Rococò or roccocò?

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 18^th 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)