Tag: Alice Venessa Bever

caffè freddo, please!

Posted on by alice

Alice: Fiorella, I’m craving a fabulous coffee in the shade. Is it possible?
Fiorella: Bar Marino! Not trendy at all, but Salvatore makes an excellent, strong coffee and we can sit in the shade of Porta San Gennaro, the oldest door of the city.
Alice: I love Bar Marino. It’s just enough out of the bustle of the crowds and it a perfect postcard of a typical Neapolitan street scene. But it’s hot, it’s so hot… I don’t think I can manage to drink a hot espresso.
Fiorella: You can get a caffè freddo! It’s a perfect Neapolitan drink for the summer. Forget about Frapuccinos. It is just cold, iced espresso with sugar. Perfect for the nearly 100 degree heat. And Bar Marino has such a nice breeze under the arch of the great door of the city.
Alice: Yes, please!
In Naples coffee is the great connector. Wherever you go, in any situation, you’ll share a coffee. In tragedy, happiness, stress, in everyday life, there will be coffee. You can have it delivered anywhere -even just one coffee and even to my apartment with a five floor walk up. Most people have their favourite bar to start their day and Bar Marino is one of the places that carries on the Neapolitan tradition where the coffee is good, strong and served hot (or cold, if you prefer). Architects, teachers, tourists, students, artists and plumbers all crowd around the chrome of this old school establishment.
This not-so-swanky bar sits in front of one of the most historical pizzerias in Naples -Pizzeria Capasso- with the original marble doorway where many people have passed through, including the cast members of the acclaimed show “Gommorra”. Some of the staff were even featured in the series.
At the foot of Porta San Gennaro, which tells the story of the old Naples, the passing scooters, prams and groups of chattering people set the scene below.
Fiorella: If all the tables are occupied it might happen that an old lady with bags of food for Sunday lunch asks you to share the table with you… it doesn’t mean you have to have a conversation, it is only the fabulous Neapolitan humanity and friendly attitude.

Porta San Gennaro is the oldest gate of Naples, already documented in the 10th century. It was the only entrance in the city from the North, where the hill of Capodimonte and the catacombs of San Gennaro are…hence why it’s called Porta San Gennaro.
It was also known as the tufo gate because through it the tufa stones from the quarries of the Sanità entered the town.
It was originally next to the fabulous Baroque church of Gesù delle Monache (enter the church to admire the airy stuccoes by Lorenzo Vaccaro and Troise!!!). In 1537 because of the expansion of the walls under Don Pedro de Toledo Porta San Gennaro was moved to the nearby via Foria, it’s current location.
After the horrendous plague of 1656, Mattia Preti was commisioned to do the fresco including the Saints of Gennaro, Rosalia and Francesco Saverio imploring the end of the epidemic. The marble statue in front of the fresco represents San Gennaro and St Michele. Three years later the bust of San Gaetano was added inside the gate on specific request of the Theatini.
The niche with the Virgin surrounded by silver ex votoes was placed under the arch in 1887 in memory of the cholera outbreak in 1884 and is still worshipped by the locals.

Walking Naples. Craftsmenship, art and food

Posted on by alice

Alice: Hey, Fiorella! Do you know what one of my absolute favourite things to do in Naples is?
Fiorella: Does it involve food and walking in the side streets of ancient Naples?
Alice: Of course it does, you know me so well. One of the best things about Naples is going food shopping and preparing local dishes with the absolute freshest local ingredients. And while I’m checking out the best produce, fish, bread, and vegetable stands in the historical centre, I love taking in the beautiful streets of this fabulous city and its local artisans. Here I feel that there is always a vicolo to be explored, a conversation to be had. Don’t you love those bodegas where time just seems to have stood still?
Fiorella: Naples is a place where people use their hands a lot, not only to gesticulate (body language is so Neapolitan!) but to create crafted items and to work any type of material from terracotta to metal, from cloth to food! And what is amazing to me is to see them at work literally in the street as it used to happen in small villages decades ago.
Take for example Talarico. This store and small factory has been operating since 1860 and after five generations it still makes some of the most artistic and resistant umbrellas I’ve ever used.

