Make a list of the neapolitan sweets most famous means to honor one of the wonders of the PASTRY world's best-loved Italian, a collection of recipes that tell the story of one of the most important and historically rich port cities. Everyone knows and wants to try the baba or the pastiera but the true history or legends behind each dessert that peeps into plain view, triumphant in the windows of Patenopean cafeterias and pastry shops often remain unknown.
From the most recently born, and already starring in the Italian pastry shop Snowflakes, to most ancient Struffoli, whose origins date back to the Greek Palepoli, the old city that contrasted with the new city "Neapolis": the Neapolitan pastry accompanies along a real journey of the soul. A diverse universe of recipes, traditions, stories and anecdotes find a home in the hundreds of pastry shops that adorn the city, each one different from the other, each with its own specialty. In Naples, there is no one dessert that reigns over the others: it's just a matter of taste.
1. The baba, a classic Neapolitan pastry.
In order of fame, we discover the baba, considered by many to be the sweet symbol of the pastry shop in Naples and the entire region.
A leavened and not very sweet dough, baked and then generously soaked in a rum bath: "o' baba" in Naples is religion, despite its Polish origins. Indeed, it would seem that the Polish czar Stanislaus Lesczynski was tired of the typical sweet of his homeland as being too dry and that in a fit of rage, he had thrown it at a bottle of rum, which broke and soaked the whole cake. The smell emanating from it was so strong and pleasant that the tsar wanted to taste it and was immediately won over: he decided to name it Ali Baba, in honor of the character from the famous Oriental collection of novellas "The Thousand and One Nights."
2. The pastiera, the Neapolitan dessert that makes people laugh
Composed of a short pastry shell, it holds a soft heart of ricotta cheese, candied fruit, eggs, spices and boiled wheat, and its preparation is complex, long and laborious. The pastiera more rests
and the better it tastes. A nice legend about the pastiera concerns the story of a king and queen. Maria Theresa of Austria, wife of King Ferdinand II of Bourbon, was nicknamed the "queen who never laughs." Under her husband's insistence, the sovereign tasted a piece of pastiera that made her melt into a sweet smile. "It took the pastiera to make my wife smile, now I will have to wait until next Easter to see her smile again!" exclaimed the king.
3. Crispy on the outside and soft in the inside, sfogliatelle
Some people prefer it curly and those who prefer it shortbread: in both cases the sfogliatella Neapolitan is a very thin golden spiral of puff pastry filled with semolina cream, eggs, ricotta cheese, candied fruit, milk and
sugar, a perfect communion of texture and taste. Its entire history is shrouded in confusing legends, and the recipe is much older than imagined, muddled between nobility and religion.
It is said that the sfogliatella of Santa Rosa, born in 1681 in a convent in Conca dei Marini, is the first sfogliatella in history.
This is probably not the case, however. In fact, although not the same shape, sfogliatella appeared as early as 1570 on the menu of Pope Pius V.
Fragrant and mouthwatering, it is perfect for any occasion-from breakfast to a dessert with which to end a Sunday lunch.
4. Love, passion and hope in Snowflakes
A sweet and fluffy brioche filled with milk cream, cream and cottage cheese: i snowflakes are a typical treat from the famous Neapolitan pastry shop Poppella in Rione Sanità. Although a very young delicacy, the snowflakes are among the most imitated in the city. The story is beautiful and of a romantic
infinity. It is the 1940s and Naples is under enemy siege. In the dark and cramped spaces of the Catacombs of San Gaudioso, Clara and Vittorio meet. She is from the Sanità neighborhood, he is a military man from Trieste. They look at each other, it is obvious that they like each other, but war and fear are a cumbersome obstacle. One day Vittorio takes courage and asks her to meet again, but the young woman refuses with a warning that leaves no hope: she would accept only if it snowed in Naples. That same night, at the end of the bombardment, so many snowflakes rained from the sky: in the face of this sign love had the upper hand. From this poignant story on the edge of the unimaginable, the name of the delicious dessert originates.
5. The fried balls with Hellenic origins, struffoli
Sweet, delicate and savory, they alternate between the softness of short pastry and the crunch of sprinkles: the struffoli are among the main Neapolitan pastry protagonists. However, despite clichés, the small fried balls made of flour, eggs, sugar, butter and anise liqueur probably did not originate in Naples. Some trace the birth of this cute dessert back to Greece: not surprisingly, it is still where a similar delicacy, called loukoumades and one of the ingredients
main, honey, was considered by the Greeks to be a divine nectar as well as the sweetener of all sweets in antiquity.
A spectacle for the eyes and the palate, Naples is a magical city to visit at any time of the year... so all that remains is to be conquered.
