Tastes of Southern Italy – II

I keep on writing about the tastes of Southern Italy. On this entry, we’ll find out more things about Italian foods in depth.  The region where I live, Campania, extensively produces tomatoes, peppers, spring onions, potatoes, artichokes, fennel, lemons and oranges which all take on the flavor of volcanic soil. The Gulf of Naples offers fish and seafood.

 Gambrinus Napoli - This picture is from Naples. You can see that there are countless types of different pastries. All of them are so delicious ! For Gambrinus, I can say that, it's one of the oldest and most popular cafe in Naples. I recommend you to taste especially coffee !!

Insalata Caprese: If you would like to visit this region, Campania, for sure you will come across to this taste. It is kind of a salad whereas also sandwich types with this salad can be seen commonly. This is a salad which is prepared with Mozzarella, tomatoes and basil. Also olive can be added according to your preference. Especially for summer, it can be a good choice for who would like to eat something light.  

Sfogliatella: It’s a typical pastry type of Naples. It’s so famous and particular taste. If you think of visiting this region, you should taste this sweet and delicious pastry. It’s prepared with butter, sugar, orange peel and ricotta cheese. Ricotta cheese is a cheese type that is generally used for preparation of desserts. Even if it can be used for also some salty foods, especially in South Italy, people got used to use this type of cheese for some cakes, pastries. Ricotta cheese is so similar to lor cheese from Turkey. By the way, Sfogliatelle are shell shaped filled pastries native to Italian cuisine. "Sfogliatelle" means "many leaves/layers," the pastry's texture resembling leaves stacked on each other. What is so particular about this pastry? This pastry is so interesting because of its form. It’s so crispy and tasty. It’s quite difficult thing to prepare it because the preparation takes a lot of time. 

Regarding the preperation style, it's so similar to Turkish Baklava. Because also for Baklava, the dough should be rolled out very thin. As you can see from the picture, the layers of the dough is so thin. So, it takes time to prepare it ! 

Rum Baba: If we are talking about Campania’s desserts, we have to talk about also “Baba”. This is my favorite dessert. Every time I visit Naples, I’m trying to eat this dessert. Also, in the city in which I live, it’s possible to find “Baba” however the “Baba” of Naples is always more tasty and more delicious. Especially, I like “Baba” with ample Rum. It’s a small yeast cake saturated in liquor, usually rum, and sometimes filled with whipped cream or pastry cream. It is most typically made in individual servings (about a 2" tall slightly tapered cylinder). The batter for baba is even richer than that for brioche, and includes eggs, milk, and butter. There are also some types of baba with cream or cream and fruits. All of them are so delicious !

This is the Baba without any more ingredient. It's simple but it's so delicious. This is the original type and this is the type that I like very much. Baba with strawberry and cream ! It's also so tasty  !