Since the 50s, the greats of the world have passed through those terraces that overlook the spectacular crib of arabesque houses of Positano, a jewel of spontaneous architecture clinging to the mountain that plunges into the blue-green waters of the Amalfi coast. These are the terraces of the Sirenuse tree where the great John Steinbeck stopped, the author of Furore and the Eden Valley from which the film that launched James Dean as a youth icon of the XNUMXth century was based. And that he wrote: “We went to the Sirenuse, an old manor house transformed into a first-rate hotel, immaculate and fresh, with a pergola above the outdoor tables. Each room has its own little balcony and overlooks the blue sea as far as the islands of the Sirens, where those ladies sang so sweetly".
After the great American writer there was a succession of actors, industrialists, nobles, men of letters, artists, from Cary Grant to Burt Lancaster, from Francis Ford Coppola to the two 007s Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan, from Roberto Murolo to Sting, from the King of Belgium to the King of Maysia, from Naomi Campbel to Pink Floyd.
Conquering a room in the historic five-star luxury hotel of the Sersale family, a name that has linked its history to the promotion of the magical world of Positano, has always been a sign of distinction because the Sirenuse, furnished with antique and contemporary furniture, with its rooms traditional and modern, its Spa for which the great archistar Gae Aulenti was named, reflects the eclectic charm of Neapolitan aristocratic residences, it is a refined oasis of peace and incomparable silence with a breathtaking view of the sea and the mountains.
For four years now, the hotel restaurant, La Sponda, has been entrusted to the skilled hands of the chef Gennaro Russo, one Michelin star originally from Somma Vesuviana. He settled here at the age of just 29, after being taught by the great Alfonso Iaccarino of Sant'Agata sui due golfi, the starred father of all the starred cuisines of southern Italy, after passing from Massimo Bottura's Osteria Francescana to Modena, first restaurant in the world in the list of The World's 50 Best Restaurants in 2016 and 2018 and after a long period spent in two Parisian starred restaurants those of the legendary Alain Ducasse, where he reaches the rank of head of party, and Bernard Pacaud, from whom he learns the art of pastry. Fundamental experiences to forfeit the fundamental principles of "technique and precision" and perceive the importance of teamwork, because "competition between chefs - he says - is a healthy thing, but so is cooperation: you get more by rowing everyone in the same direction".
And the direction of the kitchens of La Sponda de Le Sirenuse is that of ingredients, exclusively fresh, local and in season, processed with respect for the territory and traditions conceived as a real gastronomic journey, between flavors and aromas in the Neapolitan and national repertoire with reinterpretations of cooking classics. A high level cuisine which however reveals the most genuine soul of this corner of the world blessed by the Gods.
In times of travel restrictions, rigors, sanitary isolations, lockdowns, tourists who traditionally flocked to Positano in recent years to spend a glamorous Christmas and New Year's Eve, will have to stay at home this year. But if it is forbidden to travel by car and train, it is not forbidden to travel with the imagination and give it free rein, such as dining on the terrace of La Sponda in the light of the moon while in the distance you can glimpse the three rocks of Li Galli, the islands of the Sirens of Ulysses, the good retreat of the great Rudolph Nureyev. Chef Gennaro Russo has created a complete dinner from first to dessert to make everyone experience the illusion of smelling the scents and flavors of the coast and toasting to a year that will hopefully make us forget the horror of 2020 which ends sadly for everyone. Obviously the menu is based on fish as the main ingredient for the Christmas holidays and the New Year's Eve dinner, but he interprets it in four different recipes that enhance the raw materials.
There he is:
Blue lobster salad, broccoli and buffalo mozzarella
Ingredients for 4 people
2 live blue lobsters of 500/600 gr
2 Bari broccoli
250 g of fresh buffalo cheese
2 Shallots
100 g of Parsley
1 bottle of white wine
Black pepper in grains
Sale
Extra virgin olive oil
Procedure:
Boil a saucepan with a diameter of at least 20 cm with the peppercorns, half a bottle of white wine, the parsley and the shallots. In the meantime, remove the claws from the lobsters and tie them together with kitchen string. As soon as the water boils, immerse the claws and let them cook for 6 minutes, then cook the bodies for 4 minutes. Decorticate everything hot with the help of scissors. Keep aside at room temperature. For the broccoli, cut the smaller florets and blanch them in salted water until cooked through (about 4 minutes) and then cool in water and ice. Overcook the rest of the broccoli and then blend it while hot, adding oil slowly until you get a very smooth puree. Finally dilute the buffalo cheese with the help of a whisk, making it as smooth as a cream.
