Cuisine Of Campania
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Neapolitan cuisine has ancient historical roots that date back to the
Greco-Roman The Greco-Roman civilization (; also Greco-Roman culture; spelled Graeco-Roman in the Commonwealth), as understood by modern scholars and writers, includes the geographical regions and countries that culturally—and so historically—were di ...
period, which was enriched over the centuries by the influence of the different cultures that controlled
Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adm ...
and its kingdoms, such as that of
Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to s ...
and
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. Since Naples was the capital of the
Kingdom of Naples The Kingdom of Naples ( la, Regnum Neapolitanum; it, Regno di Napoli; nap, Regno 'e Napule), also known as the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was ...
, its cuisine took much from the culinary traditions of all the
Campania (man), it, Campana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demog ...
region, reaching a balance between dishes based on rural ingredients (
pasta Pasta (, ; ) is a type of food typically made from an unleavened dough of wheat flour mixed with water or eggs, and formed into sheets or other shapes, then cooked by boiling or baking. Rice flour, or legumes such as beans or lentils, ...
, vegetables,
cheese Cheese is a dairy product produced in wide ranges of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. During productio ...
) and seafood dishes (
fish Fish are Aquatic animal, aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack Limb (anatomy), limbs with Digit (anatomy), digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and Chondrichthyes, cartilaginous and bony fish as we ...
,
crustacean Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapoda, decapods, ostracoda, seed shrimp, branchiopoda, branchiopods, argulidae, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopoda, isopods, barnacles, copepods, ...
s,
mollusk Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000  extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is e ...
s). A vast variety of recipes is influenced by the local aristocratic cuisine, such as '' timballo'' and the '' sartù di riso'', pasta or rice dishes with very elaborate preparation, and dishes from popular traditions prepared with inexpensive but nutritionally healthy ingredients, like '' pasta e fagioli'' (pasta with beans) and other pasta dishes with vegetables.


Historical background

Naples has a history that goes back many centuries: the city itself predates many others in that area of the world, including
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
. It has endured the
Greeks The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, ot ...
,
Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
, the
Goths The Goths ( got, 𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰, translit=''Gutþiuda''; la, Gothi, grc-gre, Γότθοι, Gótthoi) were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Euro ...
, the Byzantines, and dozens of successions of kings from
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
and
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...
. Each culture left a mark on the way food is prepared in Naples and Campania itself. Finding the connections between modern and Greco-Roman culinary traditions is not always easy. Among the traces of classical culinary tastes, plates from the period of Greek rule found in
Magna Graecia Magna Graecia (, ; , , grc, Μεγάλη Ἑλλάς, ', it, Magna Grecia) was the name given by the Romans to the coastal areas of Southern Italy in the present-day Italian regions of Calabria, Apulia, Basilicata, Campania and Sicily; the ...
(
southern Italy Southern Italy ( it, Sud Italia or ) also known as ''Meridione'' or ''Mezzogiorno'' (), is a macroregion of the Italian Republic consisting of its southern half. The term ''Mezzogiorno'' today refers to regions that are associated with the pe ...
) depict fishes and mollusks, an indication that seafood was appreciated during that period. Frescoes from
Pompeii Pompeii (, ) was an ancient city located in what is now the ''comune'' of Pompei near Naples in the Campania region of Italy. Pompeii, along with Herculaneum and many villas in the surrounding area (e.g. at Boscoreale, Stabiae), was burie ...
depict fruit baskets filled with
fig The fig is the edible fruit of ''Ficus carica'', a species of small tree in the flowering plant family Moraceae. Native to the Mediterranean and western Asia, it has been cultivated since ancient times and is now widely grown throughout the world ...
s and
pomegranate The pomegranate (''Punica granatum'') is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub in the family Lythraceae, subfamily Punicoideae, that grows between tall. The pomegranate was originally described throughout the Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean re ...
s. An excavation at Oplontis in the Villa Poppaea shows a fresco of a cake, the ingredients of which are not yet known. The Roman
garum Garum is a fermented fish sauce that was used as a condiment in the cuisines of Phoenicia, ancient Greece, Rome, Carthage and later Byzantium. Liquamen is a similar preparation, and at times they were synonymous. Although garum enjoyed its gre ...
is the ancient sauce most similar to that used for the modern ''
Colatura di Alici (, translating to "anchovy drippings") is an Italian fish sauce made from anchovies, from the small fishing village of Cetara, Campania. The sauce is a transparent, amber-colored liquid, produced by fermenting salted anchovies inside ''terzigni ...
'', typical of Cetara. It can be traced back to the sweet-sour taste typical of the Roman cooking described by
Apicius ''Apicius'', also known as ''De re culinaria'' or ''De re coquinaria'' (''On the Subject of Cooking'') is a collection of Roman cookery recipes. It is thought to have been compiled in the fifth century AD. Its language is in many ways closer ...
, along with the use of
raisin A raisin is a dried grape. Raisins are produced in many regions of the world and may be eaten raw or used in cooking, baking, and brewing. In the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, and Australia, the word ''raisin'' is reserved for the ...
s in salty dishes, like the ''pizza di scarola'' ( endive pie), or the '' braciole al ragù'' (meat rolls in ''
ragù In Italian cuisine, ragù () is a meat-based sauce that is commonly served with pasta. An Italian gastronomic society, Accademia Italiana della Cucina, documented several ragù recipes. The recipes' common characteristics are the presence of mea ...
'' sauce). The use of
wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...
in the modern ''
pastiera Pastiera napoletana (, ) is a type of Neapolitan tart made with cooked wheat, eggs, ricotta cheese, and flavoured with orange flower water. It is usually eaten at Easter. Legends Various writers repeat legends about the origin of pastiera. On ...
'' cake, typical of
Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samue ...
, could have had originally a symbolic meaning, related to cults of
Artemis In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Artemis (; grc-gre, Ἄρτεμις) is the goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, nature, vegetation, childbirth, care of children, and chastity. She was heavily identified with ...
,
Cybele Cybele ( ; Phrygian language, Phrygian: ''Matar Kubileya/Kubeleya'' "Kubileya/Kubeleya Mother", perhaps "Mountain Mother"; Lydian language, Lydian ''Kuvava''; el, Κυβέλη ''Kybele'', ''Kybebe'', ''Kybelis'') is an Anatolian mother godde ...
and Ceres and pagan rituals of fertility, celebrated around the Spring equinox. The name '' struffoli'', a Christmas cake, comes from the Greek word στρόγγυλος (''stróngylos'', meaning "round-shaped"). The Spanish and French sovereignty in Naples initiated the difference between the cuisine of the aristocrats and that of the poorer classes. The former was characterized by elaborate, more cosmopolitan, dishes, and a greater number of expensive ingredients, including meat. The poor used foods that were cheaper and could be grown locally (that is, cereals and vegetables). These were embellished over the centuries and came into contact with the influence of the aristocratic cuisine, so that today traditional recipes of the poorer classes have often acquired great quality and taste, while preserving the original simple ingredients. One of the most famous chefs from the nobles' courts in Naples was .


Typical ingredients


Pasta

There is a great variety of Neapolitan
pasta Pasta (, ; ) is a type of food typically made from an unleavened dough of wheat flour mixed with water or eggs, and formed into sheets or other shapes, then cooked by boiling or baking. Rice flour, or legumes such as beans or lentils, ...
s. Pasta was not invented in Naples, but one of the best grades available is found quite close by, in
Gragnano Gragnano, a hill town located between a mountain crest and the Amalfi Coast, is a '' comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Naples in southern Italy's Campania region, located about southeast of Naples city. Gragnano borders the fo ...
, a few kilometers from the capital. It was here also that the industrial production of pasta started, with the techniques to dry and preserve it. The main ingredient is durum wheat, harder to manipulate than
soft wheat Common wheat (''Triticum aestivum''), also known as bread wheat, is a cultivated wheat species. About 95% of wheat produced worldwide is common wheat; it is the most widely grown of all crops and the cereal with the highest monetary yield. T ...
, so the industrial production had greater success than in
northern Italy Northern Italy ( it, Italia settentrionale, it, Nord Italia, label=none, it, Alta Italia, label=none or just it, Nord, label=none) is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. It consists of eight administrative region ...
, where home-made pasta is more popular. Traditionally in Naples pasta must be cooked ''"
al dente In cooking, al dente () describes pasta or rice that is cooked to be firm to the bite. The etymology is Italian "to the tooth". In contemporary Italian cooking, the term identifies the ideal consistency for pasta and involves a brief cooking t ...
"'', while soft pasta is not tolerated. The most popular variety of pasta, besides the classic
spaghetti Spaghetti () is a long, thin, solid, cylindrical pasta.spaghetti
Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridg ...
and linguine, are the ''
paccheri Paccheri () is a type of pasta in the shape of a very large tube, originating from Campania. They are generally smooth, but there is also a ribbed version, ''paccheri millerighe''. The name comes from Neapolitan Neapolitan means of or pertaining ...
'' and the '' ziti'', long pipe-shaped pasta, broken by hand before cooking and usually topped with Neapolitan ragù. Pasta with vegetables is usually also prepared with ''pasta mista'' (''pasta ammescata'' in
Neapolitan language , altname = , states = Italy , region = Abruzzo, Apulia, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Lazio, Marche, Molise , ethnicity = ''Mezzogiorno'' Ethnic Italians , speakers = 5.7 million , date ...
), which is now produced industrially as a distinct variety of pasta, but which was once sold cheaply, made up of broken pieces of different kinds of pasta. Hand-made ''
gnocchi Gnocchi ( , , ; singular ''gnocco'') are a varied family of dumpling in Italian cuisine. They are made of small lumps of dough most traditionally composed of a simple combination of wheat flour, egg, salt, and potato. Variations of the dish sup ...
'', prepared with
flour Flour is a powder made by grinding raw grains, roots, beans, nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many cul ...
and potatoes, have become a popular method of overcoming the Neapolitan disdain for potatoes. In 1949 W. H. Auden wrote
Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century clas ...
from Forio in Ischia, "Forio thinks us crazy because we eat potatoes, which are to them a mark of abject poverty." In reporting this,
Francis Steegmuller Francis Steegmuller (July 3, 1906 – October 20, 1994) was an American biographer, translator and fiction writer, who was known chiefly as a Flaubert scholar. Life and career Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Steegmuller graduated from Columbia Un ...
, a longtime resident of Naples, remarks on the French-inspired ''gattò'', in which "the potato complement is nearly overwhelmed by cheese, ham and other ingredients". Some of the more modern varieties of pasta, like ''
scialatelli Scialatelli (also known as scialatielli , sciliatielli and scivatieddi ) is a short, thick pasta with a rectangular cross section and an almost straight but slightly irregular, slightly curvy shape. It is typical of modern Campanian cuisine, hav ...
'', are also becoming popular.


