I am that girl, and I am not ashamed.
I am that girl who brought a tupperware to Naples in my purse because I wanted to stuff myself with pizza and pastries, but obviously I was not going to waste any food should (God forbid) I get full.
Don’t worry, one day in Naples is plenty of time to find your inner fat kid.
After you get your coffee, here is everything that you should try to eat if you only have one day in Napoli:
Sfogliatelle. Yeah, yeah. Maybe you have heard of these. Flakey, crunchy layers that give way to a ricotta/almond/orange center. Not bad at all.
But what you really need to try is sfogliatella frolla – the round babies in the upper right. Amazing straight from the oven with a dense ricotta and candied orange core.
Get them from Antica Pasticceria Carraturo (Via Casanova, 97). It is near the station and an easy first stop when you arrive.
I did not actually manage a photo of my sfogliatella riccia later that day from Pasticceria Carbone Angelo (Largo Regina Coeli). I inhaled half of it and packed the other half away in my handy tupperware for breakfast the next day.
Babà. You have to eat babà – a rich and boozy cake.
Preferably they should be ordered from a mound shaped like Mount Vesuvius at Pasticceria Scaturchio Giovanni (Piazza S. Domenico Maggiore).
However, I opted for the ministeriale.
The guy behind me literally moaned “i famosi ministerialeeeeeeeee” when I ordered it.
I had never had one before– and I guess for good reason: these were invented by Scaturchio around 1900 when he was trying to impress a woman with ties to the royal court. His mistress was so taken with the chocolate shell filled with a creamy liquor center that Scaturchio was encouraged to have the chocolate officially approved for Royal tables.
This required a lengthy bureaucratic battle with several different ministries — hence the name.
Long story short, the bureaucratic chocolate is fantastic. Eat it.
After starting your day with so much sugar and waiting patiently for Pizzeria Gino Sorbillo (Via dei Tribunali, 32) to open at 12 pm, you can finally have your first pizza.
It will be your best pizza. Best ever.
Really. The best pizza I have ever eaten.
With a high like that, there are bound to be some lows.
Babà with cream? Unnecessary.
As is the lemony but deceptively named “Delizioso.” Actually, not that delicious. Skip!
After bravely consuming much additional sugar, you should definitely get a palate cleanser. We opted for fritti at Pizzeria di Matteo (Via dei Tribunali, 94).
That would be: fried eggplant, croquettes, arancini and finally fried fried. (Literally just fried dough).
The bite sized arancini were the perfect mix of fried, salt, pepper and cheese. Love.
I know you are saving room, but really… fritti and pizza call for a Nastro.
Besides, you can save stomach space by opting for a pizza marinara – simply tomato, oregano, garlic and basil. Some olive oil and you are done.
Chewy and just-right-blackened, but not quite Sorbillo standards.
Just to be sure, you should grab another quick marinara pizza at Da Michele (Via Cesare Sersale, 1/3) before your train leaves. For comparison purposes, of course.
Sorbillo still wins.
Then you should probably, finally, call it a day.
Trains: 2
Hours: 8
Pizzas: 3
Fritti: 4
Pastries: 5
Beer: 1
Sleep: As soon as my head hit the pillow.
How is your holiday food coma looking?