Pasta Da Vinci with octopus ragout and Piennolo tomatoes
Ingredients for people 4
400 g of “Da Vinci” pasta or half paccheri
1 large curly octopus of 1 kg
500 g of Polpetti veraci of 100 g each
1 Bunch of parsley
1 kg of piennolo tomatoes
2 garlic
500 g of black olives
50 g of Capers
2 Chillies
1 bottle of white wine
Oil, salt and pepper to taste
Procedure:
Clean the meatballs and the octopus by depriving them of the eyes, rostrum and innards, rinse repeatedly under running water. Preheat a saucepan by adding oil, garlic and parsley stalks. Then lay the large octopus cut into pieces, browning it well, deglaze with white wine and once the wine has evaporated add the tomato and cover, cooking over low heat for about 2 hours.
Same procedure for the meatballs without cutting them, without the tomatoes but with the addition of olives and capers after deglazing with the wine. Cooking time, for the meatballs, about 1 hour. As soon as the large octopus is cooked, pass everything through a vegetable mill and then through a large-mesh chinoise to obtain a very smooth and thick sauce. Lower the pasta and cook it al dente for about 8 minutes and finish cooking by stirring it in the octopus sauce. Arrange everything in a deep dish and serve the small octopus at the same time but in a small separate dish.
Roasted sea bass steak with Neapolitan endive terrine
Ingredients for 4 people
1 sea bass of 2 kg
2 endives
1 Lettuce
100 pinenuts
100 g of soaked raisins
100 g of black olives
100 g of Capers
3 Anchovy fillets
3 cloves of garlic
Oil, salt, pepper to taste
Procedure:
Fillet the sea bass depriving it of the head and bones. Cut the fillets into portions of approximately 150 g and keep in a cool place. In the meantime, clean the endives by depriving them of the first outer leaves, then cook them in a fairly large pot by stewing them with the addition of olives, capers, garlic and anchovies, until the endives are cooked meltingly. Blanch the outer leaves of the lettuce for about 30 seconds and cool them in water and ice and dry them immediately on a torch. Line the molds for the terrine with the lettuce leaves and place the cooked escarole inside, peeling it with your fingers. Close with other lettuce leaves and unmold the terrine. To cook the sea bass, use a well-heated non-stick frying pan, lay the fillets on the skin side making it very crispy, finally finish cooking on the meat side at a lower temperature.
Chocolate, Chestnuts and Hazelnuts
Ingredients:
500 g of cream
100 gr of milk
180 g of milk chocolate
2 egg yolks
2 g of Gelatine in sheets
50 gr of sugar
Procedure:
Bring the milk, cream and chocolate to the boil in a small saucepan, as soon as the boil emerges, pour 3 times over the previously beaten egg yolks and sugar paste in another saucepan. Put everything back on the heat and bring everything to 84°, then cool rapidly and finally add the jelly and chocolate.
Chocolate crumble
Ingredients:
100 gr of sugar
100 gr of Butter
200 g of 00 flour
20 g of cocoa powder
Procedure:
Put all the ingredients in the planetary mixer and sandblast. Once sandblasted, cook at 180° for 14 minutes.
Hazelnut ganache
Ingredients:
50 g of hazelnut paste
100 g of cream 34% mg.
200 g of milk chocolate
Procedure:
Bring the cream to the boil, emulsify the chocolate and finally add the hazelnut paste.
Creamy Hazelnut
Ingredients:
800ml of Milk
250 gr of sugar
200 gr of egg yolks
100 g of 00 flour
100 g of hazelnut paste
300 g of whipped cream with 30% sugar
Method:
Bring the milk and cream to the boil in a small saucepan, as soon as it comes to the boil, pour the egg yolks, sugar and flour previously beaten in another saucepan in 3 times onto the pastel. Put everything back on the heat and bring everything to 84°, then add the hazelnut paste, then cool rapidly. When the mixture is cold, add the whipped cream in 3 times.
Chestnut ice cream
Ingredients:
1 liter of milk
200 g of cream at 50% mg.
100 g of egg yolks
300 g of boiled chestnuts in puree
240 gr of sugar
100 g of glucose
Procedure:
In a small saucepan, bring the milk and cream to the boil, as soon as the boil emerges, pour the pastel of egg yolks, sugar, boiled chestnuts and glucose previously beaten in another saucepan, in 3 times. Put everything back on the fire and bring everything to 84° and then put it in the creamer until -6°.
