Table of Contents: Taste Naples
MEAT.
SEAFOOD.
VEGETABLES.
FRUITS.
PASTA.
PIZZA.
CHEESE.
SWEETS.
PASTRIES.
WINE.
LIQUEUR.
Wines of Italy. Birra Italiana. Italian Spirits.
Why is Neapolitan cuisine different from other Italian cuisines. First, let’s look at the chefs who have been in the kitchen.
Not only the Greeks, but the Romans, French, Austrians, and Spanish have all been cooking in Naples. You can sense these influences when you taste Naples’ cuisine.
In short, Neapolitan was the first Mediterranean diet in Italy. Fruits, vegetables, and plenty of local seafood are everyday staples to this day.
However, it’s not that simple. Even within the Campania Region, cuisines vary.
For example, dishes from Naples feature seafood, while chefs from Caserta (further inland) favor fresh vegetables and cheeses.
Sorrento cuisine reflects both Naples and Salerno cuisines.
In short, you need to taste Naples, and Sorrento, and Capri, and…
Meat.
Beef is not a large part of Neapolitan cooking. This void is due to not raising many cows in southern Italy. Also, cost. The people of the Naples area are the working people.
In other words, they cannot afford expensive cuts of meat. Because of this, beef dishes usually contain lesser cuts (parts) of the cow.
This rule is also the same for pork. Recipes call for long cooking times to tenderize the meat.
Therefore, lamb, goat, and chicken are the more popular meats, and roasting is the preferred method of cooking.
Seafood is abundant and appears in many a recipe. Traditionally, it is the less expensive fish. Often, this means small.
Soffritto is the Holy Trinity in Italian kitchens. Simmering Carrots, celery, and onions in olive oil.
Suggestions:
- Neapolitan ragu is a meat sauce traditional to the Naples area. It consists of three parts, including soffritto. Next is the meat. Unlike Bolognese ragu, where you chop the meat, you put in the whole roast and let it simmer. (Think pot roast). The beef flavors the sauce during simmering. When serving, you pull the meat out and offer it on the side. Last but not least is the tomato sauce. The Neapolitan sauce contains more tomatoes than its rival from Bologna. It also includes red wine and spices which are missing from the sauce to the north.
- Lasagna Neapolitan. Starting with a Neapolitan ragu, you make small meatballs using the meat from the ragu. Like regular lasagna, layering consists of pasta, ragu sauce, and then meatballs and sausage from the ragu. Next, dabs of a spread with real ricotta cheese go down before repeating. They finish it by baking. It can be seasonal, between Christmas and Lent.
Seafood.
As an antipasto, fresh seafood or Fritto di Pesce, (fried) may appear like a snack. Later in the primo course, it may be in a soup, stew, or pasta.
Suggestions:
- Zuppa di cozze. They simmer fresh mussels in a broth of lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, and white wine.
- Seafood al cartoccio. The Italian version of cooking in paper bags. This pouch seals in the moisture. Very popular with fish, vegetables, or a combination of both. In the Campania region, it is not unusual to find them, including pasta as well.
- Baccalà alla Napoletana. Lightly frying fresh cod before adding the fish fillets to a sauce of local tomatoes with capers and Gaeta olives. They may then finish it off in the pan or the oven.
Taste Naples’ Vegetables.
Vegetables are the star of many meals, including eggplant, peppers, endive, broccoli rabe, zucchini, and Italian black olives. Beans, chickpeas, and other legumes also appear in many recipes.
The fertile volcanic soil is part of the secret of the San Marzano heirloom tomato. Many Italian chefs say it is the ONLY tomato for sauces. It is the only tomato chefs can use in a “true Neapolitan Pizza.” It is less acidic than most tomatoes but has full flavor.
Potatoes are not present in Neapolitan cooking. Although inexpensive food, the people of Naples believe only the truly poor eat them. In contrast, you may find potato gnocchi slowly sneaking onto menus.