It is a great experience to visit the tiny workshop in vico Due Porte a Toledo where you can see the small worn out wooden desk where umbrellas for internationally known people have been custom made.

Let’s stop by and have a chat with lovely and enthusiastic Mario, junior.

Alice: Sure! I have to thank him! Last year that umbrella saved me with all the terrible weather we had. Today I saw someone in the street with my same Talarico umbrella and we both looked at each other as if to say: we know, this is a fabulous umbrella. What I love about this shop is that you can take your time looking at all the different kinds of umbrellas and Mario is always proud to tell you about the history of his family that I am never tired of hearing.
One of his ancestors was a painter of the Royals, another member of the family a violinist at the San Carlo Opera House, then umbrellas became the frontrunner in the current chapter of the family history.
Fiorella: He talks while both smiling and working on a new piece, but always finds a moment to open a box or a drawer to show you 100 years old handles and knobs in silver, crafted wood or ivory or the silks and fabrics hand painted for a custom made umbrella.

We like these fabulous local spots. While in the Spanish Quarters we have got to stop by the little croissant factory just a few vicoli away from Talarico. Handmade delicious cornetti filled with custard cream and black cherry that just melt in your mouth.

Alice: That would be one of the best starts to a morning of sightseeing and food shopping. Cornetto alla crema, per favore! And the guys of the laboratory are also so nice.


After a cornetto and a coffee we are ready to start again and go shopping at Pignasecca, a must see on our food tours to taste some of the best mozzarella and cheese at our favourite grocery store or fried fish at the Pescheria Azzurra.

A mandatory stop for the ones who like tripe is Fiorenzano. We are not so keen about tripe, but tripe-experts say this is one of the best tripperie in the city (the other Kingdom of Tripe is the Tripperia O’ Russ near Piazza Carlo III).

The Tripperia Fiorenzano is also a Trattoria (family run restaurant) named le Zendraglie. The word zandraglia or zendraglia most likely derives from the French word ‘les entrailles’ which was yelled by the servants of the court when they threw the remainder of the King’s dinner from Castel Nuovo (Maschio Angioino) to the people down below.
Common women would crowd beneath the castle to collect the food scraps, thus taking on the name zandraglie.
The word zandraglia in Neapolitan is quite offensive because it means a sloppy, vulgar, noisy and dirty woman but don’t let the name put you off-if you like tripe then you’ll love this spot!

While walking in Pignasecca and buying some food for a late lunch we will definitely end up in piazza Santa Maria la Nova, which is such a special piazza.
Fiorella: I love the cloisters of Santa Maria La Nova.

The small one in particular is a fabulous hidden spot.

The monastery of Santa Maria La Nova was founded following the wishes of King Charles I of Anjou but the complex was reconstructed by G. Cola di Franco (1596-99) and included two cloisters.
The Grand Cloister, today the seat of the Provincial Council of Naples, is named San Francesco after a long since lost series of frescoes dedicated to the saint.
The light invades the lawns and reflects onto the arcade supported by white marble pillars and the Small Cloister opens like a precious box in front of your very eyes, revealing the many images which all refer to St. Giacomo della Marca. The series of frescoes attributed to A. de Lione and assistants (1627-28), opens with a scene of San Giacomo in the womb before his birth. In the frescoes he is reassuring his mother, urging her not to be frightened of thieves. The life of the saint is told over nineteen scenes, each very elaborate.
Four gates give access to the centre of the small garden where the well is found. This fabulous Franciscan cloister is further enriched by the tombstones and funeral monuments of the illustrious members from the Court of Aragon.

Alice: This is also near a place where I buy the best produce. Let’s go to get some tomatoes, olives and capers to make linguine alla puttanesca.

Apart from fresh produce, the best thing about this place is the father and son duo. The father runs the shop and the son makes hand-woven goods. Did you see those baskets? Of course I had to buy one for myself but I’ve been noticing them all around Naples. He’s a self-taught artist who is carrying on the old tradition of basket weaving. All while working right on the street like in old times.

