Neapolitan Cuisine - Neapolitan Street Food

Neapolitan Street Food

In Naples, the use of buying and eating food in the streets dates to very ancient times. The origins probably date back to Roman thermopolia or maybe earlier. Typical fried food can still today be bought in little shops, like pastacresciute (deep fried bread dough balls), scagliozzi (deep fried polenta slices) and sciurilli (it) (deep fried male zucchini flowers), or deep fried aubergines. Pizza is also prepared in small sized to be eaten in the street, the so-called pizza a libretto, still found in Naples pizzerias in via dei Tribunali, port'Alba and piazza Cavour. In via Pignasecca, in the historical center, there are still some shops of carnacuttari, selling various types of tripe, 'o pere e 'o musso (pork's foot and cow's nose) or the old zuppa 'e carnacotta (tripe soup).

From Mergellina to via Caracciolo there are still several little shops selling taralli nzogna e pepe (salty biscuits with pork's fat and black pepper). Nowadays the old typical 'o broro 'e purpo (octopus broth) has become extremely rare to find. Few decades ago, street shops sold 'o spassatiempo, a mix of baked hazelnuts, pumpkin seeds, toasted chickpeas and lupins under brine.