While the French armies are occupying Italy, they introduce two potato dishes that survive to this day. A salad made with a potato and mayonnaise base. Shrimp and vegetables they pickle, go on top. Italians call it Russian Salad. For Gateau di Patate, they bake potatoes and local cheeses in a pie.
The good news is that with a temperate climate, there are fresh vegetables almost year-round. In the spring, you have artichokes and asparagus. Summer recipes overflow with peppers, eggplant, and tomatoes. In the fall, you see dishes with mushrooms and black truffles. You can taste Naples’ dishes fresh out of the garden.
Suggestions:
- Ciambotta Napoletana is a summer vegetable stew of local vegetables in their juices. (Think Italian Ratatouille). It can be an entree, a soup, stew, or a side dish.
- Pepperoni Imbottiti Alla Napoletana. These are whole peppers, which, after grilling, get a stuffing of bread, eggs, olives, capers, and other Neapolitan fresh ingredients. Other options are stuffing made with ricotta or rice, meat, sausage, or just vegetables.
- Parmigiana di Melanzane. Despite the name, this dish is not from the Parma area. Originating from the kingdom of Sicily, it becomes Neapolitan when Sicily becomes part of the Kingdom of Naples. They start by lightly frying thin strips of fresh eggplant in olive oil. Then they layer the eggplant, buffalo mozzarella, and a garlic tomato sauce before grating Parmigiano cheese over it and starting new layers. Baking it makes the Parmigiano crusty, and the layers below gooey, yet crunchy. Usually seasonal.
Fruits.
Apricots, apples, figs, grapes, melons, peaches, chestnuts, and hazelnuts all grow in Campania. However, on the Sorrentine Peninsula, citrus is the king. This land is the home to the Sorrento lemons.
In the beginning, there are three kinds of citrus fruit in the world. They are Citrons from Northern India, mandarins from China, and pomelos (grapefruit-like) from Malaysia.
Therefore, the lemons, limes, grapefruit, and oranges of today are hybrids of these three. The Arabs, while moving west, probably bring along the first citrus to Greece, Italy, and beyond.
Lemons and lime were extremely popular in Naples as it was a sizeable naval port. Citrus was the prime preventive measurement for scurvy, a common threat on long sea trips.
The Sorrento lemons of today are probably a descendant of citron (taste) and pomelos (size). Frequently, they use just about every part. The zest and juice in all types of cooking. The skin/ rind for making limoncello, the local specialty drink.
The Sorrento lemon comes within six degrees to most Sorrentine recipes.
Taste Naples’ Pasta.
The pasta of Southern Italy is different from that in the north. Using the local Durum (pasta) wheat makes for a less flexible pasta.
On a positive note, this “harder” pasta makes it possible to dry and preserve the noodles. This wheat is why you can buy pasta in the stores today.
In contrast, the pasta of northern Italy does not dry in a reusable way, so they cannot make it in advance.
Keep in mind, no matter what pasta you start with, Italians look down on mushy pasta. Al dente is the only acceptable presentation in Naples.
In general, the favorite pasta includes spaghetti, linguine, ziti (small tubes), and paccheri (larger tubes).
It is also the home to macaroni.
Suggestions:
- Neapolitan Spaghetti alla puttanesca. You can find a similar recipe all through Campania. In Naples, the method is a sauce of tomatoes, olive oil, olives, capers, and garlic.
- Ziti ripieni. They pre-cook ziti pasta before adding a stuffing of ricotta, Parmesan, and basil. Over a plate of tomato and pepper sauce, they layer the noodles and top with pecorino cheese.
- Pasta ai fagioli. Pasta with beans is a straightforward (low-cost) meal that the local working class can make with few ingredients. The secret is in the preparation.
- Pasta alla Genovese. Possibly arriving from Genoa with the Renaissance, today, this sauce is 100% Neapolitan. By slowly simmering beef and onions, they make a sauce to cover ziti or rigatoni. As always, they are serving the meat separately.
