In Ischia, Italy, Cooking Is Done in the Sand, Not the Stove

I have always referred to Ischia as "My Father's Island" because that is where he was born and grew up. To be honest I never had food cooked in the sand but the food on Ischia is the food of the Gods. Whatever you eat is delicious. Go in June to feast on the fruit of the week. Rabbit was our specialty food growing up...the food we had on holidays and for company. Raisins are what sweeten their meatballs and braciola as they are simple cooks; using fresh basic ingredients along with a clean, light beautiful white wine.

With all we've heard about the health hazards of plastics (processed petroleum products), the last thing I want is my food wrapped in the stuff while it bakes at 350 degrees. And the latest is that the so-called safe plastics might not be safe either. Trust that the chemicals in the plastic isn't leaching into the food?
Volcanic soils are extremely high in minerals, which influences the taste of the locally grown produce. I've grown indoors using lava rocks, and the crushed rocks can be added to any soil. It's one of the reasons the best outdoor cannabis comes from Hawaii. The local produce must be fantastic. Nothing makes "cucina povera" easier than an abundance of delicious local produce.

What's delightful on Ischia is to order a fish dinner the day before and have one of the fishermen take your order from the restaurant and catch it fresh for you. One of my favorite images from St, Angelo is to see a chef on the beach in complete outfit, including hat, giving his order to a scuba diver in full gear.

My best memory of underground cooking was on an archaeological expedition in the Blue Mountains of Jamaica in mid-90s (with Dr. Kofi Agorsah). We decided to rig a surprise birthday party for our chief guide/teacher, Mr. Leopold Shelton, who was celebrating his 67th birthday. Our cook, Elaine, managed a miracle (to us): a perfect birthday cake, baked in a dutch over, in a pit lined and topped with hot coals! Stews and potatoes are forgiving, but how she managed a baked-through yet unburnt cake was amazing!

After reading this article, I am amazed that Ivo Iacono, a restaurant owner in Ischia, Italy, is able to continue the customs of the ancient Roman aristocrats. To me, the idea of cooking foods, like eggs and potatoes, naturally is truly humbling and down to earth. If I were to eat at this restaurant, I would be taken back by knowing that this tradition was used for some time to save money. In my opinion, it is a brilliant way to save money without having to sacrifice good food. All in all, this article took me by surprise because I didn't know that there were places that could cook foods in springs.

I don't want to alarm anyone, but in picture #5 (the photo of people enjoying the water) there are two zombies in bikinis in the upper right-hand corner. This does not bode well for the tourist industry in Ischia.

Thank you for a great article on Sant' Angelo, Maronti beach and the Iacono restaurant. I hope to go there on my yearly visit to my native island. However, this sand baked cuisine is by no means typical. Another article focusing on native ingredients like rabbits, capers(whose beautiful plants grace all crevices of Ischia), tomatoes and of course fish and by visiting other areas like Ischia Ponte for fresh fish and the best sour dough bread still baked in wood burning stoves and by visiting Campagnano to enjoy coniglio alla cacciatore, rabbit hunter style, and experiencing the most spectacular view of the gulf of Naples with our sister islands of Capri and Procida.

Very surprised by the wine pairings chosen by Asimov here given the rich history of Ischian wine production and variety of styles and indigenous varieties available. Historically Ischia's local economy was sustained by selling wine grapes to the main land and in 1966 Ischia Bianco was named the first white DOC of Campagna. The d'Ambra family, mentioned in the article, runs perhaps the most historic winery of Campagna (along with Mastrobernardino), and their wines have been imported into NY for many years. Why suggest a French or American white when there are dry, mineral-driven whites made from biancolella available in the market? And why reds from Burgundy and Loire Valley when there is Guarnaccia, Per' e Palummo (Piedirosso) or Aglianico? Don't the efforts of generations of local vignerons deserve to be recognized in an article highlighting the cuisine of their island? At least keep it Campagnola! What grows with it goes with it!