Tomatoes

Tomato The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word ...
es entered the Neapolitan cuisine during the 18th century. The industry of preserving tomatoes originated in 19th-century Naples, resulting in the export to all parts of the world of the famous ''"pelati"'' (peeled tomatoes) and the ''"concentrato"'' (
tomato paste Tomato paste is a thick paste made by cooking tomatoes for several hours to reduce the water content, straining out the seeds and skins, and cooking the liquid again to reduce the base to a thick, rich concentrate. It is used to impart an inten ...
). There are traditionally several ways of preparing home-made tomato preserves, either bottled tomato juice, or chopped into pieces. The famous ''"conserva"'' (sun dried concentrated juice) tomato is cooked for a long time and becomes a dark red cream with a velvety texture.


Vegetables

Some Campanian dishes using vegetables, like the '' parmigiana di melanzane'' (
aubergine Eggplant ( US, Canada), aubergine ( UK, Ireland) or brinjal (Indian subcontinent, Singapore, Malaysia, South Africa) is a plant species in the nightshade family Solanaceae. ''Solanum melongena'' is grown worldwide for its edible fruit. Mo ...
pie) or ''peperoni ripieni'' (stuffed
peppers Pepper or peppers may refer to: Food and spice * Piperaceae or the pepper family, a large family of flowering plant ** Black pepper * ''Capsicum'' or pepper, a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae ** Bell pepper ** Chili ...
) can become real stars of the table. Some of the most typical products are '' friarielli'' (a local variety of ''
Brassica rapa ''Brassica rapa'' is a plant species growing in various widely cultivated forms including the turnip (a root vegetable); napa cabbage, bomdong, bok choy, and rapini. ''Brassica rapa'' subsp. ''oleifera'' is an oilseed which has many common n ...
''), ''
Cichorium endivia ''Cichorium endivia'' is a species of flowering plant belonging to the genus '' Cichorium'', which is widely cultivated as one of the species of similar bitter-leafed vegetables known as endive and escarole Endive () is a leaf vegetable belon ...
'', smooth or curly (two varieties of endive), several types of
broccoli Broccoli (''Brassica oleracea'' var. ''italica'') is an edible green plant in the cabbage family (family Brassicaceae, genus ''Brassica'') whose large flowering head, stalk and small associated leaves are eaten as a vegetable. Broccoli is cla ...
, verza (
Savoy cabbage Savoy cabbage (''Brassica oleracea'' var. ''sabauda'' L. or ''Brassica oleracea'' Savoy Cabbage Group) is a variety of the plant species ''Brassica oleracea''. Savoy cabbage is a winter vegetable and one of several cabbage varieties. It is name ...
, a variety of ''Brassica oleracea sabauda'') and others, used to prepare the
minestra maritata Wedding soup or Italian wedding soup is an Italian soup consisting of green vegetables and meat. It is popular in the United States, where it is a staple in many Italian restaurants. It is an ancient recipe, actually not widespread today. Orig ...
. Different types of
bean A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes th ...
s,
chickpea The chickpea or chick pea (''Cicer arietinum'') is an annual legume of the family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae. Its different types are variously known as gram" or Bengal gram, garbanzo or garbanzo bean, or Egyptian pea. Chickpea seeds are h ...
s and other
legume A legume () is a plant in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seed of such a plant. When used as a dry grain, the seed is also called a pulse. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consumption, for livestock for ...
s are very popular.
Zucchini The zucchini (; plural: zucchini or zucchinis), courgette (; plural: courgettes) or baby marrow (''Cucurbita pepo'') is a summer squash, a vining herbaceous plant whose fruit are harvested when their immature seeds and epicarp (rind) are st ...
are widely used; the largest ones are fried with
vinegar Vinegar is an aqueous solution of acetic acid and trace compounds that may include flavorings. Vinegar typically contains 5–8% acetic acid by volume. Usually, the acetic acid is produced by a double fermentation, converting simple sugars to eth ...
and fresh
mint MiNT is Now TOS (MiNT) is a free software alternative operating system kernel for the Atari ST system and its successors. It is a multi-tasking alternative to TOS and MagiC. Together with the free system components fVDI device drivers, XaAE ...
(''a scapece''). The male flowers of zucchini can be fried in a salty dough ('). Regular red and yellow peppers are widely used, and a local variety of small green peppers (not spicy), ''peperoncini verdi'', are usually fried.
Salad A salad is a dish consisting of mixed, mostly natural ingredients with at least one raw ingredient. They are typically served at room temperature or chilled, though some can be served warm. Condiments and salad dressings, which exist in a va ...
is a side dish of many dishes, especially seafood ones.
Lettuce Lettuce (''Lactuca sativa'') is an annual plant of the family Asteraceae. It is most often grown as a leaf vegetable, but sometimes for its stem and seeds. Lettuce is most often used for salads, although it is also seen in other kinds of food, ...
, and more often the '' incappucciata'' (a local variety of the iceberg lettuce), more crispy, is mixed with
carrot The carrot ('' Daucus carota'' subsp. ''sativus'') is a root vegetable, typically orange in color, though purple, black, red, white, and yellow cultivars exist, all of which are domesticated forms of the wild carrot, ''Daucus carota'', na ...
s,
fennel Fennel (''Foeniculum vulgare'') is a flowering plant species in the carrot family. It is a hardy, perennial herb with yellow flowers and feathery leaves. It is indigenous to the shores of the Mediterranean but has become widely naturalized ...
,
rucola Arugula (American English) or rocket (Commonwealth English) (''Eruca vesicaria''; syns. ''Eruca sativa'' Mill., ''E. vesicaria'' subsp. ''sativa'' (Miller) Thell., ''Brassica eruca'' L.) is an edible annual plant in the family Brassicaceae used a ...
(some time ago it spontaneously grew in landfields, and was sold in the streets together with the less noble '' pucchiacchella''),
radish The radish (''Raphanus raphanistrum'' subsp. ''sativus'') is an edible root vegetable of the family Brassicaceae that was domesticated in Asia prior to Roman times. Radishes are grown and consumed throughout the world, being mostly eaten raw ...
es, traditionally the long and spicy ones, which today are more and more rare, almost completely replaced by the round and sweeter ones. Black
olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ' ...
s used in Neapolitan cooking are always the ones from
Gaeta Gaeta (; lat, Cāiēta; Southern Laziale: ''Gaieta'') is a city in the province of Latina, in Lazio, Southern Italy. Set on a promontory stretching towards the Gulf of Gaeta, it is from Rome and from Naples. The town has played a consp ...
. During the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
, it was not rare, in the poorest families, to use less appealing ingredients. Recipes have been reported of pasta cooked with empty pods of
fava beans ''Vicia faba'', commonly known as the broad bean, fava bean, or faba bean, is a species of vetch, a flowering plant in the pea and bean family Fabaceae. It is widely cultivated as a crop for human consumption, and also as a cover crop. Varieti ...
or
pea The pea is most commonly the small spherical seed or the seed-pod of the flowering plant species ''Pisum sativum''. Each pod contains several peas, which can be green or yellow. Botanically, pea pods are fruit, since they contain seeds and d ...
s.


Cheese

Cheeses, both soft and aged, are an important part of the Italian diet and also have their place in Neapolitan cooking: some recipes are descended from very old Roman traditions. Starting from the freshest ones, the most used are: * the , very fresh and light, was originally sold in hand-made baskets. Commonly found now as a filling for certain pastas. * the , eaten both fresh, and as side ingredient (for instance, on top of
pasta Pasta (, ; ) is a type of food typically made from an unleavened dough of wheat flour mixed with water or eggs, and formed into sheets or other shapes, then cooked by boiling or baking. Rice flour, or legumes such as beans or lentils, ...
with Neapolitan ragù). * the ', salty, slightly aged, typical of the Easter period. * the , of
Sorrento Sorrento (, ; nap, Surriento ; la, Surrentum) is a town overlooking the Bay of Naples in Southern Italy. A popular tourist destination, Sorrento is located on the Sorrentine Peninsula at the south-eastern terminus of the Circumvesuviana rail ...
's peninsula, with very delicate taste. * the , fresh cheese made with buffalo's milk, produced mostly on the region of
Aversa Aversa () is a city and '' comune'' in the Province of Caserta in Campania, southern Italy, about 24 km north of Naples. It is the centre of an agricultural district, the ''Agro Aversano'', producing wine and cheese (famous for the typical ...
and in the plain of Sele river. * the , similar to mozzarella, but made with cow's milk; it is best produced in the region of Agerola. * the , a with scent of oak wood smoke, light brown on the exterior, more yellowish inside. * the , or , small mozzarellas, preserved in clay pots, flooded into cream or milk. * the , white or smoked. * the , small provolone cheese with a
butter Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 80% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread, melted as a condim ...
hart. * the , the of different aging.


