The Most Famous Lemon in Italy
Most lemons are a supporting act. The Amalfi lemon is not. Grown on the near-vertical coast south of Naples, it is large, fragrant and sweet enough to eat almost like a fruit - and it has shaped the cooking of an entire region. For an Amalfi-inspired Italian restaurant in Knightsbridge, opposite Harrods, it is more than an ingredient; it runs from the first drink of the evening through to the last spoonful of dessert.
Here is what makes it worth the fuss.
What Is an Amalfi Lemon?
The Amalfi lemon is a specific variety - the sfusato amalfitano - grown along the Amalfi Coast in Campania. It carries protected status: since 2001 it has been recognised as Limone Costa d'Amalfi IGP, a mark that ties the name to the place, much as Champagne belongs to Champagne. Long and tapered rather than round, it wears a thick, knobbly, deeply perfumed skin, holds few seeds, and tastes far less sharp than a supermarket lemon. It is a fruit built for its peel as much as its juice.
Grown on the Cliffs
Nothing about growing lemons on the Amalfi Coast is easy, which is rather the point. The groves climb the hillsides in narrow terraces cut into the rock, the trees trained along pergolas of chestnut poles that shade the fruit and take the weight of the harvest. Everything is picked by hand and carried down by hand. The terraced lemon gardens are part of why the coast is a UNESCO World Heritage landscape, and they give the fruit its character: slow-grown, sun-soaked, and unmistakably of one place.
Why Cooks Prize It
The value is in the peel. An Amalfi lemon's skin is unusually rich in aromatic oils, which is what makes it the lemon for zest, for candying, and above all for limoncello - the liqueur that steeps the peel rather than the juice. The flesh is mild and low in acid, so it lends brightness without the harsh bite, working as happily through a dessert as over fish. A single fruit perfumes a room.
How Italians Use It
Up and down the coast the lemon turns up everywhere: in a chilled granita al limone on a hot afternoon, in delicate lemon pastas, in a glass of limoncello poured cold after dinner, and in the region's great sweet - delizia al limone, a dome of sponge and lemon cream. It is a whole culinary vocabulary drawn from one fruit.
The Amalfi Lemon at ALBA
The connection starts before the food arrives: the room is built around the coast the lemon comes from, a palette of lemon, olive and terracotta that sets the tone the moment you sit down. On the menu, the lemon runs from savoury to sweet. Limoncello brightens the house Amalfi Spritz, the pre-dinner pour. The Amalfi Lemon sorbet offers the purest, sharpest expression of the fruit. And to finish, the Delizia Limone d'Amalfi - the coast's iconic lemon dessert - closes the meal exactly as it would in Positano.
It is the Amalfi Coast read through ALBA's menu: the same lemon, the same warmth, a few steps from Harrods rather than a cliff above the Tyrrhenian Sea.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an Amalfi Lemon?
It is the sfusato amalfitano, a large, elongated, intensely fragrant lemon grown on the terraced slopes of Italy's Amalfi Coast. Since 2001 it has held protected Limone Costa d'Amalfi IGP status.
How is an Amalfi Lemon Different From an Ordinary Lemon?
It is larger and more tapered, with a thick, oil-rich, highly aromatic peel, few seeds, and sweeter, less acidic flesh - prized for zest and for limoncello in particular.
What is Limoncello Made From?
Limoncello is made by steeping lemon peel - traditionally Amalfi or Sorrento lemon peel - in alcohol, then sweetening it. The aromatic oils in the skin, not the juice, give the liqueur its flavour.
Where Can I Try Amalfi Lemon Dishes in London?
At ALBA London, 70 Brompton Road, opposite Harrods. Lemon runs through the menu, from the limoncello in the Amalfi Spritz to the Amalfi Lemon sorbet and the Delizia Limone d'Amalfi dessert.
Where is ALBA London?
At 70 Brompton Road, London SW3 1ER, directly opposite Harrods in Knightsbridge.