Fiorella: In Naples you can discover things like this and realize how people invent their job every day.
After a fabulous walk in the many wombs of bella Napoli it is time to go home to cook our linguine. Pasta alla Puttanesca, in Neapolitan aulive e chiappariell (olive and capers) is one of the easiest-but no less fabulous-pasta to prepare. We would like to share our recipe with you.
There are a number of stories about the origins of this zesty sauce, the raciest being that a puttana, or Lady of the Night, could cook it in the time it took her to take care of a client, and then enjoy it afterward while recovering from her exertions. Whatever the story, it is good and a classic here in Naples.
Do you want to know how we make it?

Serves four: once you cook it, invite a couple of friends as we always do!
INGREDIENTS:
2/3 cup pitted black olives,
sliced 4 boned anchovy fillets
2 cloves of garlic
3 tablespoons extra vergin olive oil
1 tablespoon rinsed salted capers
Three or four ripe plum tomatoes, finely sliced
Salt and pepper to taste
A pound pack of linguine (or spaghetti) preferably from Gragnano

PREPARATION:
Chop the garlic and sauté it in the oil with the anchovies, stirring the mixture about to break up the anchovies.
When the garlic is lightly browned, add the olives, capers, and tomatoes. Check seasoning to taste.
Simmer the sauce for fifteen minutes, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, cook the pasta. Make sure you salt the water first! Stir the sauce into the pasta after it has been drained and serve with a nice glass of wine.
White? Go for a Fiano di Avellino, a Falanghina dei Campi Flegrei or a Coda di Volpe
Red? Aglianico del Taburno, Falerno del Massico or Piedirosso
The end of a fabulous walking tour of our ever-beloved Naples.

A Fabulous Musical Street

Posted on by alice

Alice: I remember when I came to Naples eighteen years ago. It was a dark and rainy January and I would walk the historical centre, making friends with the people I’d meet at the shops and bars I spent time in to keep warm. One of the friends I made was working in a CD store on via Sebastiano I had stumbled upon because I was too shy to visit the stores, although I was fascinated by their instruments, especially their mandolins. He introduced me to local musicians like Pino Daniele, Nuova Compagnia di Canto Popolare, Almamegretta and 99 Posse. Along the street named after the once-present San Sebastiano Monastery and with its proximity to the Music Conservatory which has been visited by Rossini, Alessando Scarlatti, Bellini and Donizetti (among others), it is still the home to the biggest concentration of music instruments and equipment in Naples.

Fiorella: You are right! It is always nice to walk by the Conservatory and hear the musicians and singers practising.
Neapolitans are never tired of visiting this fabulous place.
The Royal Conservatory of San Sebastiano was established  in 1807 by King Giuseppe Bonaparte. In 1826 it was named Royal Conservatory of Music of San Pietro a Majella. It originated by fusing together three conservatories founded in the 16th century in the churches of Santa Maria di Loreto, Sant’Onofrio in Capuana and Pietà dei Turchini. The aim of the three institutions was to rescue children from the streets of Naples by housing them and educating them through music.
The conservatory and the adjacent church are part of the 14th century monastery of San Pietro a Majella, built at the end of the 13th century and dedicated to Pietro Angeleri, who became Pope as Celestine V in 1294.

The church is also a must-see! The transept is decorated with valuable frescoes dating from the 14th century, baroque marble inlays and a cycle of paintings by Mattia Preti, amongst the others. The fabulous 17 th century cloister with palm and banana trees and a monument to Beethoven by Francesco Jerace, leads to a second cloister and to the Conservatory.
The Conservatory library houses important manuscripts of the numerous composers  who lived and worked in Naples.

