This afternoon we joined a group to try authentic Italian food in Naples. Our group included visitors from Germany and Greece and the four of us from Australia. The streets are full of people shopping or drinking coffee on the side of the road. First we tried biscuits which they found a recipe for with limited ingredients because at that time the second world war had just ended. It tasted good but it was a bit hard for my liking. After that we walked to a place where a special type of pizza was invented; when people finished shopping they stopped by this shop to get drinks and fried pizza. The fried pizza tasted pretty good even though it was just filled with tomato sauce. Then we headed to one of the first restaurants that made the dish the world knows as pizza. It turns out that authentic pizza doesn’t have many toppings and only uses garlic, black pepper, tomatoes and origano. Also the pizza base is not thick like we see everywhere else. If they want to add vegetables, perhaps they add a little broccoli. We ordered two kinds of authentic Neapolitan pizza – the marinara and margherita which were very delicious. Continuing the journey we went to the first cafe in Naples. The building is very beautiful and big. Apparently Italians socialize by drinking coffee, and drink it while standing. We found out that generally they only drink cappuccino in the morning, and after 11 am they drink expresso.

The final spot on the local food tour was for dessert at the “Moreno” cafe. Here we have to be careful, because last night we saw bread that was shaped like a mushroom & served with syrup, and this bread is made with alcohol; it was a dish originally from Poland. We can’t eat it. This bread can be seen everywhere. So here we chose a croissant filled with custard & fruit. We can also see this everywhere in Naples and this type of croasant is quite hard. I prefer a more softer croissant. Because it was already evening and our stomachs were full, we ended the food safari and headed back to the hotel; the previously busy streets looked deserted and the shops were closed.

Sore ini kami bergabung dengan group untuk mencoba makanan-makanan asli Italy. Group kami ada yang dari German, ada yang dari Greek, dan termasuk kami berempat dari Australia. Saat ini jalanan penuh dengan orang-orang berbelanja atau yang suka ngoni-ngopi dipinggir-pinggir jalan. Pertama-tama kami mencoba biskwit yang mereka temukan resepnya dengan bahan terbatas karena saat itu baru saja habis perang dunia kedua. Rasanya lumayan tetapi buatku sedikit agak keras. Sesudah itu kami berjalan ketempat asal mula ditemukan pizza . Cerita yang kami dengar, ketika orang-orang habis berbelanja mereka mampir ketoko ini untuk memberi minuman dan pizza goreng. Rasanya lumayan enak hanya di isi dengan saus tomat. Lalu kami menuju ke restauran pertama yang membuat pizza asli. Ternyata pizza yang asli itu tidak banyak toppingnya dan hanya menggunakan bawang putih, lada hitam,tomat dan origano. Juga base pizza tidak tebal seperti yg kita lihat dimana-mana. Kalau mereka mau tambahkan sayuran hanya sedikit saja dari brocoli. Kami memesan dua macam pizza yang asli ini – marinara dan margherita yang sangat, sangat lezat. Melanjutkan perjalanan lagi menuju cafe pertama di Naples. Gedungnya sangat indah dan besar. Rupanya orang Italy bersosialisasi dengan mengopi, dan meminumnya sambil berdiri. Juga baru aku tau umumnya mereka minum cappuccino hanya waktu pagi, setelah jam 11 pagi mereka minum espresso.

Tujuan terakhir dari mengenali makanan lokal adalah sweet atau dessert.Tibalah kami di cafe “Moreno”. Disini kita harus ber hati-hati karena ada semalam roti yang berbentuk mushroom dan dituangi syrup, roti ini dibuat dengan alkohol, asalnya dari Poland. Jadi kita tidak bisa menkonsumsinya. Roti ini terlihat dijual dimana-mana. Jadi disini kami memilih croissant yang diisi dengan custard dan buah. Ini juga bisa kita liat dimana-mana; croissant jenis ini agak keras. Aku lebih suka croissant yang empuk. Karena hari sudah malam dan perut kami juga sudah kenyang kami akhiri food safari ini. Kembali ke hotel. Jalanan yang tadinya ramai terlihat sepi dan toko-toko pun sudah tutup.