I’m a fan of food tours—they’re a great way to taste a city’s specialties, hear about places to eat and learn some background. For me, they’re also a testing as well as tasting ground; my personal food tour rule is “if they serve it, I eat it, even if I wouldn’t go near it otherwise.”
But, back to the one we took in Naples last summer. If you happen to be in Naples, do it—I’ll include a link later. I’ve been on dozens of food tours, but no guide has combined knowledge, sass, friendliness and care as Valeria did. If you take the tour, ask for her!
The tour was unusual in another way, too: on most tours, even ones that focus on markets, the stops are in restaurants, cafes and the like—but this one was billed as an “authentic Naples street food” tour, and it was. The food selections were a good variety, and different from some other tours because it focused on casual street food, rather than cuisine.
We ate, as people do with street food, on the street. At each stop and along the way Valeria briefed us on the neighborhood and food history… with a little extra spice. And, at times, we had to dodge and weave: the historic Spaccanapoli quarter is crowded between its residents and hordes of visitors.
Street food may be quickly available and suitable for grab-and-go, but as this wall art demonstrates, in Naples it’s not fast food!
At a shop that specializes in prosciutto and country-made mozzarella di buffalo, we had a variety of treats, including, of course, the prosciutto and mozzarella, and also olives, tarella and spiced and cured vegetables.
“Vico del Fico al Purgatorio” translates to “Fig Tree Alley to Purgatory.” I’ve yet to find a reason for the name, but not to worry. It’s only one of four names it’s gone by over the centuries. The bust of Pulcinella, a figure from traditional puppet theater, was added in 2012, and you can easily see that rubbing its nose has quickly become a tradition.
A lot of Neapolitan street food is fried; Valeria said that became even more common after World War II when fuel for ovens was in short supply. Whether that’s true or not, ‘pizza fritta,’ or fried pizza, is a big thing locally. It’s basically pizza dough wrapped around what would normally be on top of the pizza. In reality, it’s a calzone that’s been fried instead of baked. And delicious!
Of course, there was also ‘regular’ pizza—but as if that weren’t enough, there was more in store.
Another local treat: this time the filling includes meat, tomato, pasta, and occasionally a frite.
This display of goodies and bizarre neon beverages was not ours; it was on offer at a sidewalk restaurant. But we had a neon beverage of our own: A very potent limoncello.
I always try to remember to take pictures on the tour, and to take them before demolishing the samples. Sometimes, though, greed overcomes duty, and only the remnants of dessert remain for their portrait. Sorry, not sorry!
Nuts and Bolts
We booked the tour through Viator, which acts as agents for local tour companies. They’re a good bet because it’s a one-stop shop and you’re paying a known entity. However, Viator doesn’t know which guide will be working which day. The tour operator, Raphael Tours & Events can be reached at [email protected]. Since Viator is quite flexible about date and time changes, it might be possible to find out from them when Valeria is leading the tour and switching your reservation if needed. The Viator link for the tour is Authentic Naples Street Food Tour With Local Expert Guide