Alice: Also Neapolitan-by-adoption like me love to walk down the narrow, tree-lined street and hear notes from guitars, violins and mandolins waft in and out of the doors of the stores. Music lovers will truly appreciate this corner of Neapolitan history. Don’t be shy like I was initially!We visited Giuseppe Miletti store as well as others the other day to buy a speaker and a mixer for upcoming concerts. Two hours and an impromptu concert later, we walked out smiling and in appreciation of Manuela’s patience for all the models she happily let us try!

When you leave via San Sebastiano, turn left at Spaccanapoli to check out the artisan street vendors and street musicians performing for the throngs of people walking by. If you’re looking for something to please your sweet tooth, there is Gay Odin which has some of the best chocolate and gelato in town.
In the late 19 th c. Isidoro Odin, a young chocolatier from Alba, come to Naples, one of the most important and populated European capitals. Naples was a melting pot where artists, aristocrats, scholars and food-lovers from all over Europe spent their time in the already colorful and busy streets of the city. The first classy and wonderfully smelling factory was opened in Chiaia, the area where it is still today. Isidoro worked day and night to create delicious new delicacies and surprise the Neapolitan fine palates. Gay Odin chocolate was and is still today considered one of the best in town. All phases of production are handmade, from chocolate roasting to packaging. Packaging is still the original from paper with vintage images to fabulous boxes representing Naples’ vedutas and guaches. One of the reasons why it is in the registry of Italy’s historical places.
Fiorella: Hungry for something more substantial? Try out the pizza at historical Pizzeria Lombardi.
Pizzeria Lombardi a Santa Chiara is a 5 th generation pizzeria, decorated with majolica tiles inspired from the next door cloister of Santa Chiara. The first pizzaiolo in the family started in 1892 in his bare basso (street level home) in vico Limoncello where calzoni with ricotta and maybe cicoli or simply tomato sauce were coming out from a frying pan and sold for few liras to the neighbours. Four generations have made pizzas every day in the historical center.
A coffee is also mandatory in 70s original style Settebello bar, a bohemian spot where whoever desire to play the piano is welcome…be advised though that the owner, Pino, is an expert in classical music. Also, his fabulous nephew is a musician who studies music and plays piano between serving one espresso after another. Intellectuals, street artists, old professors, street vendors and students are all sitting at the tables of this welcoming corner, where table service is not charged.

 

Art of Writing

Posted on by alice

Speaking and writing is the most common way of communicating and expressing ourselves.

Poets, singers and talented writers have a sort of a mission in writing and giving joy to the others through their words. But what about somebody who didn’t have a formal education and yet made their way of writing an art as well as a job for three generations?

Learning from his grandpa and his father how to write prices on wooden signs for sellers in the markets of Naples. This is perhaps how his art of writing became a job.

  

Pasquale De Stefano works in a tiny room in a vicolo of the Borgo di Sant Antonio market (better known as O Buvero amongst Neapolitans). He learned from his father how to use rulers, pencils and acrylic coulours to make the signs.

To arrive there, you pass by the Renaissance marble arch of Porta Capuana

and walk in the chaotic market Borgo of Sant Antonio

untill you reach a dark alley where on the ground floor Pasquale is hard at work. Recently he has been noticed beyond the markets by shops or simply by people who want to advertise their actvities…and maybe his work will soon become trendy.

While steadily concentrating on his work, he wastes no time as he both writes and talks kindly to those who come to visit him.

When you leave this old post war corner of Napoli and as soon as you go back in the market you realize that there is no stall without one of his signs. He is a Neapolitan star without even knowing it.

  

We all appreciate some street art and graffitti artists (not on monuments and historical buildings!)

and what about using English to express what a UK or US citizen would never understand?

English is the international language and apaprently very trendy on clothing…but maybe in certain cases people should use their own language.

We still find it fabulous, though.

 

                      

 

Naples IS Fabulous

Posted on by alice

You can watch and you can listen to realize that Naples IS Fabulous!

 

Follow the red thread in the Royal Palace

Posted on by alice

The hanging garden of the Royal Palace has been reopened to the public after a long restoration last November.

