Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Local Specialities
The Italian term for civic pride is
campanilismo
but a more accurate word would be
form-
aggismo:
loyalty to the local cheese. Clashes among medieval duchies and principalities in-
volving castle sieges and boiling oil have been replaced by competition in speciality foods
and wine. Keep reading for a gut-rumbling overview of southern Italy's culinary nuances,
then turn to
Click here
to dig deeper into each region's culinary aces.
Naples & Campania
Explosions of flavour come with the territory in Campania, where intensely sweet tomatoes
and superlative citrus thrive in volcanic soil. In Naples, tuck into Italy's best pizza, a wood-
fired masterpiece of thin charred crust and slightly chewy dough. Its on-the-go sibling is
the surprisingly light
pizza fritta:
fried pizza dough stuffed with salami, dried lard cubes,
smoked
provola
cheese, ricotta and tomato.
Vegetarian decadence comes in the form of
parmigiana di melanzana
(fried aubergines
layered with hard-boiled eggs, mozzarella, onion, tomato sauce and basil), while the city's
signature
spaghetti alla puttanesca
(whore's spaghetti) blends tomatoes and black olives
with capers, anchovies and (in some cases) a dash of red chilli. Altogether more virtuous is
Campania's unique
friarielli,
a bitter, broccoli-like vegetable that is
saltata in padella
(pan-
fried), spiked with
peperoncino
(red chilli) and often served with rustic
salsiccia di maiale
(pork sausage).
At the sweeter end of the spectrum are the
sfogliatella
(sweetened ricotta-filled pastry),
babà
(rum-soaked sponge cake) and
pastiera
(latticed tart filled with ricotta, cream, can-
died fruits and cereals flavoured with orange-blossom water).
Both Caserta and the Cilento region produce Italy's finest
mozzarella di bufala
(buffalo
mozzarella), a star ingredient in Capri's refreshing
insalata caprese
(mozzarella, tomato
and basil salad). The neighbouring island of Ischia is famed for its succulent
coniglio
all'ischitana,
claypot-cooked local rabbit with garlic, chilli, tomato, basil, thyme and white
wine.
Back on the mainland, Sorrento peddles sizzling
gnocchi alla sorrentina
(oven-baked
gnocchi drizzled with mozzarella and
parmigiano reggiano
cheese) and ricotta-stuffed can-
nelloni, while the Amalfi Coast has no shortage of fish and seafood-based dishes. This
fabled coast is also famous for two larder essentials: Cetara's
colatura di alici
(an intense
anchovy essence) and Salerno's Colline Salernitane DOP olive oil.