Seafood

Neapolitan cooking has always used an abundance of all kinds of seafood from the
Tyrrhenian sea The Tyrrhenian Sea (; it, Mar Tirreno , french: Mer Tyrrhénienne , sc, Mare Tirrenu, co, Mari Tirrenu, scn, Mari Tirrenu, nap, Mare Tirreno) is part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy. It is named for the Tyrrhenian pe ...
. Dr Johnson's friend
Hester Thrale Hester Lynch Thrale Piozzi (née Salusbury; later Piozzi; 27 January 1741 or 16 January 1740 – 2 May 1821),Contemporary records, which used the Julian calendar and the Annunciation Style of enumerating years, recorded her birth as 16 January ...
was enthusiastic for "the most excellent, the most incomparable fish I ever ate;
red mullet Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...
s large as our mackerel, and of singularly high flavour; beside calamaro or ink-fish, a dainty worth of imperial luxury". In 1759, when
Ferdinando Galiani Ferdinando Galiani (2 December 1728, Chieti, Kingdom of Naples – 30 October 1787, Naples, Kingdom of Naples) was an Italian economist, a leading Italian figure of the Enlightenment. Friedrich Nietzsche referred to him as "a most fastidious and ...
was sent as secretary to the Neapolitan ambassador in Paris, he pined for familiar foods; he found "no fruit, no cheese, no good seafood— everything here does violence to the Neapolitan temperament". Recipes use either less expensive fishes, in particular
anchovies An anchovy is a small, common forage fish of the family Engraulidae. Most species are found in marine waters, but several will enter brackish water, and some in South America are restricted to fresh water. More than 140 species are placed in 1 ...
, and other fishes, like the ones used to prepare the : (''
Scorpaena ''Scorpaena'' is a widespread genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Scorpaenidae, the scorpionfishes. Taxonomy ''Scorpaena'' was first described as a genus in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus in the 10th Edition of his ''Systema Naturae ...
scrofa''), (''
Trachinus draco The greater weever (''Trachinus draco'', Linnaeus 1758) is a benthic and demersal venomous marine fish of the family Trachinidae. The greater weever is widely distributed along the eastern Atlantic coastline from Norway to Morocco, extending ...
''), (''Triglia lanterna''), or fishes of medium and large size, like (
European seabass The European bass (''Dicentrarchus labrax'') is a primarily ocean-going fish native to the waters off Europe's western and southern and Africa's northern coasts, though it can also be found in shallow coastal waters and river mouths during the s ...
) and ( gilt-head bream), presently sold mainly from fish farms, or like (''
Dentex dentex The common dentex (''Dentex dentex'') is a species of fish in the family Sparidae. Etymology Genus and species Latin name ''Dentex'' is related to ''dentēs'' which means "teeth". Description Adult dentex can reach a length of , and weight ...
''), ('' Diplodus sargus sargus'') and (''
Pagellus bogaraveo The blackspot seabream (''Pagellus bogaraveo''), also known as the red seabream, is a marine ray-finned fish species in family Sparidae. It is widespread in the Eastern Atlantic from Norway to Mauritania, including Macaronesia and the western ...
''). Fishes of very small size are also used: * The , baby fishes, very small and transparent, prepared either steamed or fried in a dough. * The , few centimeter long, mainly of ('' Mullus surmuletus'') or (''
Spicara smaris ''Spicara smaris'', one of the picarels, is a species of ray-finned fish native to the eastern Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea. It grows to a maximum length of about ; females are usually smaller than males. Description ...
''), typically fried. The
baccalà Dried and salted cod, sometimes referred to as salt cod or saltfish or salt dolly, is cod which has been preserved by drying after salting. Cod which has been dried without the addition of salt is stockfish. Salt cod was long a major export of ...
(cod) and
stockfish Stockfish is unsalted fish, especially cod, dried by cold air and wind on wooden racks (which are called "hjell" in Norway) on the foreshore. The drying of food is the world's oldest known preservation method, and dried fish has a storage lif ...
, imported from
northern Europe The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe Northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54°N, or may be based on other geographical factors ...
seas, are either fried or cooked with potatoes and tomatoes. Most
cephalopod A cephalopod is any member of the molluscan class Cephalopoda ( Greek plural , ; "head-feet") such as a squid, octopus, cuttlefish, or nautilus. These exclusively marine animals are characterized by bilateral body symmetry, a prominent head ...
s are employed (
octopus An octopus ( : octopuses or octopodes, see below for variants) is a soft-bodied, eight- limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda (, ). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttlefish, ...
,
squid True squid are molluscs with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight arms, and two tentacles in the superorder Decapodiformes, though many other molluscs within the broader Neocoleoidea are also called squid despite not strictly fittin ...
,
cuttlefish Cuttlefish or cuttles are marine molluscs of the order Sepiida. They belong to the class Cephalopoda which also includes squid, octopuses, and nautiluses. Cuttlefish have a unique internal shell, the cuttlebone, which is used for control of ...
), as well as
crustacea Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group c ...
(mainly
shrimp Shrimp are crustaceans (a form of shellfish) with elongated bodies and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion – most commonly Caridea and Dendrobranchiata of the decapod order, although some crustaceans outside of this order are ref ...
). Shellfish (
mussel Mussel () is the common name used for members of several families of bivalve molluscs, from saltwater and freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other edible clams, which ...
s), (clams), (''
Ensis ''Ensis'' is a genus of medium-sized edible saltwater clams, littoral bivalve molluscs in the family Pharidae. ''Ensis'', or razor clams, are known in much of Scotland as spoots, for the spouts of water they eject while burrowing into the ...
siliqua'', , (), (''
Haustellum brandaris ''Bolinus brandaris'' (originally called ''Murex brandaris'' by Linnaeus and also Haustellum brandaris), and commonly known as the purple dye murex or the spiny dye-murex, is a species of medium-sized predatory sea snail, an edible marine gastro ...
'')) are employed in many seafood meals, and sometimes are eaten raw, but this happens more and more seldom nowadays. Clams require a special note. The is '' Venerupis decussata'', not to be confused with the Philippines clam (''
Venerupis philippinarum ''Lajonkairia lajonkairii'' is an edible species of saltwater clam in the family Veneridae, the Venus clams. MolluscaBase eds. (2022). MolluscaBase. Lajonkairia lajonkairii (Payraudeau, 1826). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at ...
''), very frequently found on the markets, and often called in northern Italy's markets), and the (''
Dosinia ''Dosinia'' is a genus of saltwater clams, marine bivalve molluscs in the family Veneridae, subfamily Dosiniinae Deshayes, 1853. The shell of ''Dosinia'' species is disc-like in shape, usually white, and therefore is reminiscent of the shells ...
exoleta''). It is now forbidden by law to sell and eat the ''sea dates'' (''datteri di mare'', ''
Lithophaga ''Lithophaga'', the date mussels, are a genus of medium-sized marine bivalve molluscs in the family Mytilidae. Some of the earliest fossil ''Lithophaga'' shells have been found in Mesozoic rocks from the Alps and from Vancouver Island.Ludvigsen, ...
lithophaga ''Lithophaga'', the date mussels, are a genus of medium-sized marine bivalve molluscs in the family Mytilidae. Some of the earliest fossil ''Lithophaga'' shells have been found in Mesozoic rocks from the Alps and from Vancouver Island.Ludvigsen, ...
''), as their fishing seriously damages coastline rocks, mainly in the
Sorrento Sorrento (, ; nap, Surriento ; la, Surrentum) is a town overlooking the Bay of Naples in Southern Italy. A popular tourist destination, Sorrento is located on the Sorrentine Peninsula at the south-eastern terminus of the Circumvesuviana rail ...
peninsula.


Meat

Meat is not used as frequently in Neapolitan cooking as in the cuisine of Northern Italy. The most common kinds of meat used in Neapolitan cooking are: *
sausage A sausage is a type of meat product usually made from ground meat—often pork, beef, or poultry—along with salt, spices and other flavourings. Other ingredients, such as grains or breadcrumbs may be included as fillers or extenders. ...
: ''salsicce'' and ', with not finely hand-cut meat (''a ponta 'e curtiello''). * * pork
liver The liver is a major organ only found in vertebrates which performs many essential biological functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the synthesis of proteins and biochemicals necessary for digestion and growth. In humans, it i ...
, rounded in a net of pork's fat and a
bay leaf The bay leaf is an aromatic leaf commonly used in cooking. It can be used whole, either dried or fresh, in which case it is removed from the dish before consumption, or less commonly used in ground form. It may come from several species of tr ...
. * '' trippa'' (tripe) and other more humble cuts of
pork Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the domestic pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BCE. Pork is eaten both freshly cooked and preserved ...
or
beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). In prehistoric times, humankind hunted aurochs and later domesticated them. Since that time, numerous breeds of cattle have been bred specifically for the quality or quantit ...
, like the typical '' 'O pere e 'o musso'' (pork's foot and cow's nose), and the ', a spicy soup with tomato and hot
chili pepper Chili peppers (also chile, chile pepper, chilli pepper, or chilli), from Nahuatl '' chīlli'' (), are varieties of the berry-fruit of plants from the genus ''Capsicum'', which are members of the nightshade family Solanaceae, cultivated for ...
. * '' braciole'', pork rolls stuffed with
raisin A raisin is a dried grape. Raisins are produced in many regions of the world and may be eaten raw or used in cooking, baking, and brewing. In the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, and Australia, the word ''raisin'' is reserved for the ...
s,
pine nut Pine nuts, also called piñón (), pinoli (), pignoli or chilgoza (), are the edible seeds of pines (family Pinaceae, genus ''Pinus''). According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, only 29 species provide edible nuts, while 20 are trad ...
s and
parsley Parsley, or garden parsley (''Petroselinum crispum'') is a species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae that is native to the central and eastern Mediterranean region (Sardinia, Lebanon, Israel, Cyprus, Turkey, southern Italy, Greece, ...
, fixed with
toothpick A toothpick is a small thin stick of wood, plastic, bamboo, metal, bone or other substance with at least one and sometimes two pointed ends to insert between teeth to remove detritus, usually after a meal. Toothpicks are also used for festiv ...
s and cooked in
ragù In Italian cuisine, ragù () is a meat-based sauce that is commonly served with pasta. An Italian gastronomic society, Accademia Italiana della Cucina, documented several ragù recipes. The recipes' common characteristics are the presence of mea ...
. *
lamb Lamb or The Lamb may refer to: * A young sheep * Lamb and mutton, the meat of sheep Arts and media Film, television, and theatre * ''The Lamb'' (1915 film), a silent film starring Douglas Fairbanks Sr. in his screen debut * ''The Lamb'' (1918 ...
and
goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...
are roasted, usually with potatoes and peas, typically around
Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samue ...
. *
rabbit Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit sp ...
and
chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adu ...
, often cooked ''alla cacciatora'', pan fried with
tomato The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word ...
es. *
beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). In prehistoric times, humankind hunted aurochs and later domesticated them. Since that time, numerous breeds of cattle have been bred specifically for the quality or quantit ...
or other red meat with
tomato The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word ...
es, cooked for a long time to tenderise an inexpensive piece of meat as in Carne alla pizzaiola.


