Neapolitan cuisine is one of the oldest and richest Italian gastronomy.
From the 18th century, the French domination will largely influence the local recipes and undoubtedly this passion that the Neapolitans will nourish for the pastry.
If there is a sweet that we eat here at any time, in all circumstances, but most often accompanied by a coffee, it is the sfogliatella riccia.
This "richly" puff pastry filled with a filling composed of semolina, fresh ricotta, candied oranges and lemons and cinnamon dates back to the beginning of the 17th century.
So as not to waste leftover cooked semolina, a nun from the convent of Santa Rosa de Lima, in Conca dei Marmi, embarks on the spontaneous creation of a cake.
The result, based on ricotta, dried fruit,
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Just out of the oven
The puff pastry is in no way similar to that of a Viennese pastry but is more like a cone expertly mounted using a long strip of dough.
Press picture
Some two centuries later, a Neapolitan innkeeper,
Pasquale Pintauro
is going to bring the recipe out of oblivion and imagine the sfogliatella riccia as we know it today, with in particular this form of shell so characteristic that we seize perfectly by hand.
The puff pastry is in no way similar to that of a Viennese pastry but is more like a cone skilfully assembled using a long strip of dough and closed once filled.
Cooked, the turnover then seems to be made up of a multitude of strips which, in the mouth, contribute to the jubilant contrast between the very brittle "shell" and the softness of the filling.
Above all, to fully appreciate all the flavor of a sfogliatella, it is strongly recommended to eat it, at best just out of the oven and sprinkled with icing sugar, or slightly warmed.
Naples Cake
The Pintauro pastry shop has been established on via Toledo for 200 years.
Olivier Reneau / Le Figaro
Moreover, the Pintauro pastry shop, the same one that has been based on via Toledo for 200 years now littered with fashion boutiques, still displays a luminous sign mentioning “
Sfogliate calde”
for “Hot Sfogliatelle”.
If you want to taste the holy grail of sfogliatella, it is obviously recommended to make the trip without losing sight of the fact that in Naples, the cake is almost everywhere.
Both in pastries and cafes.
Moreover, the difference is sometimes negligible because most of the pastries have tables and coffee machines, as evidenced by Scaturchio where you can choose to lean on the counter or sit on the terrace on the piazza San Domenico Maggiore.
And conversely,
Located a stone's throw from the opera, the Gran Caffè Gambrinus, certainly mentioned in all the guides, is well worth an “espresso-sfogliatella” to capture the very special atmosphere of Neapolitan cafes.
For those who are in transit through Naples central station or would like to bring back some sfogliatelle in their luggage to share with family or friends, it is more than advisable to drop by the
Antico Forno delle sfogliatelle calde Fratelli Attanasio
, a bakery located on the esplanade facing the
station
.
With a name like that - the ancient hot sfogliatelle oven of the Attanasio brothers - it's hard to be mistaken about the goods.
Only recommendation: it will take a resistance to any test not to empty the bag before arrival at destination.
Finally, last detail, and not least.
There is another sfogliatelle in Naples: sfogliatella frolla, in other words made with shortcrust pastry whose texture is totally different.
It is then at
Carraturo
that you have to go to make the comparison.
From there, it's up to you to choose your Neapolitan idyll!
Five Neapolitan addresses to taste a good sfogliatella riccia
the Gran Caffè Gambrinus is well worth an “espresso-sfogliatella” to capture the special atmosphere of Neapolitan cafés.
Press picture
Scaturchio (Pasticceria Giovanni Scaturchio), P.za S. Domenico Maggiore, 19, 80134 Naples.
Such.
: +39 081 551 7031.
Pintauro, Via Toledo, 275, 80132 Naples.
Such.
: +39 081 417339.
Gran Caffè Gambrinus, Via Chiaia, 1/2, 80132 Naples.
Such.
: +39 081 41 75 82.
Antico Forno delle sfogliatelle calde Fratelli Attanasio, Vico Ferrovia, 1-2-3-4, 80142 Naples.
Such.
: +39 081 285675.
Carraturo, Via Casanova, Via Casanova, 97, 80139 Napoli.
Such.
: +39 081 554 5364.