Naples

:Alternate uses: See Naples (disambiguation)

Food and drink

Naples is by tradition the home of pizza. It is the birthplace of the Pizza Margherita, which traditionally is made with mozzarella cheese, pomodoro (tomato) and basil - each representing the red, white, and green of the Italian flag. The pizza was created as homage to Queen Margherita on a vist to the city. La vera pizza ("true pizza") should be made in a wood-burning oven similar to a Tandoori oven.

Related Topics:
Pizza - Mozzarella - Tandoori

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Naples is also famous for its pasta dishes, where spaghetti is often served with sugo di pomodoro, a tomato sauce which gets its full flavour from sun-ripe Campanian tomatoes. Another excellent Campanian dish found in Naples is melanzane alla parmigiana, which is fried slices of aubergine (eggplant) gratinéed with tomato sauce and parmesan cheese. Often you can get another version of melanzane alla parmigiana with an addition of mozzarella cheese.

Related Topics:
Campanian - Melanzane alla parmigiana - Aubergine - Parmesan

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Naples offers several kinds of unique pastry, the most famous of which is perhaps the babà, followed by choux (Neapolitans write it as sciù) and the Pastiera, a cake prepared for Easter.

Related Topics:
Babà - Pastiera

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The babà (also known as savarin) is a mushroom-shaped piece of leavend sweet paste, soaked with an orange flavoured mixture of rum and water. Choux is a small "bubble" of leavened paste stuffed with light cream, usually coffee or chocolate flavored. The Pastiera is a cake with a complicated recipe, varying by the county in which it is prepared. The ingrediants are typically annealed grain, eggs, and sometimes cream. It is always combined with boiled rice. Another typical Neapolitan pastry is the Sfogliatella (riccia or frolla).

Related Topics:
Rum - Sfogliatella

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Naples is also known for its gelato. Gelato is not ice cream, but rather iced milk.

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