Sorrento Typical Products and Limoncello

Sorrento's typical products come from a small but generous land: the Sorrento PGI lemon and the limoncello made from it, walnuts and nocino, dairy products from the Lattari Mountains such as fior di latte and provolone del Monaco, and Penisola Sorrentina PDO extra virgin olive oil. These are the flavours you find at the table and the most authentic souvenirs to take home.

A land of citrus, olives and springs

For centuries the peninsula's landscape was shaped by farming. The soil, made of alternating volcanic tuff and limestone, is especially suited to fruit trees: among vineyards and olive groves, citrus orchards prevail, above all lemon and orange groves, and the yellow and orange of the fruit set off the silvery green of the olive trees. The many springs and the mild climate also favoured pasture and therefore a long dairy tradition.

Sorrento lemons and limoncello

The Sorrento lemon, protected by a Protected Geographical Indication, belongs to the femminiello sorrentino variety, also called the Sorrento oval: a good-sized fruit with plentiful, sharp juice and a medium-thick peel very rich in essential oils. The production area includes Sorrento, Sant'Agnello, Piano di Sorrento, Meta, Vico Equense, Massa Lubrense, Capri and Anacapri. Walking around you will still see the traditional pagliarelle, straw mats held up by wooden poles that protect the trees from cold and wind and delay ripening.

These lemons are used to make limoncello, a liqueur obtained by steeping the peel in alcohol and then adding a syrup of water and sugar. The family recipe handed down on the peninsula is simple:

• 1 litre of alcohol for liqueurs, the peel of 6 untreated lemons, a few leaves of lemon verbena
• 7 days of infusion in a closed jar, then strain through a cloth
• add the cooled syrup, made by boiling half a litre of water with 400 g of sugar for five minutes
• after another week of rest, strain again through a very fine cloth so that the liqueur is clear

It is served ice-cold at the end of a meal. Lemons also flavour desserts, such as the delizia al limone described on the page about Sorrento cuisine.

Walnuts and St John's nocino

The Sorrento walnut is prized for its thin, easy-to-crack shell and its pale, sweet kernel. The still-green walnuts, enclosed in their husks, are used to make nocino, an aromatic digestif tied to an old ritual: they are picked around the feast of St John on 24 June, and in any case before the feast of Saints Peter and Paul on the 29th. In the traditional recipe, thirteen walnuts cut into quarters steep in a litre of alcohol with thirteen raw coffee beans, thirteen roasted ones, cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg, in a large bottle left in the sun for forty days; it is then strained, a light syrup is added and it rests for another forty days before serving.

Dairy and oil: treccia, provolone del Monaco and PDO oil

Good water, a mild climate and rich pastures made the peninsula's dairy products famous. Treccia is a hand-braided cow's milk fior di latte with a fresh, milky flavour. Stronger is provolone del Monaco PDO, a semi-hard cheese aged for at least six months, made in the Lattari Mountains and on the peninsula from raw milk, partly from the Agerolese cow. According to tradition, the name recalls the sackcloth cloak, like a monk's habit, that cheesemakers wore when they landed at the port of Naples at dawn. The larder is completed by Penisola Sorrentina PDO extra virgin olive oil, made mostly from the Ogliarola or Minucciola variety: fruity, with a light bitter and peppery note.

Where to buy them and what to take home

Limoncello shops, delicatessens and local-produce stores are concentrated in the old town, especially along Via San Cesareo, where you will also find the wooden objects of Sorrento marquetry. In many workshops you can watch the liqueurs being made and taste them. A tip: if you are flying, choose small bottles or have large ones packed for the hold. To enjoy these products on the plate, pick one of the restaurants in Sorrento.