Bread

The most popular
bread Bread is a staple food prepared from a dough of flour (usually wheat) and water, usually by baking. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cultures' diet. It is one of the oldest human-made f ...
is ''pane cafone'' prepared with natural
yeast Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom. The first yeast originated hundreds of millions of years ago, and at least 1,500 species are currently recognized. They are estimated to constit ...
, cooked in a
wood-fired oven upA double oven A ceramic oven An oven is a tool which is used to expose materials to a hot environment. Ovens contain a hollow chamber and provide a means of heating the chamber in a controlled way. In use since antiquity, they have been use ...
with hard crust and large holes inside. Also used are ''sfilatini'', somewhat similar to a French
baguette A baguette (; ) is a long, thin type of bread of French origin that is commonly made from basic lean dough (the dough, though not the shape, is defined by French law). It is distinguishable by its length and crisp crust. A baguette has a dia ...
, but shorter and thicker. ''Rosetta'' rolls and other varieties are also present.


Pasta dishes

From the classic ''"pummarola"'' (tomato sauce) to the simplest ''aglio e uoglio'' (
garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plant in the genus '' Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, Welsh onion and Chinese onion. It is native to South Asia, Central Asia and northeas ...
and
oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...
), down to a wide variety of sauces, with vegetables or seafood, up to the
ragù In Italian cuisine, ragù () is a meat-based sauce that is commonly served with pasta. An Italian gastronomic society, Accademia Italiana della Cucina, documented several ragù recipes. The recipes' common characteristics are the presence of mea ...
, southern Italy's creativity enhances its
pasta Pasta (, ; ) is a type of food typically made from an unleavened dough of wheat flour mixed with water or eggs, and formed into sheets or other shapes, then cooked by boiling or baking. Rice flour, or legumes such as beans or lentils, ...
dishes.


Pasta dishes of the poor

Cuisine traditionally attributed to the poor often mixes pasta with
legume A legume () is a plant in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seed of such a plant. When used as a dry grain, the seed is also called a pulse. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consumption, for livestock for ...
s. The most popular are: '' pasta e fagioli'' (pasta with
bean A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes th ...
s), sometimes enriched with
pork rind Pork rind is the culinary term for the skin of a pig. It can be used in many different ways. It can be rendered, fried in fat, baked, or roasted to produce a kind of pork cracklings (US) or scratchings (UK); these are served in small piece ...
(''cotiche''), ''pasta e ceci'' (pasta with
chickpea The chickpea or chick pea (''Cicer arietinum'') is an annual legume of the family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae. Its different types are variously known as gram" or Bengal gram, garbanzo or garbanzo bean, or Egyptian pea. Chickpea seeds are h ...
s), ''pasta e lenticchie'' (pasta with
lentil The lentil (''Lens culinaris'' or ''Lens esculenta'') is an edible legume. It is an annual plant known for its lens-shaped seeds. It is about tall, and the seeds grow in pods, usually with two seeds in each. As a food crop, the largest p ...
s), ''pasta e piselli'' (pasta with
pea The pea is most commonly the small spherical seed or the seed-pod of the flowering plant species ''Pisum sativum''. Each pod contains several peas, which can be green or yellow. Botanically, pea pods are fruit, since they contain seeds and d ...
s). Nowadays ''cicerchie'' (''
Lathyrus sativus ''Lathyrus sativus'', also known as grass pea, cicerchia, blue sweet pea, chickling pea, chickling vetch, Indian pea, white pea and white vetch,'' Kew GardensLathyrus sativus'' (grass pea) is a legume (family Fabaceae) commonly grown for human ...
'') have become very rare. Similarly to
legume A legume () is a plant in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seed of such a plant. When used as a dry grain, the seed is also called a pulse. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consumption, for livestock for ...
s, other vegetables are associated with pasta, like ''pasta e patate'' (pasta with
potato The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern Uni ...
es), ''pasta e cavolfiore'' (pasta with
cauliflower Cauliflower is one of several vegetables in the species ''Brassica oleracea'' in the genus '' Brassica'', which is in the Brassicaceae (or mustard) family. It is an annual plant that reproduces by seed. Typically, only the head is eaten – t ...
), ''pasta e zucca'' (pasta with
pumpkin A pumpkin is a vernacular term for mature winter squash of species and varieties in the genus ''Cucurbita'' that has culinary and cultural significance but no agreed upon botanical or scientific meaning. The term ''pumpkin'' is sometimes use ...
). The most traditional cooking method consists in cooking the condiments first, for instance,
pan fry Pan frying or pan-frying is a form of frying food characterized by the use of minimal cooking oil or fat (compared to shallow frying or deep frying), typically using just enough to lubricate the pan. In the case of a greasy food such as bacon, ...
garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plant in the genus '' Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, Welsh onion and Chinese onion. It is native to South Asia, Central Asia and northeas ...
with
oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...
, then add steamed beans, or fry
onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' L., from Latin ''cepa'' meaning "onion"), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus '' Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the on ...
and
celery Celery (''Apium graveolens'') is a marshland plant in the family Apiaceae that has been cultivated as a vegetable since antiquity. Celery has a long fibrous stalk tapering into leaves. Depending on location and cultivar, either its stalks, ...
, then add potatoes cut into little dices; then, after frying, water is added, brought to boiling temperature, salted, and pasta is added and stirred frequently. While cooking with all the other ingredients, pasta does not lose its
starch Starch or amylum is a polymeric carbohydrate consisting of numerous glucose units joined by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by most green plants for energy storage. Worldwide, it is the most common carbohydrate in human die ...
, which would have been lost if cooked separately in salty water and then drained. Cooking pasta together with vegetables makes the sauce creamier (''"azzeccato"''), and is a way of preparing pasta distinct from the tradition of "noble" cuisine, which prepares similar dishes in a way more similar to broth or soups, adding pasta after cooking it separately. One more hearty dish in the cuisine of the poor is pasta simply cooked with cheese and eggs '' stracciatella'' (''pasta caso e ova'').
Spaghetti Spaghetti () is a long, thin, solid, cylindrical pasta.spaghetti
Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridg ...
, dressed with tomato sauce, black olives from
Gaeta Gaeta (; lat, Cāiēta; Southern Laziale: ''Gaieta'') is a city in the province of Latina, in Lazio, Southern Italy. Set on a promontory stretching towards the Gulf of Gaeta, it is from Rome and from Naples. The town has played a consp ...
and
caper ''Capparis spinosa'', the caper bush, also called Flinders rose, is a perennial plant that bears rounded, fleshy leaves and large white to pinkish-white flowers. The plant is best known for the edible flower buds (capers), used as a seasoning ...
s are called '' spaghetti alla puttanesca''. An imaginative recipe was created on the tables of the poor, where the expensive shellfishes were missing: spaghetti, dressed with
cherry tomatoes The cherry tomato is a type of small round tomato believed to be an intermediate genetic admixture between wild currant-type tomatoes and domesticated garden tomatoes. Cherry tomatoes range in size from a thumbtip up to the size of a golf ball ...
sauce, garlic, oil and parsley are called (spaghetti with ''escaped'' clams), where clams are present only in the imagination of the people eating the dish.


Frittata with spaghetti

The
frittata Frittata is an egg-based Italian dish similar to an omelette or crustless quiche or scrambled eggs, enriched with additional ingredients such as meats, cheeses, or vegetables. The word ''frittata'' is Italian and roughly translates to "fried". ...
can be prepared with pasta leftovers, either with tomato sauce or white. Pasta, cooked ''al dente'' is mixed with raw scrambled egg and cheese, then pan fried. It can be enriched with many different ingredients. Must be cooked on both sides, flipped with the help of a plate. If well cooked, it is compact, and can be cut into slices. It can be eaten during outdoor lunches.


Richer pasta dishes

The aristocratic cuisine used pasta for elaborate recipes, like the '' timballi'', rarely used in everyday food. Richer sauces, more elaborate than the vegetable pasta dishes mentioned above, that are frequently used to dress pasta include: * The ''Bolognese'' sauce, vaguely inspired by the ragù emiliano, prepared with minced
carrot The carrot ('' Daucus carota'' subsp. ''sativus'') is a root vegetable, typically orange in color, though purple, black, red, white, and yellow cultivars exist, all of which are domesticated forms of the wild carrot, ''Daucus carota'', na ...
,
celery Celery (''Apium graveolens'') is a marshland plant in the family Apiaceae that has been cultivated as a vegetable since antiquity. Celery has a long fibrous stalk tapering into leaves. Depending on location and cultivar, either its stalks, ...
,
onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' L., from Latin ''cepa'' meaning "onion"), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus '' Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the on ...
, ground beef and tomato. * The '' Genovese sauce'', not inspired by
Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...
in spite of the name, but prepared with meat browned with abundant onions and other aromatics. With the Neapolitan ragù the most traditionally used pasta are the ziti, long macaroni, that are broken into shorter pieces by hand before cooking. The '' Neapolitan ragù'' is also used, together with fiordilatte, to dress the ', then cooked in oven in a small single-portion clay pot (''pignatiello'').


