Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm off to Tuscany on a self-made Etruscan tour, so no post this week. My tour will include a visit to at least three of the 'Dodecapoli' cities of the ancient world: Cerveteri, Tarquinia, and Orvieto. The Etruscans had extensive contacts with the Greeks of the Campania region, in particular Cuma while it was still an emporium. We'll see what I find!

Neapolitan Flip-Over Coffee Pot

Offering a cup of coffee to guests in your home is essential to Neapolitan culture. For any warm gathering, Neapolitans have their own coffee pot known as the macchinetta Napoletana.

The Napoletana was actually invented by a French tinsmith in 1819.  Not much is known about its history beyond that, including when it was introduced to Italy.  But in 1946 Eduardo De Filippo (who published thirty-nine plays and acted beside Sophia Loren in the 1954 classic L'oro di Napoli) turned the coffee pot into a Neapolitan original in his comedy Questi Fantasmi or Three Ghosts.

In the movie, Filippo sits at the balcony, presumably already having boiled the water and flipped the caffetteria napoletana over. He then waits while the water drips down through the filter and into the second pot.  Pretending to talk with a professor neighbor, he explains that a paper cone put over the spout is essential.  This keeps the aromas from escaping.

In the 1970’s, Alessi asked the Neapolitan architect, Riccardo Dalisi, to create a new version of the Neapolitan Flip-Over Coffee Pot.  After roaming for many years through junk dealers and tin-smith shops, Dalisi’s design ended up winning the Golden Compass, the most prestigious Italian industrial design award.

Today, the neapolitana isn’t used in households as much as the moka.  Mostly, it’s sold by souvenir shops as a distinctly Neapolitan trinket.  Still, I have one at home and think it makes a divine cup of semi-sweet coffee.  The tin pot can only be found in Campania and costs a mere 10 Euro, piu o meno.

The silent video below features my born-and-bred Neapolitan, Massimo Rossi, whose father in his younger days was a barista. Massimo demonstrates how to make the coffee by first taking apart the coffee pot parts -- a top, two pots, and a filter.

First, take the top pot and fill it with water. Next, add fine grinds to the filter and place it inside the water. Add the second pot to the top. (The pot then looks upside-down to the picture above.) Place the pot on the stove and let boil. Here's the first catch: once the macchinetta napoletana is on the stove, you can never see the water boiling. Instead, you must decide this intuitively.

When the water is ready, take the coffee pot off the stove and flip it over. This is both art and skill. In the video, Massimo makes it look easy. I tried this once and the boiling water ended up all over the floor.

When the macchinetta napoletana is flipped, the pot with the spout will then be on the bottom (and will look like the picture above). The water from the top pot slowly drips through the filter. Again, you will have to know intuitively when all the water has drained to the bottom.

In keeping with Neapolitan tradition, Massimo demonstrates how to make this in an everyday kitchen where frenetic activity, including other cooking is taking place. (The video is silent because a party that includes high-pitched children takes place in the background.)

When the coffee is finished, heaping spoonfuls of sugar are stirred into the cups. 

Saint Restituta

Nook of Naples: Il Duomo is one of the primary destinations for any Naples visitor. The patron saint of the city, San Gennaro, is buried here and his blood is kept in an ampoule in a side niche. But, in search of an odious woman, Il Duomo also pays tribute to Santa Restituta.

Not much is known about her life, except that she was born in North Africa near Carthage and was killed during the Christian persecutions there. Although some believe that San Gaudioso brought her remains to Naples, the colorful legends surrounding Restituta make her odious.

In 304, during the reign of Emperor Diocletian, a large number of Christians continued to gather in the city of Abitina to celebrate the Eucharist. Fifty of them, including Restituta, were caught, arrested, and dragged in chains to Carthage. There, they were sentenced to death.

Legend has it that Restituta was tortured and then placed in a blazing boat, but her body was left unharmed by the fire. Her boat landed on the shores of Ischia where a Christian woman named Lucina walked along the beach and found the incorrupt body of Restituta, who was now dead. (Still today the Festival of Restituta is celebrated on the island of Ischia every May 16-18 and a church in her name also exists there.)