The Japanese artist Uemon Ikeda (residing in Rome), along with 12 students from the Academy of Fine Arts of Naples, has installed  An Enchanted Garden to the East of the Sun in occcasion of the garden’s reopening. The red wool and silk thread that leads from the courtyard of the Palace through the fabulous marble staircase and the rooms of the Royal Apartment is still present.

   

 

 

We can follow it along the halls displaying the famous and delicate tapestries from the Royal Factory of Naples, the amazing rococò stuccoes decorating some of the ceilings, furniture, paintings and the fabulous doors of the royals.

The thread weaves a connection among art, arhitecture, the flora of the garden and of course the enchanting view of the Bay.

 

 

 

After a tour of the Royal Apartment a coffee at the Gambrinus cafè is mandatory. This 19th c. historical caffetteria is at the corner of via Chiaia and Piazza Plebiscito, in front of the San Carlo Opera House.

Neapolitans stand by the counter to sip the espresso surrunded by the original Liberty Style stuccoes, paintings and decorations.

 

Three fabulous doorways

Posted on by alice

Fiorella: Sometimes I walk in the same streets where I have been so many times and I still appreciate the fabulous details. All the staircases, balconies, walls or portals that you can only find here. Other times I am horrified by illegal remodels or additions.

Alice: Any street that you walk on holds so many surprises. I really love the Neapolitan portals. When I came here many years ago I would get lost looking at the details of seemingly hidden places that had so many stories to tell. There are innumerable incredible doorways in Naples that it is very hard to choose which ones I love most. Let’s try to pick two or three of them.

In a shabby but charming corner of our fabulous Naples Antonio Penne, the secretary of King Ladislao di Durazzo built his palazzo in 1406. Some ashlars of the façade are sculpted with the French lily, symbol of the Royal family, some others show feathers. Penna in Italian means plume, feather so the symbol refers to the name of the family and the role of Antonio Penna as the King’s Secretary. The façade is a mix of central Italian and Catalan style with its depressed arch.

Among the centuries the building was owned by different noblemen, an ecclesiastic order and a volcanologist. More recently it has been purchased by the Regione Campania.

 

What make this building (who desperetly needs restoration) fabulous is the sober, geometric façade. It shows some unexpected symbols and the inscription above the portal carved in what looks like a marble ribbon is especially of note. It is an epigramm by the poet Marziale «QUI DUCIS VULTUS NEC ASPICIS ISTA LIBENTER OMNIBUS INVIDEAS IN-VIDE NEMO TIBI» You who grimace, you poisonous who does not read gladly these verses. May you be jealous of everyone and may no one be of you.  Antonio Penna uses Marziale’s verse to tell passers-by that he knows his beautiful home can generate envy, but envious people are stupid fools to be ignored…

For an unknown reason some unique Neapolitans put ceramic tiles with a similar meaning outside their bassi (street level homes) or shops and, in addition, a horn of good luck. However, facade of their buildings are not so classy though the sentiment still prevails that others can still envy their status. Not so fabulous, but…

Alice: Speaking of fabulous, I would definetly mention the doorway of Palazzo Zevallos.

Fiorella: I am with you darling… In via Toledo at n.185 stands the impressive façade of the 17th c. Palazzo Zevallos Stigliano, commissioned by the Spanish merchant Giovanni Zevallos to Bartolomeo Picchiatti.

Alice: His son Francesco Antonio was an archaeologist, antiquarian and architect and had renovated the church of the Pio Monte della Misericordia. They had good genes!

Fiorella: This is a Palazzo where I always go to admire the very interesting collection of paintings and sculptures, with some emblematic 19th c. examples and of course the indisputed star of the museum, the Martyrdom of Saint Ursula which is known to be the last work by Caravaggio. The palazzo itself is a work of art, but let’s focus only to the portal that impresses all the passers-by.

Zevallos commissioned the building and when he died from the horrendus plague in 1656 his heirs sold it to his financier agent Jan Vandeneynden. Vandeneynden was a merchant and an art dealer. He was close to Flemish artists and restless collectors such as Gaspare Roomer. Thus Palazzo Zevallos housed amazing artworks for two generations of the Vandeneynden family. One of Jan V.’s granddaughters married a Colonna prince of Stigliano thus continuing the amazing role of the residence as a house museum under the Colonna di Stigliano.