Seafood pasta dishes

Spaghetti Spaghetti () is a long, thin, solid, cylindrical pasta.spaghetti
Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridg ...
, '' linguine'' and ''
paccheri Paccheri () is a type of pasta in the shape of a very large tube, originating from Campania. They are generally smooth, but there is also a ribbed version, ''paccheri millerighe''. The name comes from Neapolitan Neapolitan means of or pertaining ...
'' match very well with fish and seafood. From this union come the dishes typical of important lunches or dinners (weddings, in particular). The most typical ones are: * or other shellfishes (
clam Clam is a common name for several kinds of bivalve molluscs. The word is often applied only to those that are edible and live as infauna, spending most of their lives halfway buried in the sand of the seafloor or riverbeds. Clams have two shel ...
s,
mussel Mussel () is the common name used for members of several families of bivalve molluscs, from saltwater and freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other edible clams, which ...
s, and other). * (, , and more). * , with
squid True squid are molluscs with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight arms, and two tentacles in the superorder Decapodiformes, though many other molluscs within the broader Neocoleoidea are also called squid despite not strictly fittin ...
sauce, cooked with
white wine White wine is a wine that is Fermentation in winemaking, fermented without skin contact. The wine color, colour can be straw-yellow, yellow-green, or yellow-gold. It is produced by the alcoholic fermentation of the non-coloured Juice vesicles, ...
. There are many more varieties, for instance spaghetti with a white sauce of Mediterranean cod. Sometimes the traditional dishes of pasta with legumes can be mixed with seafood, so there are, for instance, ''pasta e fagioli con le cozze'' (pasta with beans and mussels), or other more modern variations, like pasta with zucchini and
clam Clam is a common name for several kinds of bivalve molluscs. The word is often applied only to those that are edible and live as infauna, spending most of their lives halfway buried in the sand of the seafloor or riverbeds. Clams have two shel ...
s, that lose any traditional connotation.


Rice dishes

The most famous rice dish is the '' sartù di riso'', a sort of '' timballo'' made with rice, stuffed with chicken livers,
sausage A sausage is a type of meat product usually made from ground meat—often pork, beef, or poultry—along with salt, spices and other flavourings. Other ingredients, such as grains or breadcrumbs may be included as fillers or extenders. ...
, little
meatball A meatball is ground meat rolled into a ball, sometimes along with other ingredients, such as bread crumbs, minced onion, eggs, butter, and seasoning. Meatballs are cooked by frying, baking, steaming, or braising in sauce. There are many type ...
s, ''fior di latte'' or ''provola'',
pea The pea is most commonly the small spherical seed or the seed-pod of the flowering plant species ''Pisum sativum''. Each pod contains several peas, which can be green or yellow. Botanically, pea pods are fruit, since they contain seeds and d ...
s,
mushrooms A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans. The standard for the name "mushroom" is ...
, and with Neapolitan ragù, or, in the white version (''"in bianco"'') with
béchamel sauce Bechamel sauce ( ) is a sauce traditionally made from a white roux (butter and flour in a 1:1 mixture by weight) and milk. Bechamel may also be referred to as besciamella (Italy), besamel (Greece), or white sauce (U.S.). French, Italian and Gree ...
. In the cuisine of the poor, rice is also cooked as ''riso e verza'' (rice with
cabbage Cabbage, comprising several cultivars of ''Brassica oleracea'', is a leafy green, red (purple), or white (pale green) biennial plant grown as an annual vegetable crop for its dense-leaved heads. It is descended from the wild cabbage ( ''B.&n ...
), flavored with little pieces of Parmigiano–Reggiano cheese crusts that slightly melt while cooking. A seafood rice dish is the ''risotto alla pescatora'' ("fisherman's
risotto Risotto (, , from meaning "rice") is a northern Italian rice dish cooked with broth until it reaches a creamy consistency. The broth can be derived from meat, fish, or vegetables. Many types of risotto contain butter, onion, white wine, and Pa ...
"), prepared with various mollusks (different types of clams, squid and cuttlefish), shrimps and a broth made from the boiling of seafood shells.
Arancini Arancini (, , , ) are Italian rice balls that are stuffed, coated with breadcrumbs and deep fried, and are a staple of Sicilian cuisine. The most common arancini fillings are: ''al ragù'' or ''al sugo'', filled with ragù (meat or mince, slow-c ...
(''palle 'e riso''), more typical of
Sicilian cuisine Sicilian cuisine is the style of cooking on the island of Sicily. It shows traces of all cultures that have existed on the island of Sicily over the last two millennia. Although its cuisine has much in common with Italian cuisine, Sicilian food a ...
, are also frequently eaten in Naples.


Pizza

Pizza Pizza (, ) is a dish of Italian origin consisting of a usually round, flat base of leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomatoes, cheese, and often various other ingredients (such as various types of sausage, anchovies, mushrooms, on ...
is the most popular and best known creation of all Neapolitan cuisine. It soon became very popular among the people as well as barons or princes: it was present in the Bourbon court. King Ferdinand I experienced cooking pizza in Capodimonte's porcelain ovens. After
Italian unification The unification of Italy ( it, Unità d'Italia ), also known as the ''Risorgimento'' (, ; ), was the 19th-century political and social movement that resulted in the consolidation of different states of the Italian Peninsula into a single ...
, the new kings were also attracted by this southern food. The ''pizzaiolo''
Raffaele Esposito Raffaele Esposito () was an Italian chef and owner of a tavern called ''Pizzeria di Pietro e basta così'' ("Pietro's Pizzeria and that's enough") in the 19th century that had been founded in 1780 by Pietro Colicchio. Esposito is considered by som ...
is often credited with popularising a particular variety of Neapolitan pizza. In 1889 he prepared in honor of queen
Margherita of Savoy Margherita of Savoy (''Margherita Maria Teresa Giovanna''; 20 November 1851 – 4 January 1926) was Queen of Italy by marriage to Umberto I. Life Early life Margherita was born to Prince Ferdinand of Savoy, Duke of Genoa and Princess Elisabe ...
a nationalistic pizza, where the colours of the
Italian flag The national flag of Italy ( it, Bandiera d'Italia, ), often referred to in Italian as ''il Tricolore'' ( en, the Tricolour, ) is a tricolour featuring three equally sized vertical pales of green, white and red, national colours of Italy, with t ...
were represented by the mozzarella (white), tomato (red) and basil (green). Since then this pizza is called the '' pizza Margherita''.foodlocate.com/blog/introducing-neapolitan-cuisine
/ref> Pizza can be cheap and nutritious, so it had great success very quickly. Sometimes pizza is made in home ovens, but the real Neapolitan pizza must be cooked in a
wood-fired oven upA double oven A ceramic oven An oven is a tool which is used to expose materials to a hot environment. Ovens contain a hollow chamber and provide a means of heating the chamber in a controlled way. In use since antiquity, they have been use ...
, hand-made by an able ''pizzaiolo'' who makes the dough disk thinner in the center and thicker in the outer part; the ingredients and olive oil are rapidly spread on the disk, and with a quick movement the pizza is put on the shovel and then slid in the oven where it is turned around a few times for uniform cooking.


