The other evening I was out to dinner in Rome with friends. We were laughing, eating and just having fun. You know, just out to dinner. Then one of my friends said “I love it how you’ve managed to turn your everyday life into your job. You are always working, no matter what. You must love what you do.”
“What do you mean?” I said, “I’m not working now.” Because, you know, I was just out to dinner with friends.
And he said “You just took a photo. Which could, conceivably, be a blog post, or an instagram, or something else, right? So, work, right? And fun at the same time, right?”
Well, I guess he has a point.
Last week we spent five days in Positano, staying at a fabulous apartment that Gillian rented. I was not working. I was on vacation. Slept late, spent the day at the beach, and did not cook. Vacation.
But I couldn’t resist taking photos. And notes. Sorry, can’t help myself.
And yes, some of these will eventually turn into blog posts. Like this one.
Beaching it in Positano usually means choosing a stabilimento, or beach club, for the day. While most people pick one and stick to it, we like to club hop. To different beaches each day, but also to different clubs on the same beach. Our first day of course we headed straight for Adolfo, which requires a little boat ride to get to this isolated beach.
The rest of the week we just walked over to Fornillo, a little cove to the north of town. It’s a very relaxed, family kind of beach, with four different stabilimenti. I’d been to this one in the past, so we decided to branch out this time.
Why change, you may ask? Because one of the main perks of beach clubbing it is having lunch at their rickety little beach restaurants. And even though most have almost identical menus, there’s always something new and fun to try.
(And also? Each club picks different colors to paint chairs, tables, floors and cabins. So it makes for a completely different look, which is fun too.)
Our first day at Fornillo we headed to Grassi, which we knew was our landlord’s preferred club. I’m not sure why exactly. Maybe because they like blue? Everything is painted bright beachy blue here. More likely it has to do with very complicated family ties (that’s how most things work in the south of Italy.)
We were there for the food of course. While most of the menu repeated the Positano beach standards like caponata and caprese, there were a few house specialties that were new to me.
My favorite: squid salad with walnuts. Yes, nuts and fish. Who would have thought? I’d never heard of this combination before, but I guess it makes sense. Walnuts from nearby Sorrento are world renown. And squid? That takes no justification on any seaside menu.
The salad couldn’t have been easier. Squid cooked until tender, then sliced and tossed with spicy arugula. A sprinkling of roughly chopped, toasted walnuts and dressed with olive oil and lemon. That was it. Not by any stretch of your imagination your typical sea food salad. Very elegant and light and the slight crunch and nutty flavor of the walnuts added depth and an earthiness to this fishy dish.
The rest of the meal was great, but very much standard Positano fare: crispy fried squid, caponata and caprese all washed down by pitchers of peach filled, slightly fizzy, white wine. And then, the finish to any beach club meal in Positano: a long nap on rented lettini beneath umbrellas, followed by lazy afternoon swims. Because I was on vacation, not working. Well, at least pretending not to work.
squid and walnut salad
Prep
Cook
Total
Yield 6
Ingredients
- 1 kilo / 2 pounds cleaned squid
- 1 large bunch arugula, washed and torn into pieces
- 1/2 cup roughly chopped walnuts
- olive oil
- lemon
- salt, pepper
Instructions
- Cut the tentacles off the squid and divide. Cut the squid into half inch rings.
- Steam the squid in a steamer basket for 3 minutes. Don’t over cook, or they will become tough. Immediately plunge the squid into ice water to stop cooking. Drain and dry.
- To assemble salad: cover a small platter or individual serving dishes with a layer of arugula. Scatter squid on top, and then sprinkle with nuts. Dress with olive oil, lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.
F.illi Grassi
Fornillo, Positano
+39.089.811.1620
To get to Fornillo you can either take a boat shuttle from the main dock in the port of Positano (it sounds more official than it is. It’s just a dinky boat.) Or else there is a path that leads up from town and is just a ten minute walk which is really nice. You can just eat lunch there, but better yet, hire a couple of lettini, or beach beds, and an umbrella for the day. Get there early to reserve a place in the first row.
Elizabeth, I must make at least one of your recipies a week. At our beach club, your recipie for Mortadella sauteed with balsamic has become a standard, particularly among the teens. They love it. Last week I made the zucchini and lemon thing twice, once for a dinner party and once at the beach. It is going into the salad rotation as we speak because of the surplus of zucchini arriving at the farmer’s market now. I will make this squid preparation tonight for dinner and I am sure it will find its way onto our beach table this weekend. Thank you so much for the inspiration (AGAIN) and also of the wonderful reminders of Positano. BTW, the nicest plate we have a the beach was just plain white, oval and plastic, but the green and yellow of the zucchini with the white topping of ricotta just looked so fresh and beautiful on it—-not my vietri campagna dishe but it worked 🙂
Ok, now I’m craving mortadella!
🙂
For future reference when I go to Positano, when you say “get there early”, what exactly does that mean in Italian time?
For primo beach chairs, by 10:30.
Glad you enjoyed your vacation! The fried squid is right up my alley it’s addictive!