The fabulous doorway shows the coat of arms of the Colonna di Stigliano family which had displayed in the residence works by Luca Giordano, Titian, Anton Van Dyck, Poussin and many others and hosted musicians such as Farinelli, Scarlatti and Pergolesi. In the 1830ies one of the Colonna sold the 1st floor to the banker Carlo Forquet who redecorated it with the stuccoes and frescoes that we can still appreciate. By the 1920ies the Banca Commerciale had bought the whole building and run a quite theatrical Art Nouveau renovation of the courtyards and the internal loggias. In 2007 the Palazzo became a museum housing a permanent art collection well displayed in this fabulous architectural framework.

The majestic portal opens these wonders and memories to visitors. It is impressive with its geometric and at the same time eccentric pillars in marble and piperno. They are decorated with diamond-shaped elements and end with two vases. A rich garland and curls in white marble support the crowned coat of arms.

 

There are many other portals which deserve to be mentioned, but in talking about geometry, ashlars and diamond-shaped elements we cannot forget a walk we did in the side streets of Quartiere Sanità. Here we noticed many bizarre balconies and doorways.

One of them-not the craziest-perhaps has the ambition of recalling the façade of Gesù church or the pillars on the sides of Palazzo Zevallos’ portal. Who knows…these are only some of the mysteries of our fabulous city

                            
pillar of Palazzo Zevallos’ portal 
detail of the façade of the Church of Gesù.
Picture by Raffaele Lello Mastroianni                                                                        
                                                                                        

 

 

 

Rococò or roccocò?

Posted on by alice

Fiorella: Christmas is coming and the dilemma is Rococò or roccocò. Why don’t to do both?

Alice: We all know that the Rococo style originated in France in the early 18th century but spread in other European countries such as Austria, Germany and of course Italy. Furniture, porcelain, decorative arts, paintings, stuccoes and architectural elements started to be shaped as asymmetric, curly, gilded or pastel colored: exuberance became the key word.

The world rococo comes from the French rocaille, a shell-covered rock that was used to decorate artificial grottoes.

What does roccocò mean then? It is not soft or light as the rococò 18th c. stuccoes. It’s not popular in the rest of Europe, yet it is really famous in Napoli and there is no Christmas without it!

Fiorella: This biscuit made with almond, honey, candied and Neapolitan pisto (mix of spices such as cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and coriander) was invented in 1320 by the nuns of the Real Convento della Maddalena and was called roccocò for its semi-round but irregular, asymmetryc shape.

 

 

We love to go around Naples at Christmas time and walk through the halls of the Royal PalaceRoyal  to admire the rococò doors and stuccoes,

 

      

 

enter the fabulous church of San Gregorio Armeno to be raptured by the two fabulous, extravagant wooden choir-lofts and then

get some Christmas calories at our beloved Borgo dei Vergini. Here between the tarallificio Poppella and the local gluten-kingdom bakery we can snack on a roccocò while immerging ourselves in the fabulous rococò staircases of Palazzo dello Spagnolo and Sanfelice.

 

 

Once “ai Vergini” how to miss mustacciuoli (or mostaccioli), susamielli or raffiuoli? These are only some of the Christmas sins to be committed.

 

You don’t like sweets? No worries, the choice of savory is just as broad!

 

   

pizza di scarola (escarole pie) and papaccelle (pickled small peppers)

 

baccalà fritto (deep fried codfish)

 

 

 

Sant’Anna dei Lombardi – A gem in the heart of Napoli

Posted on by alice

Fiorella: Don’t you love that fabulous gem in the heart of Naples, near Piazza Monteoliveto?

Alice: I do! Honestly, I just discovered how amazing this place was last year. I think our readers would love Sant’Anna dei Lombardi as well. Tell us about it!  

