Recipe

Amaretto Kitchen Classics: an autumnal recipe book

Our Amaretto Kitchen Classic recipe book, published September 2017

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

If you’re coming into the shop soon do look out for Amaretto Kitchen Classics, our first publication.

Full proceeds from the recipe book (£2.50 each) will be going to the NSPCC.

The recipe book was put together because a number of our regulars had been asking for the recipes, and said they’d like to have them in a collection.

The little booklet comprises of a few of our most popular daily specials, including Vegetable Moussaka and the Black Pudding and Potato Bake, as well as a couple of cakes.

Many thanks to Anglia Print for helping us with this and to Phil Barnes Photography, as ever, for the lovely shots.

It’s just a trial run, if people like it we might well do another one. Do let us know!

See you soon,

Ciao

Amaretto[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”969″ img_size=”medium”][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Amaretto Kitchen Classics: an autumnal recipe book Read More »

Salute! A fond farewell to Umberto’s Trattoria.

La Cucina Siciliana cookbook

[vc_row 0=””][vc_column 0=””][vc_column_text 0=””]

When Fabrizio first came to Norwich fifteen years ago, one of the first places he found was Umbertos Trattoria, the Italian restaurant on St Benedict’s street, Norwich. Missing home, Fabrizio was delighted to find an authentic taste of Italy on his doorstep but more, he was pleased to find Umberto himself, who really helped Fabrizio out as he found his feet in Norwich.

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row 0=””][vc_column 0=””][vc_column_text 0=””]

“From the menu to the décor to the emotional Italian power-pop on the stereo to the wine served by the carafe, Umberto’s has a charmingly authentic retro feel to it.” Emma Lee, Eastern Daily Press

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row 0=””][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_single_image image=”800″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_column_text 0=””]

A few weeks ago now, Umberto asked Fab to pass by the restaurant. When he got there, Umberto had prepared a crate of beers, wine, pasta, and a bottle of the same Amaretto liquor he used to generously pour for us at the end of a meal when he came out of the kitchen in his chef’s hat and toured the restaurant. Umberto said that he was finally retiring, the restaurant would be closing soon. As well as the goodies, Umberto also passed on some cook-books. We were touched leafing through the recipes, as we recognised some of the classic dishes that we’d tasted in Umberto’s over the years, pages turned over denoting favourite recipes.

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row 0=””][vc_column 0=””][vc_column_text 0=””]

Umberto opened the restaurant in the mid-nineties, and cooked all his meals from scratch, using the best ingredients. The pictures around the restaurant conjured up Umberto’s native Calabria; the toe of the boot of Italy, located just over from Sicily. The regional cuisine is what kept his customers so happy over the years and at the end of the evening we were always pleased to spend some time talking to Umberto, hearing stories of his life growing up in Tropea, Calabria.

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row 0=””][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text 0=””]

Umberto’s is now closed; another restaurant will be opening there soon. We would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to Umberto for all of the good times; Grazie Umberto!

Thank you for the recipe books – you can be sure that we will be recreating some of those same dishes for the Amaretto lunch-time crowd over the months to come. Norwich will miss you and your amazing food – and we wish you all the very best in your retirement. Please pass by for a coffee soon and often.

Comments are open on this post, do scroll down and leave a message for Umberto – we will pass it on.

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”804″][vc_single_image image=”803″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row 0=””][vc_column 0=””][vc_column_text 0=””]

“Un pezzo di Calabria. Uno di quei vecchi ristoranti a gestione familiare, cosa difficle da trovare in inghilterra…cibo ottimo, buona la pizza e servizio giovane e sorridente.”

“A piece of Calabria. One of those traditional Italian family restaurants that are very difficult to find in England….Great food, great pizza and youthful, smiling service.”

Nico T, Genova, Trip Advisor

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row 0=””][vc_column 0=””][vc_column_text 0=””]

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Salute! A fond farewell to Umberto’s Trattoria. Read More »

Does your cake deserve to be famous? Send your recipe to Amaretto Deli

[vc_row 0=””][vc_column][vc_column_text 0=””]Hello there,

A while ago, we wrote about our famous cakes, the power of the Amaretto window. Now we’re interested in hearing from you if you have any cake recipes that you’d like to see in that same Amaretto window. We make nearly all of our cakes fresh in-house each day – one of our favourite early morning tasks is decorating them; a bowl of warm dark chocolate never fails to delight. We have firm favourites, including a chocolate brownie that the Guardian calls five star, but we always try to rotate our recipes, try new things. A few years ago, a colleague, Lara supplied us with a delicious vegan recipe, and Lara’s Apple Cake has been going down a storm ever since. Warm, filling, dusted with sugar – non-vegans love it too.

We always like to keep a good vegan and gluten-free cake in the shop, so those recipes are of particular interest, but any and all ideas are welcome. We can’t promise to use them all, but if you think your special recipe needs to hit the streets, and the much photographed Amaretto window, then we’d love to hear from you.

A word of warning on flap-jacks. We find them incredibly divisive. Each recipe, or supplier we try will please some but not others. Some people like them almost crunchy. Others need them buttery and soft. We are at peace with the flap-jack binary but if you think your recipe can hit the jack-pot, do let us know.

On that note, we’ve been at work, testing a new website, which is now live. We’ll be populating it further over the next few weeks- all the better to keep in touch with (we’re especially keen on making it slightly quicker to load). We have a contact page on the site, which you can use to send in your recipes, or – good old fashioned email  (amarettodeli@yahoo.co.uk) will also do it, or a message on Facebook.

If you have any other thoughts / feedback then do use those same channels to say hello at any time. And at this point we must also say a big thank you to Phil from Phil Barnes Photography who has taken such lovely photographs for the site.

Now, back to the kitchen. Hoping this post finds you all well, and safe from the ice-showers that have been assaulting the fine city of Norwich out of a surprisingly blue sky. Bring on the heat – we’re planning slightly warmer fare for the daily lunch crowd this week…

See you soon.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Does your cake deserve to be famous? Send your recipe to Amaretto Deli Read More »