If we start from the refrain of a famous song, then we start from the end: from the sweet (of sugar) at the bottom of the coffee cup.
What is neapolitanity without a cup of coffee? And without the “sfogliatella riccia”? And without the “babà”? They are not an exaggerated custom: they are facts. To taste with eyes closed. And pizza?
The Art of the traditional Neapolitan "Pizzaiuolo" since 2017 - World Heritage
Originally, it was only a flat bread seasoned with different ingredients, according to the availability. But the simple mix of water, flour, yeast and salt has become the basis of one of the most famous foods and appreciated in the world only thanks to the production techniques and improved abilities of the Neapolitan “ pizzaoioli ” over centuries.
This soft disc dough cooked in wood-fired oven, topped by mozzarella or fiordilatte cheese and by basil; or by tomato and oregano, and dressed with amazing fantasy effects and tasty things, we never stop devouring it, everywhere: in pizza restaurant; on the road, “folded” as it was once done; or in a reduced format in the increasingly widespread pizzetterias, a fast food of the brief story and of the future. A pizza which is also fried, which is also a “calzone”, or as a “balloon”, with two soverlapping discs and stuffed with ricotta and pork rinds. It seems difficult to think of something more attractive for the palate. But we are only, in a way, on a kind of appetiser. The Neapolitan culinary universe is truly never-ending, and not so much for gourmands, because… to remember it, pizza and especially macaronis and all the variations of pasta are not enough, but the great raw materials, maritime and terricolous (vegetables, “leaves”,) which complete the menus. Products which border on the sublime and perfectly match the needs not only of the obstinately traditional chefs of the taverns and of “wines and cuisine” but above all, facilitate the conquests of those who climb the international peaks of gastronomy with daring elaborations bordering on art and in design. Remaining concrete , we can remember the golden and fried anchovies and zuppa di soffritto, the Neapolitan style fried fish (fritto misto) and spaghettis with clams; and, again, spaghettis frittata (omelette) and, above all, the rice sartù (Neapolitan rice timbale), the musky octopus in a small pan (pignatiello) and the potato gateau, passing through a pork chop in tomato sauce, by a salad reinforcement, without renouncing- in this approximate list- to a fragrant pastiera. A Neapolitan one, of course.
Copyright video, foto e testi © 2020