- Frittata di Spaghetti (or Maccheroni). Are we eating cold spaghetti for breakfast? Sounds crazy, no? But here in the little town of Naples, nothing goes to waste. Dating from the Kingdom of Two Sicilies (1815-1860) when, during Lent days, people could not eat meat or fatty foods. But, they do not waste food: the result, a Pasta Frittata. The main ingredients are day-old pasta, eggs, and grated Parmigiano or Pecorino cheese (or both). They saute it slowly, so the result is crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Over the years, it became THE Monday meal using leftover pasta from the Sunday family meal. And as is true of just about every dish in Italy, everyone has the BEST recipe for it. Some add mozzarella, prosciutto, or other types of ham, olives, or pasta sauces. TRY IT!
Taste Naples’ Pizza.
Although the exact origins of the dish are blurry, Naples is continuously perfecting it. Naples takes pizza-making very seriously. There is even an Associazione that strictly enforces the ingredients in use and the steps the pizza-makers are following.
These rules include how you make the dough. You must form the dough using only your hand. Baking is solely in a wood-fired oven. Also, baking time is between 60-90 seconds at 800 F-900 F.
Also, there are only three “official” variations on the Neapolitan pizza.
- The Pizza Margherita is the original. It contains San Marzano tomatoes, slices of local mozzarella, (buffalo or cows milk), extra virgin olive oil, and basil. Nothing else.
- Pizza Marinara contains San Marzano tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil, garlic, and oregano.
- Pizza Margherita Extra. This pie features San Marzano tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil, basil, and only water buffalo mozzarella made in Campania.
Also, other foods with pizza origins include the calzone (pizza dough with filling) and Focaccia.
As Focaccia is a flatbread similar to pizza dough, the “which came first” argument arises between perfectionists. To me, warm, with a drizzle of olive oil and some sea salt, there is nothing better.
Unfortunately, once you taste Naples’ pizza, that cardboard disk in your freezer will never feel the same.
Taste Naples’ Cheese.
Equally crucial as pasta, it is frequently the main ingredient holding many dishes together. Both new and aged, mild, and ripe features prominently in Neapolitan cooking.
The ricotta is a very versatile cheese as it has several preparations. The Neapolitans use goat, sheep, or cows milk for this.
- Very fresh ricotta is very popular for stuffing in pasta.
- A “fresca” (a little older) may be a side or topping.
- On holidays, they eat slightly older ricotta with more flavor as a treat.
Whereas cows are not as available in southern Italy for beef, they are favorites for milk. Provolone cheese calls the area around Vesuvius home. Although it is now in production in several regions, Naples has two varieties with “Protected Designation of Origin” status.
No talk of cheese from the Campania region is complete without mentioning the star, mozzarella di bufala. (Buffalo mozzarella). The word “mozzare” refers to separating the curd “cutting” it by hand. The milk comes from an Italian breed of water buffalo.
Mozzarella is best to eat when it is young. Therefore it does not have the bitter, ripe tastes of an older cheese. It is soft, moist, and prevalent for pizza and several local pasta dishes. Another favorite presentation is with sliced tomatoes and basil as a salad.
Fiordilatte is a similar cheese substituting cows milk for buffalo.
Suggestions:
- Mozzarella in Carrozza. Cheese in a carriage can be nothing more than an Italian hot cheese sandwich or a delicious appetizer. The later involves fresh slices of mozzarella on thick Italian bread with the crusts off. They dip this in milk, then bread crumbs before letting it rest. Right before serving, they re-dip them in egg batter before frying in a pan. Usually, a lemon butter dipping sauce accompanies this.
- Caprignetti alle erbe is goat cheese they roll into little pieces no larger than a golf ball. Then they toss the balls in fresh herbs that may include Italian parsley, oregano, rosemary, basil, and black pepper.
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Sweets.
Although Gelato is not native to Campania, they put their spin on it. You can find locally grown fruits and nuts in the mix.
For Granita (water instead of cream), you can find espresso or lemon.