Fish and seafood dishes

One of the most famous main courses is a seafood dish recipe coming from the quarter 'Santa Lucia': ''polpi alla luciana'',
octopus An octopus ( : octopuses or octopodes, see below for variants) is a soft-bodied, eight- limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda (, ). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttlefish, ...
cooked with
chili pepper Chili peppers (also chile, chile pepper, chilli pepper, or chilli), from Nahuatl '' chīlli'' (), are varieties of the berry-fruit of plants from the genus ''Capsicum'', which are members of the nightshade family Solanaceae, cultivated for ...
and tomato.
Octopus An octopus ( : octopuses or octopodes, see below for variants) is a soft-bodied, eight- limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda (, ). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttlefish, ...
is also simply steamed, and prepared as salad with lemon juice,
parsley Parsley, or garden parsley (''Petroselinum crispum'') is a species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae that is native to the central and eastern Mediterranean region (Sardinia, Lebanon, Israel, Cyprus, Turkey, southern Italy, Greece, ...
and green olives. A richer seafood salad can be prepared also mixing
squid True squid are molluscs with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight arms, and two tentacles in the superorder Decapodiformes, though many other molluscs within the broader Neocoleoidea are also called squid despite not strictly fittin ...
,
cuttlefish Cuttlefish or cuttles are marine molluscs of the order Sepiida. They belong to the class Cephalopoda which also includes squid, octopuses, and nautiluses. Cuttlefish have a unique internal shell, the cuttlebone, which is used for control of ...
and
prawn Prawn is a common name for small aquatic crustaceans with an exoskeleton and ten legs (which is a member of the order decapoda), some of which can be eaten. The term "prawn"Mortenson, Philip B (2010''This is not a weasel: a close look at nature' ...
s. Medium size fishes are cooked '' all'acqua pazza'', with tomato, garlic and parsley; the larger ones are simply grilled, accompanied, in the most important meals, with king size
prawn Prawn is a common name for small aquatic crustaceans with an exoskeleton and ten legs (which is a member of the order decapoda), some of which can be eaten. The term "prawn"Mortenson, Philip B (2010''This is not a weasel: a close look at nature' ...
s.
Mussel Mussel () is the common name used for members of several families of bivalve molluscs, from saltwater and freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other edible clams, which ...
s are prepared in different ways: rapidly steamed with
black pepper Black pepper (''Piper nigrum'') is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, known as a peppercorn, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit is a drupe (stonefruit) which is about in dia ...
(''all'impepata''), and dressed with a few drops of lemon juice each; also cooked ''al
gratin Gratin () is a culinary technique in which an ingredient is topped with a browned crust, often using breadcrumbs, grated cheese, egg or butter.Courtine, Robert J. (ed.) (2003) ''The Concise Larousse Gastronomique'' London: Hamlyn The term ma ...
''. Clams and other shellfishes are also cooked '' sauté'', rapidly passed in a large pan with olive oil, garlic, and served on crust breads. Cheap fish can also produce very tasty recipes. The most popular one is
anchovy An anchovy is a small, common forage fish of the family Engraulidae. Most species are found in marine waters, but several will enter brackish water, and some in South America are restricted to fresh water. More than 140 species are placed in 1 ...
. The best recipes are: * , boneless anchovies, passed in
flour Flour is a powder made by grinding raw grains, roots, beans, nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many cul ...
, egg and deep-fried. * ', raw anchovies marinated in lemon juice or vinegar, then dressed with olive oil, garlic and parsley. * , boneless anchovies, rapidly cooked in a large pan with olive oil, lemon juice and
origanum ''Origanum'' ( ) is a genus of herbaceous perennials and subshrubs in the family Lamiaceae, native to Europe, North Africa, and much of temperate Asia, where they are found in open or mountainous habitats. A few species also naturalized in s ...
. , the tiny baby fishes, are either steamed and dressed with oil and lemon, or deep-fried in a light dough, which is also used to deep-fry little pieces of some sea algae. The (deep-fried fishes) is usually done with small-sized local fishes, like cod,
goatfish The goatfishes are perciform fish of the family Mullidae. The family is also sometimes referred to as the red mullets, which also refers more narrowly to the genus '' Mullus''. The family name and the English common name mullet derived from La ...
,
anchovies An anchovy is a small, common forage fish of the family Engraulidae. Most species are found in marine waters, but several will enter brackish water, and some in South America are restricted to fresh water. More than 140 species are placed in 1 ...
and others. It should be eaten very hot, right after being fried (). Baby shrimps, sold alive, are fried with no flour, unlike the .


Vegetable dishes

Vegetable dishes can become very rich and elaborated. The most famous are: * The '' parmigiana di melanzane'',
aubergine Eggplant ( US, Canada), aubergine ( UK, Ireland) or brinjal (Indian subcontinent, Singapore, Malaysia, South Africa) is a plant species in the nightshade family Solanaceae. ''Solanum melongena'' is grown worldwide for its edible fruit. Mo ...
pie with tomato sauce and fiordilatte. * The ', potato pie stuffed with cheese and salami. * The ''peperoni ripieni'', stuffed whole peppers. * The ''melanzane a barchetta'',
aubergine Eggplant ( US, Canada), aubergine ( UK, Ireland) or brinjal (Indian subcontinent, Singapore, Malaysia, South Africa) is a plant species in the nightshade family Solanaceae. ''Solanum melongena'' is grown worldwide for its edible fruit. Mo ...
s cut in half, the center scooped out and filled with different types of stuffing.


Fried food

Fried fish was already mentioned above in the text; many vegetables are deep-fried with flour and egg (''dorate e fritte''):
artichoke The globe artichoke (''Cynara cardunculus'' var. ''scolymus'' ),Rottenberg, A., and D. Zohary, 1996: "The wild ancestry of the cultivated artichoke." Genet. Res. Crop Evol. 43, 53–58. also known by the names French artichoke and green articho ...
, zucchini,
cauliflower Cauliflower is one of several vegetables in the species ''Brassica oleracea'' in the genus '' Brassica'', which is in the Brassicaceae (or mustard) family. It is an annual plant that reproduces by seed. Typically, only the head is eaten – t ...
. The richest version add pieces of liver,
ricotta Ricotta ( in Italian) is an Italian whey cheese made from sheep, cow, goat, or Italian water buffalo milk whey left over from the production of other cheeses. Like other whey cheeses, it is made by coagulating the proteins that remain afte ...
and, in the past, cow's brain.
Mozzarella Mozzarella (, ; nap, muzzarella ) is a southern Italian cheese traditionally made from Italian buffalo's milk by the pasta filata method. Fresh mozzarella is generally white but when seasoned it turns to a light yellow depending on the anim ...
can be prepared ''dorata e fritta'' as well and also ''in carrozza'', passed in flour and egg together with two bread slices softened in
milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Immune factors and immune-modulat ...
, to form a small sandwich. Typical Neapolitan fried food are also the '' crocchè'', stuffed potato balls passed in
breadcrumb Bread crumbs or breadcrumbs (regional variants including breading and crispies) consist of crumbled bread of various dryness, sometimes with seasonings added, used for breading or crumbing foods, topping casseroles, stuffing poultry, thicken ...
s and deep fried, or also the ', zucchini's male flowers fried in a dough, that can also be bought on the streets of Naples historical center in typical fried food shops, called friggitoria, together with (fried slices of
polenta Polenta (, ) is a dish of boiled cornmeal that was historically made from other grains. The dish comes from Italy. It may be served as a hot porridge, or it may be allowed to cool and solidify into a loaf that can be baked, fried, or grilled. ...
), (fried bread dough balls) and
aubergine Eggplant ( US, Canada), aubergine ( UK, Ireland) or brinjal (Indian subcontinent, Singapore, Malaysia, South Africa) is a plant species in the nightshade family Solanaceae. ''Solanum melongena'' is grown worldwide for its edible fruit. Mo ...
slices. Onions, fried up to a golden color, are the base for the famous ''
frittata Frittata is an egg-based Italian dish similar to an omelette or crustless quiche or scrambled eggs, enriched with additional ingredients such as meats, cheeses, or vegetables. The word ''frittata'' is Italian and roughly translates to "fried". ...
di cipolle'' (onion
omelette In cuisine, an omelette (also spelled omelet) is a dish made from beaten eggs, fried with butter or oil in a frying pan (without stirring as in scrambled egg). It is quite common for the omelette to be folded around fillings such as chives ...
).


Side dishes

After pasta, the main second-course meals are frequently accompanied by side dishes. The most popular ones are: * '' Zucchine alla scapece'', deep fried sliced zucchini dressed with
vinegar Vinegar is an aqueous solution of acetic acid and trace compounds that may include flavorings. Vinegar typically contains 5–8% acetic acid by volume. Usually, the acetic acid is produced by a double fermentation, converting simple sugars to eth ...
and fresh
mint MiNT is Now TOS (MiNT) is a free software alternative operating system kernel for the Atari ST system and its successors. It is a multi-tasking alternative to TOS and MagiC. Together with the free system components fVDI device drivers, XaAE ...
. * ', fried
aubergine Eggplant ( US, Canada), aubergine ( UK, Ireland) or brinjal (Indian subcontinent, Singapore, Malaysia, South Africa) is a plant species in the nightshade family Solanaceae. ''Solanum melongena'' is grown worldwide for its edible fruit. Mo ...
s, in two versions: stick-shaped and fried, then dressed with cherry tomato sauce, or dice-fried, with no tomato. * ''Peperoni in padella'', sliced peppers pan-fried with black
Gaeta Gaeta (; lat, Cāiēta; Southern Laziale: ''Gaieta'') is a city in the province of Latina, in Lazio, Southern Italy. Set on a promontory stretching towards the Gulf of Gaeta, it is from Rome and from Naples. The town has played a consp ...
olives and
caper ''Capparis spinosa'', the caper bush, also called Flinders rose, is a perennial plant that bears rounded, fleshy leaves and large white to pinkish-white flowers. The plant is best known for the edible flower buds (capers), used as a seasoning ...
s. * * ''Peperoncini verdi fritti'', local small non-spicy green peppers, dressed with cherry tomato sauce. * '' Friarielli'', local vegetable leaves, pan-fried with oil, garlic and chili pepper. They often are side dishes of fried
sausage A sausage is a type of meat product usually made from ground meat—often pork, beef, or poultry—along with salt, spices and other flavourings. Other ingredients, such as grains or breadcrumbs may be included as fillers or extenders. ...
s and , which are sometimes also accompanied by potato fries, typically cut as small dice.


Savory pies

Savory pies are convenient for outdoor food. The most popular savory pies are: * The ' (endive pie), prepared with fried ''scarole'' with garlic,
pine nut Pine nuts, also called piñón (), pinoli (), pignoli or chilgoza (), are the edible seeds of pines (family Pinaceae, genus ''Pinus''). According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, only 29 species provide edible nuts, while 20 are trad ...
s,
raisin A raisin is a dried grape. Raisins are produced in many regions of the world and may be eaten raw or used in cooking, baking, and brewing. In the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, and Australia, the word ''raisin'' is reserved for the ...
s, black Gaeta olives and
caper ''Capparis spinosa'', the caper bush, also called Flinders rose, is a perennial plant that bears rounded, fleshy leaves and large white to pinkish-white flowers. The plant is best known for the edible flower buds (capers), used as a seasoning ...
s. Those vegetables are the stuffing for the pie, which is made with a simple dough of flour, water and
yeast Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom. The first yeast originated hundreds of millions of years ago, and at least 1,500 species are currently recognized. They are estimated to constit ...
. * The '' casatiello'', or ''tortano'', typical of Easter holidays, usually prepared for the day after Easter, usually spent outdoor.


Cakes and desserts

Neapolitan cuisine has a large variety of cakes and desserts. The most famous ones are: * '' babà'', small cake saturated in syrup made with hard liquor. * '' sfogliatella'', in two varieties: frolla (smooth) or riccia (curly). Two variation are the ''santa Rosa'', larger and with an additional stuffing of cream and black cherry, and the ''coda d'aragosta'' (lobster tail), with a bignè inside and stuffed with various types of cream. * ''
Zeppole A zeppola (; plural: zeppole; sometimes called frittelle, and in Sardinia the italianized ''zippole'' or ''zeppole sarde'' from the original Sardinian ) is an Italian pastry consisting of a deep-fried dough ball of varying size but typically ...
'', deep fried or baked. * ''
Pastiera Pastiera napoletana (, ) is a type of Neapolitan tart made with cooked wheat, eggs, ricotta cheese, and flavoured with orange flower water. It is usually eaten at Easter. Legends Various writers repeat legends about the origin of pastiera. On ...
'', prepared for Easter holidays. * '' Struffoli'' typical
Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...
cake. * ' Ice creams are famous as well. The most traditional are the ' and the ''
spumoni Spumone (from ''spuma'' or "foam"), plural spumoni, is a molded gelato (a lower-fat Italian form of ice cream) made with layers of different colors and flavors, usually containing candied fruits and nuts. Typically, it is of three flavors, wi ...
''.


Holiday food

Holiday recipes deserve a dedicated section because of their variety and richness.


Christmas

Christmas Eve dinner is usually the time when all family members join. It is typically done with
spaghetti alle vongole ''Spaghetti alle vongole'' (), Italian for "spaghetti with clams", is a dish that is very popular throughout Italy, especially in Campania (where it is part of traditional Neapolitan cuisine). Types of clams Palourde, or carpet-shell clams, ...
followed by ''capitone fritto'' and ''
baccalà Dried and salted cod, sometimes referred to as salt cod or saltfish or salt dolly, is cod which has been preserved by drying after salting. Cod which has been dried without the addition of salt is stockfish. Salt cod was long a major export of ...
fritto'' (deep fried eel and
stockfish Stockfish is unsalted fish, especially cod, dried by cold air and wind on wooden racks (which are called "hjell" in Norway) on the foreshore. The drying of food is the world's oldest known preservation method, and dried fish has a storage lif ...
); as a side-dish there is the ', a salad made with steamed
cauliflower Cauliflower is one of several vegetables in the species ''Brassica oleracea'' in the genus '' Brassica'', which is in the Brassicaceae (or mustard) family. It is an annual plant that reproduces by seed. Typically, only the head is eaten – t ...
,
giardiniera Giardiniera (, ) is an Italian relish of pickled vegetables in vinegar or oil. Varieties and uses Italian giardiniera is also called sottaceti ("under vinegar"), a common term for pickled foods. It is typically eaten as an antipasto or with s ...
, spicy and sweet peppers (''pupaccelle''), olives and
anchovies An anchovy is a small, common forage fish of the family Engraulidae. Most species are found in marine waters, but several will enter brackish water, and some in South America are restricted to fresh water. More than 140 species are placed in 1 ...
, all dressed with oil and
vinegar Vinegar is an aqueous solution of acetic acid and trace compounds that may include flavorings. Vinegar typically contains 5–8% acetic acid by volume. Usually, the acetic acid is produced by a double fermentation, converting simple sugars to eth ...
. Christmas cakes are: * '' Struffoli'' * ' * ''
Mustacciuoli Mustacciuoli (also known as mustaccioli or mostaccioli) is a traditional pastry from Naples, usually served at Christmas time. Description Mustaccioli takes the form of a parallelogram, and consist of a soft, spiced, cake-like interior, cover ...
'' * ' Christmas Eve dinner is completed with the ''ciociole'', which are dried fruits (
walnut A walnut is the edible seed of a drupe of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. Although culinarily considered a "nut" and used as such, it is not a true ...
s,
hazelnut The hazelnut is the fruit of the hazel tree and therefore includes any of the nuts deriving from species of the genus '' Corylus'', especially the nuts of the species ''Corylus avellana''. They are also known as cobnuts or filberts according ...
s and
almond The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree native to Iran and surrounding countries, including the Levant. The almond is also the name of the edible and widely cultivated seed of this tree. Within the genu ...
s), dried
fig The fig is the edible fruit of ''Ficus carica'', a species of small tree in the flowering plant family Moraceae. Native to the Mediterranean and western Asia, it has been cultivated since ancient times and is now widely grown throughout the world ...
s and the ''castagne del prete'', baked
chestnut The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. The unrel ...
s. Christmas lunch has typically the ''
minestra maritata Wedding soup or Italian wedding soup is an Italian soup consisting of green vegetables and meat. It is popular in the United States, where it is a staple in many Italian restaurants. It is an ancient recipe, actually not widespread today. Orig ...
'' or hand-made pasta with chicken broth.


Easter food

The main
Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samue ...
dishes are the '' Casatiello'' or ''tortano'', a salty pie made with bread dough stuffed with various types of salami and cheese, also used the day after Easter for outdoor lunches. Typical of Easter lunches and dinners is the ''fellata'', a banquet of
salami Salami ( ) is a cured sausage consisting of fermented and air-dried meat, typically pork. Historically, salami was popular among Southern, Eastern, and Central European peasants because it can be stored at room temperature for up to 45 ...
and
capocollo Capocollo () or coppa () is a traditional Italian and Corsican pork cold cut ('' salume'') made from the dry-cured muscle running from the neck to the fourth or fifth rib of the pork shoulder or neck. It is a whole-muscle salume, dry cured, an ...
and salty
ricotta Ricotta ( in Italian) is an Italian whey cheese made from sheep, cow, goat, or Italian water buffalo milk whey left over from the production of other cheeses. Like other whey cheeses, it is made by coagulating the proteins that remain afte ...
. Typical dishes are also
lamb Lamb or The Lamb may refer to: * A young sheep * Lamb and mutton, the meat of sheep Arts and media Film, television, and theatre * ''The Lamb'' (1915 film), a silent film starring Douglas Fairbanks Sr. in his screen debut * ''The Lamb'' (1918 ...
or
goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...
baked with potatoes and peas. Easter cake is the ''
pastiera Pastiera napoletana (, ) is a type of Neapolitan tart made with cooked wheat, eggs, ricotta cheese, and flavoured with orange flower water. It is usually eaten at Easter. Legends Various writers repeat legends about the origin of pastiera. On ...
''.


Other holidays

Carnival Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival typi ...
has the Neapolitan version of ''
lasagna Lasagna (, also , also known as lasagne, ) is a type of pasta, possibly one of the oldest types, made of very wide, flat sheets. Either term can also refer to an Italian dish made of stacked layers of lasagna alternating with fillings such as ...
'', that has no
béchamel sauce Bechamel sauce ( ) is a sauce traditionally made from a white roux (butter and flour in a 1:1 mixture by weight) and milk. Bechamel may also be referred to as besciamella (Italy), besamel (Greece), or white sauce (U.S.). French, Italian and Gree ...
, unlike other Italian versions. As dessert, there is the '' Sanguinaccio dolce'' with '' savoiardi'' biscuits, or also the '' chiacchiere'', diffused all over Italy with different names. 2 November (
All Souls Day All Souls' Day, also called ''The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed'', is a day of prayer and remembrance for the faithful departed, observed by certain Christian denominations on 2 November. Through prayer, intercessions, alms and ...
) cake is the ''torrone dei morti'', which, unlike the usual '' torrone'' is not made with
honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...
and
almond The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree native to Iran and surrounding countries, including the Levant. The almond is also the name of the edible and widely cultivated seed of this tree. Within the genu ...
s, but with
cocoa Cocoa may refer to: Chocolate * Chocolate * ''Theobroma cacao'', the cocoa tree * Cocoa bean, seed of ''Theobroma cacao'' * Chocolate liquor, or cocoa liquor, pure, liquid chocolate extracted from the cocoa bean, including both cocoa butter and ...
and a variety of stuffings, like
hazelnut The hazelnut is the fruit of the hazel tree and therefore includes any of the nuts deriving from species of the genus '' Corylus'', especially the nuts of the species ''Corylus avellana''. They are also known as cobnuts or filberts according ...
s, dried and candy fruits or also
coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. S ...
and more.


Fruit

Fruit is often present at the end of a meal. Local production is abundant, one of the most popular local products is the
annurca ''Annurca'', pronounced in Italy , also called ''Anurka'', is a historically old cultivar of domesticated apple native to Southern Italy. It is believed to be the one mentioned by Pliny the Elder in his ''Naturalis Historia'', and in the 16th cen ...
apple, a local type of
apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...
whose origins are old indeed: it is believed to have first been planted by the Romans. Slices of
watermelon Watermelon (''Citrullus lanatus'') is a flowering plant species of the Cucurbitaceae family and the name of its edible fruit. A scrambling and trailing vine-like plant, it is a highly cultivated fruit worldwide, with more than 1,000 varieti ...
('' 'o mellone'') were in old times sold in little street shops (''mellunari''), nowadays disappeared. The sweet and tasty yellow
peach The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and cultivated in Zhejiang province of Eastern China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and others (the glossy-skinned, non-fu ...
(o percuoco c' 'o pizzo'', in
Neapolitan Neapolitan means of or pertaining to Naples, a city in Italy; or to: Geography and history * Province of Naples, a province in the Campania region of southern Italy that includes the city * Duchy of Naples, in existence during the Early and Hig ...
) is also sometimes used, chopped in pieces to add flavor to red wine coming from
Monte di Procida Monte di Procida ( nap, Monte 'e Proceta; locally ) a small ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Naples in the Italian region of Campania, located about west of Naples, facing the island of Procida. Monte di Procida includes the ...
, cold and somewhat similar to Spanish
sangria Sangria (, es, sangría , pt, sangria ) is an alcoholic beverage originating in Spain and Portugal. Under EU regulations only those two Iberian nations can label their product as Sangria; similar products from different regions are diffe ...
.


