The correct name is “sfusato amalfitano”. It’s a unique variety- long, tapered and at least double the size of other lemons. It has thick and wrinkled skin with an intense perfume, and a sweet and juicy flesh. Cultivated in the typical terraced gardens along the Amalfi Coast, they are gathered from February to October. The secret to the taste and the special properties of the sfusato amalfitano comes from the formation of the Amafi territory, protected from the cold northern wind by the mountains but exposed to the sea breezes and strong sun on terraces of porous soil. The Amalfi lemon is an essential ingredient in the gastronomy of the coast: the juice, the flesh, the peel, and even the leaves are used in the cuisine.
The juice is used to flavor fish and seafood, in general, in refreshing lemonade and in delicate sorbets. In medieval times the sorbet was made from snow collected high up on the mountains and stored in deep caverns until the summer, when it appeared on the tables of the wealthy merchants of Amalfi to surprise rich guests and fellow merchants.