Street food in Naples: the fried food of traditional Neapolitan cuisine

Street food in Naples is an institution, walking around the city is a real attack on your figure: the places where you can buy delicious food at any time of day are more numerous than the stars in the sky and resisting the temptation to try food while walking is such impossible. The actual queen of Neapolitan street food is frying, used to prepare both sweet and savory foods, for mouth-watering specialties! Come with us on a journey to discover the most authentic flavors of the Neapolitan capital.

In Naples you eat good and you know it. Citizens take great pride in letting non locals try their specialties, organizing real food tours. For these "foodie" itineraries you don't have to spend a fortune, nor go to the most prominent restaurants in the capital of Campania, but just take a tour of the kings of street food: you will never want to leave! In this article you will find some small suggestions on the foods you absolutely must try. Password: fried!

The fried pizzetta is the alternative to the classic pizza wallet, if you are a real glutton and you are not afraid of gaining weight! In Naples, especially in the historic center, walking through the characteristic streets, you will certainly come across many kiosks expert in this type of preparation. Fried pizza has the shape of a small calzone and can have various fillings, starting from the simplest one made of ricotta cheese and pepper. There are also versions having the famous pork cracklings, and possibly the addition of tomato. Eating fried pizza while walking around the city is a priceless joy, no matter which filling you prefer, it will be an unforgettable experience.

The real king of Neapolitan fried food is the cuoppo, consisting of a conical wrapper containing the most incredible delicacies you can think of. The cuoppo exists in two variants, the "land" one and “of sea”. The mythical cuoppo is not only a street food product, but it is also often prepared in pizzerias and restaurants, as a light appetizer to be followed by the main courses. However, when you are quite hungry after having taken a walk around the city, or after having visited one of the cultural places and museums Naples is rich in, cuoppo could be a quick dinner that will overwhelm you with taste and fill you with the energy needed to take part in the evening movida. In the cuoppo of land can not miss: potato crocché stuffed with cheese and ham, zeppole of grown pasta, the famous fried pizzette known as montanare, zucchini flowers stuffed with ricotta and fried, the legendary scagliuozz, pieces of fried polenta in the shape of a triangle, arancini rice. In the sea cuoppo instead cannot miss squid and shrimp rings, seaweed fritters and various fried fishes, of which perhaps the most famous are the so called fravaglietti, that is the fried mullet fragaglia.

After having tasted arancini, fried pizzas, montanarine and zucchini flowers, it is impossible to leave aside one of the most simple and good sweets that Neapolitan cooking has given us: graffa, a kind of fried fluffy donut covered with granulated sugar. The origin of graffa is probably to be traced back to the period of Austrian domination in Naples, as a Neapolitan version of krapfen. This cake is mainly associated to the period of carnival, even though in Naples it is now the staple of breakfast at the bar all year round. The basic ingredient of graffe is potato, although there are lighter versions prepared without it. Graffas are also made in mini version, for those who just cannot face guilt and prefer to opt for a more minimal version.