A Tour of Sicily and Naples – Street Food in Napoli
Our first day in Naples was devoted to enjoying street food. And in Napoli there’s a plentiful assortment of what can be enjoyed on the run. Bravo to our guides from Modern Adventure – Riaz and Andrea – for arranging this wonderful market tour.
We began with, what else, fish! Small shrimp, anchovies, and bits of salmon were fried and served in a paper cone. After spritzing some lemon on the fish, small pointed sticks were used to capture each fresh morsel. This was a tasty snack and we saw many people enjoying it while they walked around taking in the sights and smells of the market.
Our next stop was for cheese, three types of cheese in fact, mozzarella, smoked mozzarella and provolone. After sampling each, we voted the smoked mozzarella our favorite. The cheeses were served with a Falanghina, which paired perfectly. Even with street food, a great wine should be enjoyed!
For many, the next stop was the favorite – pizza fritte – fried dough filled with ricotta cheese. These were served hot and wrapped in brown paper. Since these were large portions, a pizza cutter was used to cut them into sections for sharing. Another batch came out, these filled with ricotta and tomato sauce.
Our last place was for dessert. The bakery’s cases were filled with tempting choices. Our guides chose two for us – a cream puff called a snowflake because the confectioner’s sugar resembles snow, and a variety of canolis, some filled with chocolate, some in chocolate shells.
We arrived back at our hotel, the Grand Hotel Vesuvio, in time to meet two friends from London who were vacationing in nearby Sorrento. They took the ferry to Naples and we enjoyed catching up while having drinks and savory snacks on our hotel’s terrace.
That evening, we had dinner in the hotel’s restaurant, Caruso, named after the famous Italian opera singer. Offering a panoramic view of the Bay of Naples, the restaurant’s food was outstanding. We shared a pasta course, small clams in a sauce made from a purée of a broccoli-like local vegetable with flecks of sun dried tomatoes. This dish was creamy and tasted of the sea. My main course was polpette di baccalà, salt cod balls with chick pea and rosemary purée served with fried leeks. Tom chose lamb chops.
Rather than a sweet dessert (too much of that earlier in the day), we opted for a cheese course, one hard, one soft, while we finished our wine, a Pinot Noir from France suggested by the sommelier who insisted French Pinot Noirs were superior from those from Italy. We enjoyed the view throughout the meal, toasting one of our last nights in Italy.
To read Charlene’s other stories from A Tour of Sicily and Naples, go to the Living Around section on Woman Around Town.