A somewhat thing occurs on the island of São Miguel in the Azores. There the fixings for a big stew are put in big caldrons and then buried in the sand on the shores of a lake which fills a volcanic caldera. There are hot springs nearby too. A lovely, too--little-known place.

Cooking is plastic for sure did not exist in the 18 the Century . All this the source of even and consistent heat ( temp ) other then that there is nothing special. In Norway it too is a tradition and a custom to wrap similar food and more so salmon in foil and let it cook in the ground with charcoal embers above. The idea is necessary when there is no oven available and it is a tradition rather then this cooking style will impart something special.
When I was a young in Kenya Africa my track club buddies, we used to out out on weekend camping Safari and cook this was with Chicken, Fish, Dig Dig small Antelope this way, all wrapped up in foil , but no plastic. It was convenient and consistent. The other style we used was roast meat on the open fire just hot embers. It may be a little primitive, but it was fun and convenient, and we for sure did not lug around an oven. In a way it is indeed a natural oven and pretty useful for even and consistent heat.

In Ischia, Italy, Cooking Is Done in the Sand, Not the Stove
Very well written article. Italy is such a beautiful place to visit! I loved how they described how they cook the food! The publisher wrote that they lower the food down into a pit and then cover it with the extremely hot sand. It is a very interesting form of cooking. It's also a very resourceful tool in case of a natural disaster. An interesting fact was that as the more you go underneath, the sand becomes even hotter and hotter.

In Ischia, Italy, Cook Is Done in the Sand, Not the Stove

Very well written article. Super informative and Italy is such a beautiful place to visit! I loved how whomever explained how they cook the meal in the hot sand and how they have to lower the food into a pit. Then they cover it with hot sand. It is a very resourceful way to cook up food in case of a power outage, earthquake, or any case of disaster where you need to cook to survive.

I question whether we are 'saving' the cuisine. All I could think of was they were cooking in plastic, to me a no no. What ingredients in the plastic joined with the herbs to infuse the chicken? I know, I sometimes use cook and serve bags, but it is not what I expect out.

I've traveled the world, but my two biggest culinary "revelations" were in the mid 70's.....on Ischia and Sardinia. The food was uniformly so fresh and pure. There was no artifice to attract tourist dollars and/or media coverage.
I know I sound like a curmudgeon, but wish we could go back to those days.
No one was waiting to be "discovered" by a cable channel and the hordes that would follow with such recognition.

Interesting. It reminds me of how the Hawaiians cook their roast pig in the ground... I wonder if the nutrient rich volcanic sand/ground was the rationale behind that tradition as well.

Tough gig, Ms. Moskin. Don't get sunburned. You can send me a nice care package to the usual address. Wish I was there.

Love,
Rob

got off cruise ship, walked a 100m down the quay (turn left!) got on passsenger ferry to Ischia and had wonderful day -- entirely without the many, many irritations of a certain large city starting with the letter N.

Its amazing how people around the world are finding new ways to cook.

This article sort of sounds like an advertisement for Mr. Iacono's restaurant.

Interesting article. There is an article in one of the main Italian newpapers, il Corriere della Sera, on "la vita mondana" in Ischia at the moment among celebrity/acting types or hangers-on to that world. I doubt that the group that is featured in the Corriere article eats the cooking highlighted here, but I could be mistaken.

It would be "iperaffollate", or affollatissime, by the way, with two "l"s and an ending "e", if referring to the beaches (spiagge).

The most difficult part of my visit to Ischia nearly 20 years ago was trying to decide at which waterfront restaurant I should have dinner each evening. And I recall that each of those restaurants served a different type of bread. Really, no two were alike--dark, light, large, small--and all were made in house and delicious. Hope it hasn't changed too much.

An excellent and very informative article.
How can one save the indigenous cuisine? The fact that "restaurants bring in expensive frozen ingredients by ferry" may be a death toll to the patriotic Ischian chefs. Although it is difficult to understand, what could be so specific to the food on a small island in the Gulf of Naples in relation to the whole region, perhaps it is the island's relative isolation that has led to its unique cuisine.