Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
wheat flour (a small dash of type 0 flour is permitted), compressed or natural yeast, salt,
and water with a pH level between 6 and 7. While a low-speed mixer can be used for
kneading the dough, only hands can be used to form the
disco di pasta
(pizza base), which
should not be thicker than 3mm. The pizza itself should be cooked at 485°C (905°F) in a
doubled-domed, wood-fired oven using oak, ash, beech or maple timber.
Pasta
Pizza's bedfellow, pasta, arrived in Naples via Sicily where it had first been introduced by
Arab merchants. The dry, windy Campanian climate was later found to be ideal for drying
pasta, and production took off in a big way, especially after the 1840 opening of Italy's
first pasta plant in Torre Annunziata.
The staple itself is divided into
pasta fresca
(fresh pasta), devoured within a few days of
purchase, and
pasta secca
(dried pasta), handy
for long-term storage. One of the top varieties
of local
pasta fresca
is Amalfi's own
scialati-
elli
, a flat noodle both longer and thicker than
tagliatelle and often 'pinched' in the middle.
With its name stemming from the Neapolitan
term
sciglià
(to tousle), it's a perfect match for delicate tomato and seafood
sughi
(sauces).
This said, Naples is more famous for its
pasta secca
, the most obvious examples of
which are spaghetti, macaroni, penne (smallish tubes cut at an angle) and rigatoni (similar
to penne but with ridges on them). Made from
grano duro
(durum wheat) flour and water,
it's often served (al dente, of course) with vegetable-based
sughi
, which are generally less
rich than the traditional
pasta fresca
varieties.
The best of the region's artisanal pastas comes from the small town of Gragnano, some
30km southeast of Naples. A pasta-producing hub since the 17th century, its main street
was specifically built along the sun's axis so that the pasta put out to dry by the town's
pastifici
(pasta factories) would reap a full day's sunshine.
As for the queen of the region's pasta dishes, it's hard to beat the mouth-watering
pasta
al forno
(baked pasta), a decadent combination of macaroni, tomato sauce, mozzarella
and, depending on the recipe, hard-boiled egg, meatballs and sausage. No less than a gast-
ronomic 'event', it's often cooked for Sunday lunch and other special occasions.
There is no seafood on a Neapolitan pizza
marinara - just tomato, garlic, oregano and ex-
tra-virgin olive oil. The pizza's name stems
from its popularity with local fishermen,
who'd take it out to sea for lunch.
