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Campania’s fabulous produce of terra e mare makes it a gourmand’s paradise.
Renowned for its fertile soil and shores, it’s no wonder that an ancient school of Epicureanism (in its purest philosophical sense) and Bacchanalian excess thrived in Campania Felix (Fertile or Happy Country). Napoli and Campania’s ever-resourceful poor were once labeled mangiafoglie (leafeaters) because they subsided on foraging and cultivating their greens. Those vegetables are still stacked in the mercati today; menus feature broccoli, cicoria, cavolo, and scarole, making this a great place for vegetarians.
The Cucina Napoletana dishes below owe their origins to poverty and nobility; the canny poor and their cucina povera combine with the influence of Naples’ countless foreign rulers, dynasties, and political compromises, from Greek settlers to the present-day Italian state. Nearly every mouthful has the mark of French and Spanish colonial and culinary influences, adding some spicy Arabic touches.
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Vera Pizza Napoletana
The flatbread meal that conquered the world started on the mean 17th-century streets of Napoli, eaten by the poor and given royal approval in 1889 by a certain Regina Margherita, the Queen Consort of Naples. For a vera pizza napoletana (true Neapolitan pizza), the purity of the ingredients, the style of preparation, and the temperature of the wood-fired oven are key. To guarantee quality, look out for a logo above the pizzeria depicting the masked pulcinella clown with a pizza paddle and the words Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana.
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Ragù di Carne alla Genovese
For the ultimate slow-cooked beef ragù, this is the recipe, much loved in Naples, but relatively unknown outside Campania. Ask for the bianco (white) version from the 19th-century Cavalcanti cookbook—it has no tomatoes, but plenty of onions. It’s usually served with generous, oversized, and smooth pasta tubes, traditionally ziti spezzati or mezzanelli. Expect a slurpy-slurpy dining experience, so best use a napkin.
INSIDER TIPFor a tasty Genovese go to Umberto, in Chiaia, to take part in the annual week-long celebration of the dish.
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Granita di Limone
In summer, you’ll find vendors on street corners throughout the city and around the Bay of Naples selling the most refreshing crushed lemon ice. It’s a simple semi-freddo recipe: combine freshly squeezed lemon juice and peel and plenty of sugar, then leave the mixture in the freezer for a few hours before scraping it into a pleasingly gritty but creamy drink.
INSIDER TIPTo sample the best granita made with sfusato amalfitano lemons, head to Amalfi’s A’Sciula at via Fra Gerardo Sasso 2 or Sporta Marina near the Duomo.
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Scialatielli ai Frutti di Mare
This classic summer seafood primo was invented on the Amalfi Coast in 1978, and is a mainstay on the Costiera especially. The shape of pasta is the key to retaining the sauce and scialatielli, a short, fatter version of fettuccine with a rectangular cross-section, does the job perfectly. The name derives from the words scialare (to enjoy) and tiella (pan). For the sauce, it’s all about fresh seafood—vongole veraci or lupini di mare (clams), cozze (mussels), gamberi (prawns), and calamari (squid) —with garlic, olive oil, and parsley, adding pasta water at the end to make a creamier sugo.
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Parmigiana di Melanzane
This could be the most satisfying veggie dish around. Juices ooze and cheese melts in baked layers of fried eggplant, tomato, mozzarella—the best of Campanian sun-drenched produce—with the added salty kick of that noble Emilia-Romagna cheese Parmigiano Reggiano. It’s a filling option for vegetarians and carnivores alike.
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Babà
Many people have tried a variation of the traditional sponge cake soaked in rum, maybe around Christmas. It may be Polish in origin, but Naples has elevated the rum cake to new levels, developing suitably indulgent versions. Locals have taken it to heart so much that the word is a term of endearment. There are many variations and shapes to try, mignon, giganti, or a ciambella being the most popular. Check out the toppings as well—cream, strawberries, limoncello, or nutella—but purists go for the unadorned version.
INSIDER TIPFor a heady babà fix try La Sfogliatella Mary on Via Toledo 66 in Galleria Umberto I.
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Frittura di Mare
This dish not only encapsulates a Neapolitan spring or summer lunch but is also an integral part of the Christmas Eve feast. The fried seafood medley is made with the freshest seafood—commonly squid, prawns, red mullet, and anchovies—and best combined with a cold beer or Falanghina wine, gazing over the shoreline. The dish is also known as fritto misto or frittura a’ paranza in reference to the fishing boat nets used in the Bay of Naples and the unsold fish destined for a pescatore’s plate.
