeii and the Amalfi coast is also justly famous for its fantastic San Marzano tomatoes, pristine seafood, mozzarella di bufala made from the milk of buffalo bred in Salerno and Caserto – and pasta. Campania is agriculturally rich: Tomatoes, chestnuts, figs, beans, onions, artichokes, lemons (Limoncello was invented there), and apples flourish in the rich soils under Mount Vesuvius.
Half Sorrento lemon filled with piennolo tomato buffalo mozzarella and anchovies baked and topped with basil
Grilled smoked buffalo mozzarella served in a fresh tomato sauce
Neopolitan style pasta with fresh tomato swordfish and basil topped with buffalo mozzarella
Rice with baby squid clams, sea weed and lemon zest
Grilled smoked buffalo mozzarella served in a fresh tomato sauce
Aubergine baked in a light chocolate sauce served with homemade Limoncello ice cream
Cicchetti’s giro d’Italia menu brings the true taste of Italy to diners’ tables. Showcasing the variations in authentic, local Italian cuisine, these dishes combine simplicity with great taste, allowing the quality of seasonal ingredients to shine through. Available during August only, the Campania menu will be a must for foodies.
Open for breakfast lunch and dinner seven days a week, all dishes are made on the premises using only the finest seasonal ingredients, many of which are flown in from produce markets in Sicily and Milan.
