Anchovy Dreams
Soon we will be sailing the islands off the Bay of Naples and the Amalfi coast again. My mouth is watering for these staple little fish. I’m having anchovy dreams.
Soon we will be sailing the islands off the Bay of Naples and the Amalfi coast again. My mouth is watering for these staple little fish. I’m having anchovy dreams.
“Inside the kitchen of local culinary-tour maven Peggy Markel…Markel channeled the elegance and utility of natural materials typically used in kitchens in Italy, Morocco, Spain, and India into her floors (wood), walls (clay), and counters (marble). But she also incorporated functional items, like deep kitchen drawers and a farmhouse sink, …
There’s more to sailing than sailing. Sailing is what you do after everything has been done, like lift the sails, check the direction of the wind, wind the ropes… just like having a fire after you have chopped the wood and set it aflame.
David Whyte is not only a poet I admire, he is a friend. For several years, along with a few other friends, we accompanied him on a sort of annual pilgrimage, having good conversations about whatever particular harvest one might be experiencing in one’s life while roaming the Tuscan countryside.
Slow travel since 1992. Travel is deliciously transformative. It cooks us in a good way, like fire and salt. To engage with other cultures through food is primal. It’s deeply connecting to break bread and stir a pot in an unknown land with a trusted insider.
This poem, written by Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, will forever remind me of the lemons found on the Amalfi Coast.
Colors can be seen at night by a full Amalfitana moon. Off to the nearby village of Praiano, suspended between the mountains and the sea, our mouths water as we approach a dimly lit piazza by the small sea port surrounded by cliffs.
The winds blow northerly as we head straight into them on our way to the isle of Capri after sailing around Ischia and Procida in the Bay of Naples. I feel like we’ve been on a sea-fari. We see mythical islands, mix with the elements, while staying safe on our boat protecting ourselves not from wild animals, but a deep blue unpredictable sea and sky. Our captain reads the weather like a book, knowing when and where to go. It’s like being in the hands of a magician.
Viki Psihoyos gives us a taste of Balanchine, just off Li Galli, “the dance island” a small atoll off the Amalfi coast and once home to Russian ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev.
“Every meal that we (mostly Peggy) prepared was spontaneously planned. Every island we visited had a different catch of the day. With the basic “materia prima”, like pomodorini (organic cherry tomatoes), limone (organic lemons), basilica (basil) l’olio d’oliva extra virgine, caperi, (capers) and fresh fish, we were able to feed …