Naples Eating And Drinking, Italy

Getting to know Naples also means tasting its wonderful delicacies, being attracted by the strong tastes of the city’s cuisine. These tastes are the result of “contamination” by other cultures: over the centuries, the Arabs, Normans, Spanish and French all ruled the city, each contributing to the city’s gastronomic culture. The result is a unique type of cooking that continues to be halfway between refined and popular folk style, in which the local produce of this fertile area is prepared using elaborate recipes that often take a long time to prepare.

Neapolitan cooking is particularly well-known worldwide for pizza, a dish that we have dedicated our virtual itinerary to, but also for its tasty, imaginative recipes such as the sauces used for pasta, and their fish dishes and desserts.

A typical Neapolitan menu may start with a wonderful mozzarella in carrozza, which must have anchovies in it, and then continue with a pasta dish of spaghetti “alla puttanesca” or spaghetti with clams, or maccheroni with Neapolitan ragù sauce, which still takes several hours to make and is the true rival of the Bolognese sauce.

As a main course, we can recommend “impepata di cozze” (mussels) or oven-baked mullet. Then to “freshen up your mouth” after fish dishes, there is nothing better than a good mature cheese. In Naples there is scamorza and caciocavallo: remember that the longer these cheeses have matured the stronger their flavor.

Wine

Some parts of the Campania region are covered with vineyards, such as, for example, the Avellino area. This area produces some famous wines: Greco di Tufo DOC, Taurasi DOCG and Fiano di Avellino. The latter is ideal as an aperitif and for accompanying fish dishes. Other wines to note are Lacryma Christi del Vesuvio that can be white, red or rosé and Aglianico del Taburno.

Our Neapolitan menu can continue with a dessert taken from Neapolitan cake-making tradition: a babà, which is usually flavored with rum, or a sfogliatella, or some struffoli. You really shouldn’t miss the chance to taste the real "pastiera napoletana", the special pastry so typical of this area that is made from wheat and ricotta cheese and then flavored with orange blossom essence.

This sort of meal must end with coffee and an “ammazzacaffè” (after dinner liqueur), especially in Naples. Be ready to taste one of the best coffees that you have ever drunk: Neapolitans are true masters in transforming the coffee grains into a work of art! After coffee you must try limoncello, a wonderful after dinner liqueur made from the rinds of the famous lemons from Sorrento or the Amalfi coast and which are often used to flavor creams and desserts.

Author:
Nozio

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