The church and the monastery of Monteoliveto were founded in 1411 by the Protonotary of King Ladislao of Durazzo. The name was changed into Sant’Anna dei Lombardi, when the Lombardi Confraternity was transferred here at the beginning of the 19th century after their church had been demolished after an earthquake.

This religious complex was beloved by the Aragonese Kings, in particular by King Alfonso II.

Thanks to the relationship the Aragonese had with the Medici and the Estensi families, some talented artists from Tuscany and Emilia worked on this structure.

In 1475 the Florentine Antonio Rossellino was entrusted with the the sepulcher for Maria of Aragon, daughter of King Ferrante and wife of the duke of Amalfi Antonio Piccolomini. The elegant monument was completed by Benedetto da Maiano.

The softly carved Nativity on the altar and the putti with garlands are delicate details one can appreciate in this fabulous Renaissance chapel.

In the 16th century Monteoliveto was enriched with many other masterpieces such as the marble altars by the local artists Girolamo Santacroce and Giovanni da Nola at both sides of the entrance.

To the right of the apse is a room with the fluid frescoes by the Spanish Pedro Rubiales (16th century) and the fabulous and theatrical terracotta group of the Lamentation over the dead Christ by Guido Mazzoni from Modena (1492).

Alice: I always loved the facade and although I had walked by this building so many times, rushing to lessons near Piazza Carità or to meet friends in Piazza del Gesù and it wasn’t until I went to a choir concert here last year that I actually saw the incredible beauty from the inside. Incredible.

Fiorella: Did you see the Sacristy? Once the Refectory, it might possibly be the highlight of the church. Look at the fabulous wooden stalls by the monk Giovanni da Verona with intricate prospectives, musical instruments, animals and lovely small statues brought to life with unusual clothing!

The paintings frescoed in the vault by Giorgio Vasari (in Naples between 1544 and 1545) with virtues, allegories and grotesques dominate the room and you cannot forget it once you take it in.

Alice: Those frescoes are unforgettable.

 

Fiorella: And before you leave the church, notice the sepulcher on the left hand side of the pronao. Here rests the architect Domenico Fontana who died in 1607. The monument was moved here from the church of Sant’Anna dei Lombardi.

Alice: After spending your time taking in the details of this masterpiece of a church, you might get hungry. Actually, I definitely am.

Fiorella: You fed your eyes so it is time to feed the stomach.

Alice: You are so good to me, Fiorella! But, I am not feeling a sfogliatella today and it is too early for a meal…

Fiorella: If you want a savory snack go for a potato croquette or a panino napoletano (a soft dough with cheese and cured meat) in the pizzeria Giuliano in Calata Trinità Maggiore, only a few minutes from here. And since you love the Neapolitan panino, I can give you the recipe I like.

Alice: Dangerously fabulous. Yes, please.

Fiorella: The recipe is for no more than five panini -to be shared with your friends or family. Don’t go overboard, I know how much you love these and you need to save room for dinner.

Alice: Fabulousness has no limits, Fiorella!

 

Ingredients for 5 panini napoletani:

20 gr of flour, type “0” or “00”

50 gr water

50 gr milk

6 gr bread yeast

1 spoonful of lard (if you want to go old school-traditional) or butter/margarine/shortening (for a little lighter option)

Salt

10 gr of Parmesan cheese

40 gr of pancetta (or bacon if you can’t find pancetta)

40 gr of ham

80 gr of provolone

Pepper (feel free to put a lot)

Oil

Dissolve the yeast in water and warm (tepid) milk and slowly add the flour.

Lovingly mix the salt, pepper and lard until the dough is soft and elastic without lumps of flour.

Let the dough rest for two hours, covered by a slightly damp cloth.

Roll out the dough with your hands or a rolling pin to about 3 mm of thickness.

Press the pieces of ham, pancetta, and provolone into the dough and add the Parmeasan.

Loosely roll up the dough in order to form a roll and cut it into slices of about three fingers width.

Place the panini napoletani on a greased cookie sheet, cover them again and let them rise for two hours.

