Let's eat!

Eating in Naples is always a grand occasion, but some items on the menu may look strange--even if you speak Italian! The following information may help you out...

A meal begins with a series of antipasti that are so filling they might be considered main courses elsewhere--impepata di cozze (peppered mussels), mozzarella in carrozza (french toast with a mozzarella filling), panzerotti (fried savoury pastries), Capri salad with fresh tomatoes and mozzarella, panzanella alla marinara (dried ship's biscuits soaked in water and dressed with onion, tomato, anchovies, basil and garlic), peperoni imbottiti or as it's called locally puparuole 'mbuttunate (sweet peppers stuffed with olives, anchovies, breadcrumbs, capers and parsley), stuffed aubergines and tomatoes.

In Italy, of course, you can't do without pasta. Maccheroni, zite and vermicelli are served with pummarola (a San Marzano tomato sauce), a clove of garlic and a hint of oregano. Another classic is baked pasta. In Naples it's made with meatballs, meat sauce, ricotta, hard-boiled eggs and grated cheese. The minestra maritata is a soup flavoured with ham and lard or sausage. Pride of place though goes to sartù di riso (rice with meatballs, sausage, mozzarella, chicken giblets, peas and mushrooms).

Gattò, from the French gateau, is a baked potato combined with eggs, ham, salami, cheese and parsley. Pasta e fagioli (pasta and beans), one of my favourites, is a common dish throughout Italy. Here, it is ammiscata, or mixed, with a variety of pasta forms. It used to be made with the leftovers of packs of pasta sold off cheaply by grocers.

Moving on to main courses, carne alla pizzaiola consists of veal cutlets stewed in tomato with oregano, garlic and white wine. Braciola is a dish for special occasions. It consists of a large steak (which can also be pork) coated with grated provolone cheese, chopped ham, sultanas and eggs. it is rolled, tied and stewed in tomato sauce. Ask for Fiorentino if you'd prefer a plain large steak. Friarelli are tender broccoli that grow only in the province of Salerno, stewed with garlic, oil and red pepper.

You can't visit Naples without trying a fish dish, especially if you find yourself on the coast. Orata (sea bream) and spigola (sea bass), triglie (red mullet) and dentice are probably the commonest fish to be found on the menus, baked or grilled. You might find them served together fried, along with shrimps, crayfish, sole and pieces of cod, in a frittura di pesce. Served as a starter or side dish are baked or fried anchovies (called alici in Naples and acciughe up north). Popular local dishes include baccalà (salt cod) with sweet pepppers, polpi alla luciana (from Santa Lucia), octopus cooked with tomato, oil and garlic, and clams and mussels--Zuppa di Cozza (stewed mussels) is another favourite of mine.

You can't neglect the traditional Neapolitan pizza, of course. They say it was being made at the baker's in Pompeii when Vesuvius blew its top. Neapolitans drink beer with pizza (about the only time they drink beer, in fact). So what of the wines? Neapolitans are not great drinkers, but on special occasions they'll have a tipple. Recommended are the red Falerno Rosso di Sessa Aurunca, the white Lacryma Christi (Christ's tears), produced from wines grown on the slopes of Vesuvius, and the dry red and white Capri.

Moving on to sweet dishes, there's one which is almost a symbol of Naples--pastiera, a tart of short pastry, fresh ricotta, eggs, oranges and candy peel. Sfogliatelle are pastries with a filling of cinnamon-flavoured semolina and ricotta, susamelli combine sesame seeds and honey, zeppole are slices of sponge cake fried and flavoured with honey, riffoli consist of iced sponge cake filled with ricotta, limes, chocolate and pistacchio nuts. A good ending to any meal is an amaretto or a limoncello, a locally-made liquor from Capri or the Amalfi Coast.

There are many restaurants to choose from, all over the city. All those around the station offer standard local fare, "La Braccia" having the best reputation. Traditionally the best pizza in the city (and according to Neapolitans in the world), can be had at "Da Michele", just off the Corso Umberto, a few minutes walk from Piazza Garibaldi. You can have a very large pizza and a beer there for less than 5 Euros. The restaurants around Porta Capuana get lively at the week-end when the local families, with kids and in-laws, go dining. The restaurants get more up-market approaching the port, with an ever-better selection around Piazza Municipio. There's a cluster at Castel dell'Ovo--a good one is "Zi' Teresa", at the Borgo Marinaro.

Antipasto: Bruschetta

Ingredients

1/2 lb. Tomatoes, chopped up
1/2 cup Olive Oil
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 pinch hot red pepper
2 tbl. spoons fresh Basil
salt to taste
2 Slices of Italian bread per person

Place the chopped tomatoes into a bowl with olive oil, garlic, hot pepper, basil and salt. Mix well. Slice Bread about 1/2" thich and toast both sides. Remove from toaster and place on serving tray. Place an equal amount of tomatoe mixture on each slice. Serve immediately. Servs 4-6.

Prior to toasting you can baste lightly each slice of bread on both sides with Olive Oil. After toasting rub lightly one side with a clove of garlic and place an equal amount of tomatoe mixture on each slice and serve hot.

