Neapolitan cuisine
Neapolitan cuisine has ancient historical roots that date back to the Greco-Roman period, which was enriched over the centuries by the influence of the different cultures that controlled Naples and its kingdoms, such as that of Aragon and France.
Since Naples was the capital of the Kingdom of Naples, its cuisine took much from the culinary traditions of all the Campania region, reaching a balance between dishes based on rural ingredients (pasta, vegetables, cheese) and seafood dishes (fish, crustaceans, mollusks). 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 (lit. 'pasta and beans') and other pasta dishes with vegetables.
One of the most famous main courses is a seafood dish recipe coming from the quarter "Santa Lucia": polpi alla lucìana, octopus cooked with chili pepper and tomato. Octopus is also simply steamed, and prepared as salad with lemon juice, parsley and green olives. A richer seafood salad can be prepared also mixing squid, cuttlefish and prawns.
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 prawns.
Mussels are prepared in different ways: rapidly steamed with black pepper (all'impepata), and dressed with a few drops of lemon juice each; also cooked al gratin. 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.
The best recipes are:
Cicenielli, 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 frittura di paranza (deep-fried fishes) is usually done with small-sized local fishes, like cod, goatfish, anchovies and others. It should be eaten very hot, right after being fried (frijenno magnanno). Baby shrimps, sold alive, are fried with no flour, unlike the paranza.
Vegetable dishes can become very rich and elaborated. The most famous are:
Fried food[edit]
Fried fish was already mentioned above in the text; many vegetables are deep-fried with flour and egg (dorate e fritte): artichoke, zucchini, cauliflower. The richest versions add pieces of liver, ricotta and, in the past, cow's brain. Mozzarella 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, to form a small sandwich. Typical Neapolitan fried food are also the crocchè, stuffed potato balls passed in breadcrumbs and deep fried, or also the sciurilli, 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 scagliozzi (fried slices of polenta), pastacresciute (fried bread dough balls) and aubergine slices.
Onions, fried up to a golden color, are the base for the famous frittata di cipolle (onion omelette).
After pasta, the main second-course meals are frequently accompanied by side dishes. The most popular ones are:
Savory pies are convenient for outdoor food. The most popular savory pies are:
Fruit[edit]
Fruit is often present at the end of a meal. Local production is abundant, one of the most popular local products is the annurca apple, a local type of apple whose origins are old indeed: it is believed to have first been planted by the Romans. Slices of watermelon ('o mellone) were in old times sold in little street shops (mellunari), nowadays disappeared. The sweet and tasty yellow peach ('o percuoco c' 'o pizzo, in Neapolitan) is also sometimes used, chopped in pieces to add flavor to red wine coming from Monte di Procida, cold and somewhat similar to Spanish sangria.
Wine[edit]
Many wines from Campania match very well to the local cuisine. Among white wines the most famous are Greco di Tufo, Falanghina, Fiano di Avellino and Asprinio di Aversa, while the most famous red wines are Aglianico del Taburno, Taurasi, Campi Flegrei Piedirosso, also known as pere 'e palummo, Solopaca and Lacryma Christi from Vesuvius, that is produced both white and red.
Liqueurs[edit]
The most abundant lunches or dinners end with coffee and liqueur. Limoncello is now world-famous, but once upon a time the most preferred one was the liquore ai quattro frutti, with lemon, orange, tangerine and limo (not to be confused with lime), which is a local variation of bergamot orange, now very rare. Nocino is also very popular all over Italy, and is the most appreciated bitter liqueur.
The oldest Neapolitan cuisine is reported in the books of classic authors, including: