LA CUCINA DIVINA - THE DIVINE KITCHEN!

The 'Punta Reginella' part of Positano

‘La Costiera Divina’, The Divine Coast, as the Amalfi Coast, a seductive stretch of coastline lying slinkily on the southern end of the ‘shin’ of the Italian boot, is also known. And aptly named so as this was the playground of the gods! (their myth and mystery still endure...)

Today’s playground is the pearl of the Amalfi Coast: Positano. It is here that the cooking school, ‘La Cucina Divina’, is located. Positano is a magnet to both international and fellow Italian visitors. It is a fantasy destination that grabs ahold of you, forever its captive, an enchanting dream from which there is no escape, one filled with romantic light, heady nights and gastronomic delights!

What more perfect place to immerse oneself in southern Italian cuisine! Just one bite of anything here is enough to swoop you away, as if in Bacchus’ magical panther-drawn chariot to an other-worldy dimension!

Foodies and seasoned traveller’s know that through the enjoyment of a town’s local cuisine, one seemingly tastes the very heart and soul of the place – and here on the Amalfi Coast, once you’ve tasted, the memory lingers and one’s only release is to return...or at least take some of the ‘know-how’ back with you to be re-created in your own kitchen.

‘La Cucina Divina’ arranges cooking experiences which are wickedly fun, informative and deliciously hands-on and without a doubt will be one of your most memorable holiday moments ever!

Cooking on The Divine Coast

Sharon and Rachel Kirschner with Chef Salvatore

Farm-fresh eggs

Just the other day I met Sharon and Rachel Kirschner, a mom and daughter travelling here together, in the kitchen, where they were getting very hands-on with their cooking lesson! There's a Latin proverb which says: "While the pot boils, friendship endures." I've read another take on this that suggests rather that friendship blooms, and that's exactly what happened! A serendipitous encounter over farm-fresh eggs, flour, Virgin Mary blessed mountain water, pine-forest plucked porcini mushrooms, ricotta cheese and prawns (the makings of ravioli!) certainly did bloom and led to moments of tourmaline searching on Spiaggia Grande, a visit to Amalfi, with a stop at Andrea Pansi, one of only a handful of pastry shops in Italy which have been continuously family-owned and run by consecutive generations - this is now the 5th generation - and Ravello (known as the City of Music as it has inspired many a great  composer, the likes of Wagner, and hosts an annual classical music festival); a light dinner of stuffed artichokes and zucchini fries at La Cambusa down at the beach one evening and platters of frutti di mare at Il Ritrovo up in Montepertuso on another....more about these fabulous restaurants at a later stage!

Frutti di Mare - Mixed Seafood

What great company Sharon and Rachel were - and what a pleasure to have guests with whom to share the trove of treasures here - culinary and otherwise! But if it's a journey into the heart and soul of the southern Italian kitchen you're after, La Cucina Divina is a good place to start!

BUON APPETITO!