Spaghetti with Colatura di Alici di Cetara (Anchovy Condiment)
Spaghetti with Colatura di Alici di Cetara is one of my favorite pasta dishes from the Campania region. I often find myself wondering how something so quick and easy to prepare, with such meager ingredients, can be so utterly delicious. But then I recall the featured ingredient, the ‘Colatura di Alici di Cetara,’ which is the miraculous liquid result of the slow, careful process of the maturation and pressing of salted anchovies. A process created long ago by the Cistercian Monks of Amalfi that was derived from GARUM —the fermented fish sauce commonly used by the Ancient Romans as a condiment to season their food.
The amber-colored liquid, which has been produced in the quaint fishing village of Cetara on the Amalfi Coast for ages, has a unique, intense (briny) sea-worldly flavour, that contributes to the especially delicious taste of many of the beloved specialty dishes from the village —either on its own or pared with a variety of simple ingredients. So when my son came home with a beautiful bouquet of fresh hot chili peppers for me the other day…
