Ever wondered how Citalia’s Brand Ambassador and celebrity chef Gennaro Contaldo spent his youth? Then dive right in.
Gennaro Contaldo was born on the Amalfi Coast in Italy and lived there for 20 years before moving to England in 1969. Despite living in the UK for all these years, there’s no place quite like home for him. Gennaro shares his passion for this beautiful country and loves Italy just as much as we do! Let’s take a look at some of his favourite memories growing up on this mesmerising stretch of coastline.
Freedom, pure freedom. I come from a place that's 30 metres above the sea…our family house sits right on top and the night of my birth my father said, ‘The sea is rough, be sure to close the window properly!’ I guess because I could have tumbled into the water…
As a child, the sea was my swimming pool, the mountains were my back gardens, and our little village of Minori was my playground. I don't even remember when I learnt to swim, as we would be at the beach every day. It was pure bliss.
I used to get up in the morning and go jump in the sea. When I was in school my friends and I couldn’t wait to finish the school day so we could be wild, perhaps go fishing or even hunting in the mountains. I used to get told off a lot - probably because gallivanting around in the hills with weapons was a little dangerous. But it was like living in a kind of paradise. Everything was and still is so simple.