by Achille Farinari
Reviving a family plot about 600 meters above sea level was the idea of three sisters in the fashion industry, Sabrina, Antonella, and Rosanna Miano. In Cotruzzo, Roccadaspide, they created a true mountain cabin with an attached garden. Baita al Cotruzzo offers a small dining experience with "zero kilometer" products, pizza, and grilled dishes. The Miano sisters chose the young and talented Simone Cerruti to head their pizzeria, a professional with significant experience in renowned Campanian establishments. Born in 1992, Simone is a true talent in the art of pizza-making, with a clear vision of a pizza that reflects his Cilento origins and revives ancient local recipes, maximizing the use of products from the garden and the mountains.
The pizza and Cilento basket
Starting with local cured meats, those used here are produced by the Gasparro farm in Roccadaspide, which raises the ancient Pelatella breed, commonly known as Nero Casertano. For mozzarella and cheeses, Cerruti relies on La Tenuta Bianca dairy in Altavilla Silentina, while anchovies and tuna come from Donatella Marino in Castellabate, and the EVO obil is from the award-winning Marco Rizzo, essentially the best the surrounding area has to offer. The pizza dough is made with type 1 stone-ground flour, managed at room temperature. With slow fermentation and wood-fired oven baking, the result is a fragrant and melt-in-the-mouth pizza, intentionally rustic.
Baita al Cotruzzo Menu
Simone Cerruti has a deep love for his land, and he conveys it through a pizza with a strong identity, true to Cilento traditions. Forget about creams or artificial combinations; here, you will find potatoes cooked under ashes, breadcrumbed anchovies “nchiappate,” and much more from the area, all bound by one important principle, Coherence (with a capital C). Among the most interesting pizzas is the Marinara Cilentana Cotta, featuring slowly cooked tomato in terracotta (as it used to be done), wild garlic pesto, breadcrumbed anchovies, EVO oil, and finished at the table with wild oregano picked from a small bunch, giving a scent that connects you with the surrounding environment.
Not to be missed is the Pizza del Pastore, with a goat cheese base, herb-flavored potatoes cooked under ashes, local grilled lamb, and fresh sage: succulent, delicious, full of aromas, a true bite of the mountains. Then there's the Cacciatore, with wild boar ragù marinated for 12 hours in Piedirosso wine with juniper berries and bay leaf, then slowly cooked in a terracotta pot for 8 hours, topped with a sprinkle of pepper and goat cacioricotta, honoring the Sunday sauce of families in upper Cilento.
Baita al Cotruzzo is an authentic place that, we bet, will become a favorite spot for many, an ideal destination for those who want to refresh themselves with the coolness and scent of the mountains on warm summer evenings, far from the city chaos and the coastal nightlife.
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