At The Naples Cathedral (or Il Duomo), an opulent nave is dedicated to the saint. Tucked away beyond it, the Duomo itself was built upon the remnants of a paleo-Christian basilica from the 500's A.D. The older basilica was dedicated to Santa Restituta. Today, you must pay to get into this cool one-room vestige where a bulbous dome sparkles with badly damaged Byzantine tiles and a fresco of Restituta remains in tact against the wall.

The stereotype of women in Naples seems to be that they are expected to be mothers who raise children, remain mostly inside the home, and stay obedient to their husbands. But the large number of female images within the Catholic Churches throughout the city point to another side of women's roles in Neapolitan history. In fact, Naples has over fifty official patron saints, at least twelve of whom are women. Restituta presents a marvelous example of an African woman who stood up for her beliefs and made a strong political statement for her time. Consequently, she was brutally killed, only to be admired centuries later for her courage.

To that, I say -- Amen.

Getting There: Il Duomo is in the heart of downtown Naples at Via Duomo 147. If you go by Metro, take the Piazza Cavour exit, walk in the opposite direction from the National Archeological Museum, and then take a right into Via Duomo. The National Church is a few blocks down.

All Saint's Day

Buoni Tutti i Santi!

In honor of the day, Naples naturally has a street named after it:

Castel Nuovo

Nook of Naples: Castel Nuovo (also known a Maschio Angioino) towers over the port in downtown Naples. Charles I of Anjou ordered its construction, which began in 1279. He called it the New Castle to distinguish the palace from the older Castel Capuano and Castel dell'Ovo. During the reign of Robert of Anjou, the castle became a center of culture, hosting artists, physicians and writers, including Petrarch and Boccaccio. Throughout the centuries, the castle underwent many renovations. Today it has a trapezoidal plan made up of tufo stone walls with five cylindrical towers.

To understand the history of Naples is to know that after the fall of the Roman empire, the region didn't have a national identity, but rather was owned by many foreign monarchs, including the Normans, the Spanish, the Austrian Habsburgs, and the Bourbon French. The two most notable influences on Naples today continue to be the Spanish and Bourbons. (I'll give a Bourbon tour of the city in a couple of months).

Spanish rule, beginning at the time of the Italian Renaissance, spanned almost three hundred years and Castel Nuovo remains a strong reminder of this illustrious period. In 1422 King Alfonso I moved his capital from Barcelona to Naples and renamed this part of his region'The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.' While he retained Spanish customs, traditions, and language, Alfonso also supported the arts, the philosophical movement of humanism, and building projects within Naples. The nobility also at this time rediscovered the ancient city center and built palaces within the still famous Spaccanapoli (Spanish Quarter) of the city.

Under Alfonso and thereafter the Argonese dynasty, Naples became a metropolis larger than Paris and by far the largest city in Italy. He also made renovations to Castle Nuovo and took up residence here.

Wandering inside the castle, one first enters the grand courtyard. Going up the stairs, the Baron's Hall touts a dome vaulted ceiling and noble seating. The room is so-called because in 1486 the barons plotted against Ferrante I of Aragon, but were arrested in this space instead after being invited by the king to celebrate his grand daughter's marriage. The hall is still used today for City Council meetings.

Ancient ruins have also been found underneath the castle and you can walk through the Armory Hall where the floor is made of glass. Beneath your feet, you can view rubble that might have been the swimming pool or a canal of a Roman villa.

There's so much to explore inside here, including wonderful Renaissance period frescos. And again, taking children along means letting go of a little history to search for the centuries worth of spirits that still linger all around.

Don't forget to look for this bronze door at the Museo Civico, which still has the cannon ball inside it.  This is the original 15th century door of the castle, which was taken as war booty by the French and then later returned.

Food Website Recommendation: If you're interested in what Italians used to eat during medieval times, check out the Medieval Italian Recipes.