Spaghetti with clams in white sauce

Spaghetti alle vongole

Serves 4 - 6

Spaghetti alle vongole is a mainstay of trattorias and restaurants in Naples, and is prepared in rosso or in bianco: with or without tomatoes. This version is in bianco.

Vongole are small, so find the smallest clams you can. You can serve this dish either with or without the shells.

If a clam is too heavy, or if it is open, discard. Discard as well the clams that do not open when cooked. If you want to shell the clams, rinse them thoroughly, and place in a bowl of water for an hour or so. They will drink up some of the water and release more liquid when steamed open.

To shell, place in a pan over high heat until they open, a few minutes. Shaking the pan seems to open them more easily. Remove clams as they open or they turn rubbery.

Save the liquid they released and strain though cheese cloth if you see any grains of sand. Mussels may be substituted for clams. Obviously, the taste is not the same.

2 lbs clams in their shell (the smallest you can get)
4 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
6 T extra-virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 red chili pepper, or 1/4 t chili pepper flakes (optional)
1 1/2 to 2 T fresh parsley, chopped
1 lb spaghetti or linguine

In a large skillet or pan sauté the garlic in the olive oil (if you use the chili, sauté at the same time) over medium heat till golden. Raise the heat to very high; add the clams and cook, shaking the pan occasionally. The clams will release their liquid and you should have enough to wet the pasta.

Continue cooking till shells open, anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes, depending on the heat and size of the clams.

Remove from heat, discarding any closed clams.

If you prefer using the clams shelled, add them along with their liquid to the hot oil and garlic for a few minutes. Just till they heat through, otherwise, they will tough and rubbery if cooked too long.

Meanwhile,cook the pasta.

Drain thoroughly and drop into the pan with the clams.

Season to taste with salt, and a few turns of the pepper mill. Sprinkle with the parsley, mixing as you do so. Serve onto pre-heated dishes.

No cheese.

Fish soup with rice

(from Edouard de Pomiane, who had this in Naples around sixty years ago)

1 lb fish, 2 ozs rice, 1 lb tomatoes, 3 cloves garlic, 2 table-spoons olive oil.

For this soup you can use any fish with firm flesh. Fillet the fish and cut it in pieces the size of a hazel nut. Crush the garlic beneath the blade of a large knife. (This is more easily done if the garlic is first chopped roughly and mixed with a little salt.) Halve the tomatoes, scoop out the seeds and cut them into pieces.
Put the fish, rice, garlic, tomatoes and the backbone of the fish into a saucepan and pour in 2 good pints of water. Bring to the boil and add the oil and plenty of salt and pepper. Simmer with the lid on for 15 minutes. Try the rice. If it is still a little hard cook for 3 minutes more and taste again.
Remove the fish bones and pour the soup into a tureen. Scoop each helping from the bottom so that everyone has their own share of fish and rice as well as broth. Serve with a glass of rough red wine, or whatever you're having yourself.

A meatless Neapolitan sauce for spaghetti

(from M. F. K. Fisher, an Irish-American writer (Mary Frances Kennedy) from Albion, Michigan, who lived in France and later in Napa Valley, California)

5 tablespoons olive oil, 2 cloves garlic, 1 sweet onion, 1 carrot, 1/2 green pepper, 2 cups tomato sauce, 3 tablespoons herbs, salt, pepper.

Mince the garlic, onion, carrot and pepper into the oil. Cook, stirring gently, for 10 minutes. Add the tomato sauce and the seasoning and herbs, such as chopped marjoram and thyme and parsley. Cook slowly for about 20 minutes, stirring often. Serve with hot pasta and grated cheese.

Although not a Neapolitan speciality, ham is found in most restaurants there (though I never ate it myself, as I had a Muslim girlfriend!). The opposite of being "as happy as a pig in Palestine" mustsurely be "as nervous as a pig in Parma". Vegetarianism is not a popular option in northern Italy, which produces more than 1000 different meat products, most of them from pork. Starting at the sharp end, there is mortadelia made from pigs' cheeks, coppa from the shoulder, pancetta from the belly and prosciutto from the hind legs. Italians are partial to pork. In fact they produce an incredible 120 million cooked and cured hams a year. Perhaps the most famous cut is the Prosciutto di Parma, anglicised to Parma ham, which together with melon is the classic Italian hors d'oeuvre. By law, it may be produced only in "the territory of the province of Parma located no more than 2km to the south of the Via Ernilia, at an altitude of no more than 900m, bordering to the east with the Enza River and to the west with the Stirone stream".

Confectionary

Naples is also famous for sweets that change with the seasons: struffoli (biscuits with Strega liqueur and honey), pastiere (cakes made with ricotta, coarse flour, candy peel, and orange syrup), zeppole (biscuits made from black cherry liqueur, fried or cooked in the oven, for St. Joseph’s Day), cassate (cakes made from ricotta cheese, almond paste, and pieces of chocolate), monachine (in English, "little monks"), sfogliate, rich with cream and layered high, frolle (sweet crumbly pastry made from flour, egg, butter and sugar), babà (made with light flour, eggs, and yeast and bathed in rum punch), millefoglie (layers of sweet cream and thin pastry shell), mimose (Angel Food cake, known in Italian as pasta di spagna, with cream).