Wine

Many
wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...
s from
Campania (man), it, Campana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demog ...
match very well to the local cuisine. Among white wines the most famous are
Greco di Tufo Greco is an Italian wine grape that may be of Greek origin. The name relates to both white ''(Greco bianco)'' and black ''(Greco nero)'' grape varieties. While there is more land area dedicated to ''Greco nero'', the ''Greco bianco'' is the gra ...
,
Falanghina Falanghina, also called Falanghina Greco, is a variety of wine grape, ''Vitis vinifera,'' used for white wines. It is an ancient grape variety which may have provided a basis for the classical Falernian wine, and has considerable character.winep ...
, Fiano di Avellino and Asprinio di Aversa, while the most famous red wines are Aglianico,
Taurasi DOCG Taurasi and Taurasi riserva are red, still Italian wines based principally on the Aglianico grape variety produced in the Province of Avellino in the Campania region. They were awarded '' Denominazione di Origine Controllata'' (DOC) status in 197 ...
, also known as ''pere 'e palummo'',
Solopaca Solopaca (Campanian: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Benevento in the Italian region Campania, located about northeast of Naples and about northwest of Benevento. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 4,134 and an a ...
,
Lacryma Christi Lacryma Christi () or Lachryma Christi of Vesuvius is the name of a Neapolitan type of wine produced on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius in Campania, Italy. White Lacryma Christi is made mainly from Verdeca and Coda di Volpe grapes, with smaller pr ...
from
Vesuvius Mount Vesuvius ( ; it, Vesuvio ; nap, 'O Vesuvio , also or ; la, Vesuvius , also , or ) is a somma- stratovolcano located on the Gulf of Naples in Campania, Italy, about east of Naples and a short distance from the shore. It is one of ...
, that is produced both white and red.


Liqueurs

The most abundant lunches or dinners end with
coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. S ...
and
liqueur A liqueur (; ; ) is an alcoholic drink composed of spirits (often rectified spirit) and additional flavorings such as sugar, fruits, herbs, and spices. Often served with or after dessert, they are typically heavily sweetened and un-aged beyond ...
. '' Limoncello'' is now world-famous, but once upon a time the most preferred one was the ''liquore ai quattro frutti'', with
lemon The lemon (''Citrus limon'') is a species of small evergreen trees in the flowering plant family Rutaceae, native to Asia, primarily Northeast India (Assam), Northern Myanmar or China. The tree's ellipsoidal yellow fruit is used for culin ...
,
orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...
,
tangerine The tangerine is a type of citrus fruit that is orange in color. Its scientific name varies. It has been treated as a separate species under the name ''Citrus tangerina'' or ''Citrus'' × ''tangerina'', or treated as a variety of ''Citrus retic ...
e ''limo'' (not to be confused with
lime Lime commonly refers to: * Lime (fruit), a green citrus fruit * Lime (material), inorganic materials containing calcium, usually calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide * Lime (color), a color between yellow and green Lime may also refer to: Botany ...
), which is a local variation of
bergamot orange ''Citrus bergamia'', the bergamot orange (pronounced ), is a fragrant citrus fruit the size of an orange, with a yellow or green color similar to a lime, depending on ripeness. Genetic research into the ancestral origins of extant citrus cult ...
, now very rare. '' Nocillo'' is also very popular all over Italy, and is the most appreciated bitter liqueur.


Neapolitan street food

In Naples, the use of buying and eating food in the streets dates to very ancient times. The origins probably date back to Roman '' thermopolia'' or maybe earlier. Typical fried food can still today be bought in little shops, like (deep fried bread dough balls), (deep fried
polenta Polenta (, ) is a dish of boiled cornmeal that was historically made from other grains. The dish comes from Italy. It may be served as a hot porridge, or it may be allowed to cool and solidify into a loaf that can be baked, fried, or grilled. ...
slices) and (deep fried male
zucchini The zucchini (; plural: zucchini or zucchinis), courgette (; plural: courgettes) or baby marrow (''Cucurbita pepo'') is a summer squash, a vining herbaceous plant whose fruit are harvested when their immature seeds and epicarp (rind) are st ...
flowers), or deep fried
aubergine Eggplant ( US, Canada), aubergine ( UK, Ireland) or brinjal (Indian subcontinent, Singapore, Malaysia, South Africa) is a plant species in the nightshade family Solanaceae. ''Solanum melongena'' is grown worldwide for its edible fruit. Mo ...
s.
Pizza Pizza (, ) is a dish of Italian origin consisting of a usually round, flat base of leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomatoes, cheese, and often various other ingredients (such as various types of sausage, anchovies, mushrooms, on ...
is also prepared in small sizes to be eaten in the street, the so-called ''pizza a libretto'', still found in Naples pizzerias in via dei Tribunali, port'Alba and piazza Cavour. In via Pignasecca, in the historical center, there are still some shops, selling various types of
tripe Tripe is a type of edible lining from the stomachs of various farm animals. Most tripe is from cattle, pigs and sheep. Types of tripe Beef tripe Beef tripe is made from the muscle wall (the interior mucosal lining is removed) of a cow's st ...
, '' 'O pere e 'o musso'' (pork's foot and cow's nose) or the old (
tripe Tripe is a type of edible lining from the stomachs of various farm animals. Most tripe is from cattle, pigs and sheep. Types of tripe Beef tripe Beef tripe is made from the muscle wall (the interior mucosal lining is removed) of a cow's st ...
soup). From
Mergellina Mergellina is a coastal district of the city of Naples, Italy. It is located in the quartiere of Chiaia. It stands at the foot of the Posillipo Hill and faces the Castel dell'Ovo. Some people say the name derives from "mergoglino", a local name fo ...
to via Caracciolo there are still several little shops selling (salty biscuits with pork's fat and black pepper). Nowadays the old typical '' 'o broro 'e purpo'' (
octopus An octopus ( : octopuses or octopodes, see below for variants) is a soft-bodied, eight- limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda (, ). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttlefish, ...
broth) has become extremely rare to find. A few decades ago, street shops sold o spassatiempo'', a mix of baked
hazelnut The hazelnut is the fruit of the hazel tree and therefore includes any of the nuts deriving from species of the genus '' Corylus'', especially the nuts of the species ''Corylus avellana''. They are also known as cobnuts or filberts according ...
s,
pumpkin A pumpkin is a vernacular term for mature winter squash of species and varieties in the genus ''Cucurbita'' that has culinary and cultural significance but no agreed upon botanical or scientific meaning. The term ''pumpkin'' is sometimes use ...
seeds, toasted
chickpea The chickpea or chick pea (''Cicer arietinum'') is an annual legume of the family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae. Its different types are variously known as gram" or Bengal gram, garbanzo or garbanzo bean, or Egyptian pea. Chickpea seeds are h ...
s and
lupin ''Lupinus'', commonly known as lupin, lupine, or regionally bluebonnet etc., is a genus of plants in the legume family Fabaceae. The genus includes over 199 species, with centers of diversity in North and South America. Smaller centers occur ...
s under
brine Brine is a high-concentration solution of salt (NaCl) in water (H2O). In diverse contexts, ''brine'' may refer to the salt solutions ranging from about 3.5% (a typical concentration of seawater, on the lower end of that of solutions used for br ...
.


Fusion cuisine

Many Neapolitan cookery books report classic recipes, but also re-interpretations in Neapolitan style of other recipes. So, it is not unusual to find recipes like , , , and other. Books with both classic and revisited recipes are: * Jeanne Caròla Francesconi, ''La vera cucina di Napoli'', edit. Newton, 1995, () * Frijenno Magnanno, Salvatore di Fraia, Editore,
Pozzuoli Pozzuoli (; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Naples, in the Italian region of Campania. It is the main city of the Phlegrean Peninsula. History Pozzuoli began as the Greek colony of ''Dicaearchia'' ( el, Δικα ...
(NA): Contains a large variety of recipes and creative Neapolitan dishes.


Notes


References

The oldest Neapolitan cuisine is reported in the books of classic authors, including: *
Vincenzo Corrado Vincenzo is an Italian male given name, derived from the Latin name Vincentius (the verb ''vincere'' means to win or to conquer). Notable people with the name include: Art * Vincenzo Amato (born 1966), Italian actor and sculptor *Vincenzo Bell ...
, ''Il cuoco galante'', in Napoletan language, III edition, 1786, editby Forni,
Sala Bolognese Sala Bolognese ( Bolognese: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Bologna in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about northwest of Bologna. The municipality of Sala Bolognese is composed by the ''frazioni'' Padulle ...
(BO), 1990. *
Vincenzo Corrado Vincenzo is an Italian male given name, derived from the Latin name Vincentius (the verb ''vincere'' means to win or to conquer). Notable people with the name include: Art * Vincenzo Amato (born 1966), Italian actor and sculptor *Vincenzo Bell ...
, ''Pranzi giornalieri variati ed imbanditi in 672 vivande secondo i prodotti della stagione'', in Napoletan language, III edition, 1832, re-edit by Grimaldi,
Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adm ...
, 2001. *
Ippolito Cavalcanti Ippolito or Eppolito is an Italian surname and given name, and the Italian form of the name of Saint Hippolytus of Rome. It may refer to: Given name * Ippolito Adobrandini, birth name of Pope Clement VIII (1536–1605) * Ippolito Aldobrandini (card ...
''Cucina casareccia'', in Napoletan language, 1839, re-edited by Il Polifilo,
Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
, 2005 () *
Ippolito Cavalcanti Ippolito or Eppolito is an Italian surname and given name, and the Italian form of the name of Saint Hippolytus of Rome. It may refer to: Given name * Ippolito Adobrandini, birth name of Pope Clement VIII (1536–1605) * Ippolito Aldobrandini (card ...
''Cucina teorico - pratica'', in lingua napoletana, 1852, re-edited by Grimaldi,
Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adm ...
, 2002 {{DEFAULTSORT:Neapolitan Cuisine Culture in Naples Cuisine of Campania