Davide Mea, Chef of "La Taverna del Mozzo" in Marina di Camerota it is the marine face of traditional Cilento cuisine. His passion for the territory and its products prompted him from an early age to scrutinize the raw materials of the past, the work of the craftsmen, that of the small productions of the hinterland to be combined in marriage with the flavors of the sea.
If on the one hand there is respect for history on the other, the Chef from Cilento, a degree in Economics and Tourism hanging on a nail at home, but totally dedicated to his small but comfortable restaurant in front of the port of Marina di Camerota, taken by assault by gourmets, loves to reinterpret, continually invent new combinations. And in any case, even the dishes that are part of his historic menu always hide something new, a shot of the imagination that brings them up to date and enhances them by looking for new angles of taste.
That Tradition is its starting point is also testified by the "Mozzillo" " which stands next to the Taverna del Mozzo, an interpretation of the ancient Neapolitan tavern where you can consume street food, in this case a fish sandwich or a cuoppo of fried very fresh and crunchy paranza.
And this is how Davide Mea was awarded the “Ritratti di Territorio Food Award 2019” as “Cilento gastronomic investigator. Deep connoisseur of the best local products, who prefers fish cuisine in spring and summer. His "Taverna del Mozzo" is an inevitable destination for gourmands. In the province of Salerno, he was the one who launched the fish sandwich, the mozzillo ".
Much deserved recognition testified by a quick glance at his menu which becomes the flag of Cilento pride and what its territory produces, from the "Spaghettone Gerardo Di Nola with menaica anchovies and stracciata mozzarella in myrtle", to the "Lagane , chickpeas and squid" to then arrive at a triumph of Cilento with his "Zuppetta camerotana with grouper, prawns and maracucciata" a very rare legume whose memory had been lost saved in extremis by being included among the Slow Food presidia of which First&Food spoke on January 16 of last year (“Maracuoccio, a cicerchia that comes from history whose memory had been lost – The name is of Semitic origin).
A gastronomic rarity, which today is cultivated only in 3 hectares by 6 peasant families on the hills of Marina di Camerota". In short, a cuisine that lives and breathes the territory deeply with all its aromas. Scents and flavors which, when speaking of Cilento, have the value of discovering a gastronomic frontier.
Method
Ingredients for 4 people:
250 g of dried Gorga beans
2 very fresh cuttlefish
Stale bread, thyme, extra virgin olive oil
garlic celery carrots and onion for the sauté
100 gr of datterini tomatoes
500 g. of mussels
salt and pepper
Method
The night before we leave the beans to soak covered in cold water
the following morning, cook the beans in water starting from the water which must be cold, let the beans simmer for 2 and a half hours on a low heat, remembering to include after an hour, celery, carrots, onions and a few tomatoes, salt and pepper to taste and add a nice amount of extra virgin olive oil and leave it to cook over a very low heat for the rest of the time so that the bean is not soft
In meanwhile
. clean the cuttlefish by taking the back part and cut it like a very thin tagliatelle
. in a small pan, let a little oil heat up to 30 degrees with two or three sprigs of thyme
.when the beans are cooked, blend and sift the prepared bean soup to create a cream
Before plating
In a pan with a clove of garlic and two drizzles of extra virgin olive oil, let the mussels open over high heat
previously washed and cleaned
let the stale bread cut into small pieces brown in the thyme-scented oil
The Hub Tavern
Via Lungomare Trieste, 95 – Marina di Camerota (Sa)
Tel. 0974 932774
Open for lunch and dinner. Closed on Tuesday