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Sfogliatelle
Head to any bar for breakfast in Naples and you’ll see people clasping one of these horn-like lobster tail pastries. This bar pastry classic is perfect for breakfast. The most popular kind is made of thin layers of pastry (sfogliatelle means “many leaves”) with a sweet custard filling of egg, ricotta, semolina, candied orange peel, and vanilla. The classic sfogliatella riccia (curly) has a pleasing crunch. Legend has it that the nuns at the Conca dei Marini monastero created the Santa Rosa sfogliatella.
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Spaghetti alle Vongole
Another simple Neapolitan pleasure and symbol of summer is also called vermicelli alle vongole and dates back to the end of the 1700s. It’s all about the briny freshness of the carpet-shell clams (vongole comuni or lupini sgusciati). The classic white sauce (olive oil, garlic, white wine, chili, and parsley) can be whipped up in minutes. It’s best savored allo scoglio at a waterfront table, cooled by a salty breeze overlooking the sea. Another special time to sample it is as a primo in the traditional festive family meal on Christmas Eve.
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Delizia al Limone
Most menus along the Amalfi Coast and some elsewhere in Campania have a delizia al limone on the dolci page. For its invention we don’t go back that far; it was 1978 at a culinary event in Formia, up the coast towards Rome, when a Sorrentine pastry chef named Carmine Marzuillo presented a soft sponge mound and whipped up some cream infused with Amalfi lemons. In recent years the delizia has gained even more fame with Minori-based Sal de Riso’s version with a pastry cream infused with lemon juice and filling full of fragrant Costa di Amalfi peel.
INSIDER TIPAccompany this indulgent dolce with a dessert wine or liquore such as crema al limone, limoncello, or the restaurant owner’s own potion.
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Sartù di Riso
This magnificent and rich Neapolitan classic reflects the city’s cross-pollinating history. Sartù hails from the Spanish Aragonese court, which took the idea from the Arab world and brought it to Naples and Sicily. Legend has it that Austrian Queen Maria Carolina and a French cook refined the dish and it was promoted by the Scuola Salernitata di Medicina for its health benefits. Today’s recipe is a mound of rice flavored by a slow-cooked ragù napoletano and polpettine (small pork meatballs). A rich sauce may also contain eggplant, mushrooms, peas, sausage, boiled egg, and often provola or mozzarella cheese. An in bianco version (without the ragù) often takes the even grander form of a ring cake called a ciambellone.
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Insalata Caprese
This simple salad named after the island and displaying the colors of the bandiera tricolore italiana (Italian flag) is all about the freshness and provenance of the ingredients. Nothing compares to slicing into the freshest, juiciest mozzarella di bufala campana and pomodori freschi with the sweet aroma and peppery-piquant combo of basilico and olio di extra vergine.
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Colatura di Alici
Anchovy drippings, anyone? Fermented anchovy sauce may sound gross, but this sauce has a kick that’s been popular for millennia. Its origins lie in ancient Roman garum sauce, the staple flavoring to enliven any dish. Today, the place to sample it is Cetara on the Costiera Amalfitana, where it’s made according to a centuries-old recipe.
INSIDER TIPRistorante Al Convento in Cetara is a reliable spot to taste colatura. Here it’s served with spaghetti.
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Zucchini alla Scapece
The fertile soil and benign climate in Naples help produce wonderful vegetables, and this classic contorno of thin zucchini slices marinated in garlic, vinegar, and mint is a staple side dish on any any tavola napoletana. The name comes from the years of Spanish rule and influence: scapece is the dialect version of escabeche, which describes a dish marinated in something acidic.
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Torta Caprese
Can cake be healthy? Well, the chocolate and almond torta Caprese—it was first made in Capri, apparently— is filled with life-giving and -affirming ingredients, and deserves to be deemed healthy, as it is gluten-free and delicious. As with all Neapolitan classics, there are many claims to its origins. There’s usually a man called Carmine or Pasquale involved. An oft-touted tale tells of it being invented by mistake in 1920 when a baker named Carmine Di Fiore forgot to add flour to his cake mix and the resulting moist cake was devoured by his customers. There are many versions, often topped with a liquore like Strega.