Campania Tradition and Flovours

A holiday in Campania is surely not the best time to start a diet! Besides, the culinary and vine growing tradition of Campania has been admired for thousands of years... Since then, we can say that we have continued to export our typical flavours all over the world, and they can still be tasted today in the restaurants and food shops: from tender, tasty cold meats and salamis to extra virgin olive oils, which are ideal, delicious dressings that are produced in the Cilento area, in the Salerno Hills and in the Sorrento Peninsula. Regional cooking is characterised by the area: on the one side there are the inland provinces (Avellino and Benevento), with their strong hearty dishes, based on meat and vegetable products; on the other there are the coastal provinces (Naples and Salerno), which specialise in sea food dishes. The cooking is aromatic and genuine and dominated by three "p"s, pizza, pasta, pomodoro (pizza, pasta and tomato). Pizza is eaten all over the world, but here it has a taste, which cannot be found anywhere else! There is a wide range of varieties with two classical types: the Marmara (tomato, garlic, oregano and oil) and the Margherita (which was given its name in honour of the Queen of the same name, who ruled over Naples), made with the colours of the Italian flag: red/tomato, white/mozzarella, green/basil. An early kind of pizza, which dates back to over 2000 years ago, is owed to the Greeks and their mixture of water and flour; but it was the Neapolitans who added the "fire" of tomatoes to this pale "focaccia", and made them popular all over the world. Tomatoes are the all-round protagonist of local cooking: natural, in salads, dried, peeled, concentrated...Cooked with lean beef and pork and cooked in red wine giving a thick and aromatic sauce, ragout, which was allegedly invented by a Neapolitan alchemist. On the subject, this man is said to have discovered this ideal condiment for pasta, whilst he was searching for the elixir of long life. In every respect, pasta is the "true gold of Naples" because of its golden colour that comes from the grain; it is as precious as a true gem, and equally tasty and nutritious and produced in a thousand different shapes (spaghetti, tagliatelle, cannelloni, gnocchi, bucatini...). Those who love dairy products can taste the exceedingly tasty cacio-cavallo silano cheese, either fresh or matured; or in Aversa (Caserta) and Battipaglia-Eboli (Salerno) you can appreciate the delicate ricotta and the unbeatable buffalo mozzarella, which is the most famous Italian cheese in the whole world. It is possible to speak at length about the sweets of Campania, which are heavenly and a must: the sfogliatella (filled with fresh ricotta, flavoured with vanilla and cinnamon and en¬riched with candied fruit); babas (sponge cake steeped in rum syrup); the pastiera (made of grain, ricotta, orange water, candied cedar); the zeppola (a ring shaped cake fried or cooked in the oven, filled with custard and black cherries).
Nor can we forget specialities such as torroni and almond brittle with al¬monds, nuts, honey and chocolate made in the province of Benevento. Wine lovers will simply be spoilt for choice, since wine has been produced in Campania for well over 3000 years. Thanks to its prestigious wine tradition, Campania can offer the market splendid, first-class wines, reds and whites that are ideal for every dish and palate: from the full bodied wines of Irpinia (the excellent Taurasi, the noble Greco di Tufo, the fragrant Fiano) to the nectars of Vesuvius; from the Samnite reds to the sparkling wines of Caserta and the white wines of the islands and the coast. Those who prefer liqueurs will appreciate the strong Strega (Benevento) and the fragrant Limoncello (produced in Capri and along the Sorrento coast, which are regions rich in strongly scented lemons). Whereas those who prefer to round off their lunch "Neapolitan style", will discover a real pick-me-up in the coffee - strong, dark, piping hot: in fact rather than just a simple brew, this drink, which brightens up the Neapolitans at all hours of the day, is a true daily ritual.