Mousses include coviglie al caffè (coffee as flavoring) and coviglie al cioccolato (chocolate). They do not freeze them like gelato or granita.
Naples Pastries.
Of course, they are similar to other Italian pastries, and yet with a taste all their own.
Suggestions:
- Sfogliatelle is many layers of pastry, creating a leafy texture. Frequently, they form them into shell shapes. The stuffing is ricotta cheese with flavorings or almond paste.
- Struffoli starts with deep-frying small balls of dough. Hot out of the oil, they dip them in honey and serve warm with citrus zest sprinkles and almonds.
- Tarallucci Dolci is simple cookies with flour and wine as the main ingredients. They roll them in sugar before baking, making a perfect cookie to soak in wine. There are numerous variations on the sweets, some including nuts, liquors, or other spices. (Think Biscotti for wine).
- Zeppole di San Giuseppe or St Joseph’s Fritters also begin with frying dough. But they get better. You fill these with a creamy custard with a hint of lemon.
- Babà Napoletano is an Italian version of a rum cake. This dessert is a baby brioche-like cake that they dip in a citrus-rum syrup after baking. Variations include cream filling, limoncello instead of rum, and combinations of both.
Worth a Taste.
In a category by itself is Cuoppo Napoletano. This snack is Naples street food at its best. It is a mixture of deep-fried foods, where the different flavors complement each other. Like fries and onion rings? Not really.
The traditional is potato croquettes, mini dough-balls, lightly battered zucchini flowers, mozzarella pieces, zeppoline (potato donuts), and eggplant. These go into the deep fryer and quickly into a paper cone to eat.
Also, there is non-traditional. Examples of this may be all fish, all meat, or other combinations of the above. This snack is a unique taste Naples calls its own.
Wines.
Land, especially along the Sorrentine Peninsula, is at a premium. Therefore, it is not unusual to find small farms producing cereals at ground level and fruit from above. The wheat fields have grapevines for wine-producing bordering them.
Campania is home to several suitable grape varieties, and you should taste Naples wines. Some are indigenous, while others came visiting from Greece with early settlers. Today, there are several which you can no longer find anywhere else on earth.
The region’s two most famous red wines, Taurasi and Aglianico del Taburno come from the Aglianico grape. A transplant from Greece, the grape has been in Campania for almost as long as humans.
White-wine drinkers do not fret. Fiano di Avellino and Greco di Tufo wines are the product of the Fiano and Greco grapes. Fiano grapes have a history in Campania stretching back more than 2000 years. You can taste Naples’ history in every sip.
Surprisingly, the red wine Falerno del Massico and the Galluccio white wines come from the same grape. It is the Falanghina, which has light skin. The ancient writer/philosopher Pliny the Elder raves about these wines in his writings from around 60 AD.
Also, just outside of Naples, they grow the Asprinio grape for the sparkling wines made in that area.
The Islands.
Ischia.
The island, once the land of wines, is a day trip from Naples. It is famous for its whites. They are the happy marriage of the Biancolella, a grape exclusive to Ischia, and the dry, fresh Forastera grape.
Whereas, the reds are almost entirely the product of the Guarnaccia and Piedirosso grapes.
You can also find sparkling wine, but it’s not their specialty.
Capri.
How can such a small island have wines? But they do. And good ones.
Capri Rosso (red) is predominantly from the Piedirosso grape. Surprisingly, this dark grape was facing extinction after the phylloxera disaster. However, it is slowly growing again but in small batches, making this wine a local treasure.
Capri Bianco (white) is a blend of Falanghina and Greco Bianco.
Neapolitan Liqueurs.
Campania is home to a taste Naples is famous for, limoncello. This sweet lemon after-dinner drink is a mixture of lemon peel/rind, alcohol, water, and sugar. Over 60% of the lemons from Sorrento go into limoncello production.
Along the Amalfi Coast, you can find ceramic demitasse cups specifically for sipping limoncello. Chilling the bottle avoids having to add ice.
