Cetara is well-known to epicures for the "colatura", an amber coloured extract, made from anchovies caught in the Gulf of Salerno, using a special salting process.
It seems that "colatura" is a descendant of garum, the ancient fish sauce used by the Romans to season their dishes.
The raw material consists in local anchovies, caught during the period between March 25th (the Annunciation Day) and July 22nd (St. Magdalene Festivity); once caught, they are deprived of head and entrails and put in container full of salt for 24 hours. Soon after they are put in small chestnut or oak barrels, called "terzigno", salted and covered with a wooden disk on which a weight is placed. Due to pressing and aging of fish, the liquid begins to appear on the surface; it is gathered in a glass bottle and exposed to sunlight: so that it becomes more concentrated. After four or five months, approximately between October and November, the liquid is poured once again in the small barrels full of anchovies, in order to increase its flavor, and is dripped through a hole. It is finally filtered and it can be enjoyed foe early December.