Heart and matter. These two words are enough to describe the sunny and explosive cuisine served by Pasquale Torrente, the surprising chef of the restaurant-pizzeria Al Convento in Cetara. Those who have the chance to spend a few days on the Amalfi Coast, and wish to enjoy the flavours and the traditions of this beautiful place, should necessarily visit this small fishermen village a few kilometres from Salerno.
Grilled anchovies and Bloody Mary with anchovies garum
Next to the church – you can’t miss it – there’s the entrance door to
Al Convento. The
Torrente family has been here for many years: this family-run business has been going on for generations. The heart is what links
Torrente to the Amalfi Coast, to its traditions, its scents, its marine and countryside flavours. The matter is soon explained: you only need to look at the beautiful sea that offers anchovies and tuna, remembering that only a few steps away there’s the rest of Campania, the region of the great pastas, of tomatoes and buffalo milk mozzarellas. The aim is that of matching these exceptional elements-ingredients together, in dishes that can charm the guest.
The pleasure of smiling and of joking is never missing. As for food, instead, the protagonists are anchovies and anchovy
colatura, a home-made strong point of this restaurant. “How could you start a meal if not with bread, butter and anchovies?” says the chef, laughing, and this demonstrates, at the same time, how three very simple ingredients can be enough to offer something truly delicious and surprising by itself. After all, what counts here are the ingredients. But it’s also important to know how to use them with respect and elegance: this way, in their simplicity, the
Aubergine parmigiana with anchovies becomes a small masterpiece of balance.
Then there’s the anchovy
colatura, produced using an ancient method of maturation and preserving of the anchovies. And in this case
Torrente tries to play and experiment, with the
Chargrilled anchovies on a bed of fresh spring onion, or the
Bloody Mary with anchovy colatura. Too daring? Quite the contrary. “Isn’t this a dish worth two stars?” says a smiling Torrente. Not forgetting that
colatura is also used in many other dishes, such as in the
Spaghetti alla puttanesca with anchovies.
Pasquale Torrente, 50 years old next March
One shouldn’t forget, besides, that the name “Cetara” comes from the Latin word “Cetaria”, which means tuna-fishing net. So here you can find tuna served in many ways, for instance in the
Endive, pine nut, raisins and tuna roe pie, or in the
Ziti alla Genovese, a typical pasta dish from Campania in which, however,
Torrente uses tuna instead of meat. And should this not be enough – going back to the concept of matter mentioned above – you only need to taste a simple
Tuna tagliata to understand how important it is not to ruin ingredients such as these.
Finally, there’s the fried fish, another strong suit, so much so that the chef has opened a fish shop inside
Eataly Roma: at
Al Convento the mixed fried fish is tasty, energetic, varied and super fresh. There are no frills or formalities, just pure taste.
Al Convento
piazza San Francesco, 16
+39.089.261039
Cetara (Salerno)
Closed on Wednesday (no closing day from May 15th to September 30th)