Once they have proofed, cook them in an oven preheated to 180°C for roughly 20 minutes.

 

And you can also prepare a vegetarian version with margarine instead of lard and eggplants, peppers or friarielli instead of cured meat …not traditional but still fabulous!

RIA ROSA: A FABULOUS NEAPOLITAN CHARACTER

Posted on by alice
Fiorella: Alice I know that you are a big fan of varietà theatre and that you also studied all of the theatres of Naples. Haven’t you also done researches on cafè chantant which inspired your performances? It is a world which isn’t that well known as an important facet of the life and culture of Naples.
You, an American in Naples, you made me fall in love with my compatriot Ria Rosa!
Alice: It is seriously a joy to share with those reading a little about the biography of a woman so revolutionary and ironic!
Historically, Naples is a city of  theatre, music and film: it has the oldest Opera House in Europe which was opened here in 1737. Did you know that Enrico Caruso was from Naples?
More recently Pino Daniele, beloved in all of Italy composed blues songs in Neapolitan dialect. You cannot forget about the actors such as Vittorio De Sica, Totò, Sofia Loren among others who are etched in the fabric of this dramatic city.
Many say that Naples is a stage. You hear the notes it in the voices of those selling fish in the morning, in the calls of the lemon granita vendors on Via Dei Tribunali, on the street corners with buskers playing music from all over the world, in the piazzas full of performances of every type and the way people tell a story to their best friend over coffee.
A few years ago I had an opportunity to spend a summer researching women in theatre and music during Naples heyday at the Fondo De Mura in Castel Nuovo (Maschio Angioino).
The Belle Epoque with the Festival of Piedigrotta, Salone Margherita and a pervasive culture of performance produced exceptional writers, actors, dancers and musicians but there was one woman who I came across, Ria Rosa (Maria Rosaria Liberti), who changed the
face of the traditional Neapolitan song. I had to put her song “Preferisco il ‘900” (I prefere the 20th century) in my show which she wrote in Neapolitan the early 30’s in New York.
New York is the city where she settled after doing a tour there in her early 20’s:
My boyfriend is not modern, he prefers the 19 th century. Instead, I like the 20 th century
Every day I get so angry!
This girdle needs to be loosened, it is such a waste of time
Lipstick, cigarettes, men’s trousers… he doesn’t want to see any of it, he would rather die!
Instead, I want to do all of those things just to spite him
I want to smoke, I want to wear lipstick on my lips!  What’s wrong with that?
I want to go walking in the sand of Coroglio Beach, I love the smell of the beach there!

Coroglio Beach     

Il mio fidanzato non é moderno, gli piace l’Ottocento, a me invece piace il Novecento e tutti i giorni mi devo intossicare (arrabbiare).
Il corpetto va allacciato, questo spreco non mi piace. Il rossetto, la sigaretta, i pantaloni alla maschietto… non vuole vedere nulla di questo. Che lo possano ammazzare!
E io invece per dispetto lo voglio fare. Voglio fumare e il rosso sulle labbra voglio vedere! Che male c’è?
Sulla spiaggia di Coroglio mene vado a passeggiare. Sulla sabbia, sugli scogli ma che odore che ci sta.
She went to New York and never looked back. In a world dominated by male composers, agents and producers, she was one of the only women to write and perform her own songs. In contrast to the other songs of immigration, love and family being performed by others who had left the home country, she chose not to adhere to the traditional themes of that time and penned lyrics with social and political importance.
One of the best things about her music is that she never lost the roots of her native Napoli. Not only are the songs in the Neapolitan dialect, they are full of details about the streets, the people and the landscape of the city. Fabulous!
Today when I perform the song, charged with irony and humor but the honesty of having to fight for the freedom of expression, I try to think of all of the courage it took to leave her country and blaze a path for other female performs to come after her.
When Igo to Coroglio beach, a place where music echoes on the water all night at the clubs dotting the coastline, I think of Ria Rosa in New York, imagining herself in trousers, walking unaccompanied in the sand, cigarette in hand and the reddest of lipstick on her.