Let us start from the beginning: once you leave the promenade of Salerno, after a few minutes of driving north, the majolicated dome of Saint John the Baptist in Vietri sul Mare awaits us, the small town acts as the “entrance door” to the Amalfi Coast, world famous for it’s ceramic tradition.

In front of us is a view so beautiful: the landscape is made by the sheer band on the sea, the picturesque colourful views leave you breathless, the wind blows gently through your hair and, above all, the fragrance of the lemon trees is everywhere.

The Amalfi Coast Lemon doesn’t look very nice in appearance: the Sorrento lemon is more round and soft in shape, while the sfusato (as it’s called in the Amalfi area) has a thick and wrinkled peel, very irregular in form. But as it often happens, what is ugly outside, is beautiful inside. In this case, the good is inside, because the Amalfi Coast Lemon has a juicy pulp, almost without seeds and is redolent with a fresh zesty scent.

We discover after a few kilometers when in a lay-by, we stop at one of the traditional street stalls where a kind seller opens one for us. The air is full of fragrance, behind us is a stunning landscape.

In front of us is the beauty of the nature, behind us is the beauty created by the hard labour and struggle of man over time: in fact the characteristic terracing plantation of this citrus tree has reshaped the precipitous slopes of the coast and is painted yellow in colour. Here, the fresh air of the nearby Lattari Mountains and the sea breeze climbing in from the coast create the perfect conditions for the growth of this variety of lemon tree whose goodness, uniqueness and health properties have been the proud holder of an I.G.P. trademark (Indication Geographic Protected) since 2002.

A reward which upholds what our ancestors already knew: the sfusato from Amalfi is among the variety of lemon richest in vitamin C. The time in which Amalfi used to be a Repubblica Marinara (maritime Republic), it was proclaimed that the ships sailing from the Amalfi Coast would never miss provisions of lemons for their trips, lemons were essential also in healing scurvy, a disease due to the deficiency of vitamin C.

The Amalfi Lemon is a fundamental ingredient in recipes from the Amalfi Coast: it’s cut into tiny slices and is dressed with a tiny bit of local olive oil, making simple seafood dishes taste even more delicious, it is used to prepare perfumes and is in a recipe now famous throughout the world: the limoncello, an alcoholic liquor which is perhaps the most successful product made from this unique citrus fruit.

After all these stops to appreciate what the nature has given us generously, we reach Amalfi, a city of history, sea, handmade paper, and, of course, lemons. After we have taken a stroll along the narrow streets lined with wisteria and bouganville, we are tempted by the ceramic souvenir shops and culinary luxuries to bring home to remind us of our precious time here.

We sit at a tiny table of a cafe’ while the sun goes down with the huge staircase of the Amalfi Cathedral in our view and we taste the typical water ice, of course made from the Amalfi lemon!