Feb 12

Feb 12 A Guide to the Amalfi Coast and Beyond

Amalfi Coast Travel, Naples Travel, Sorrento Travel

Most of the visitors to our little region of Italy, technically referred to as the Region of Campania, blow through Naples on their way to the Amalfi Coast. The Region of Campania actually consists of five provinces Naples, Salerno, Avellino, Caserta and Benevento. The Amalfi Coast is in the Province of Salerno. The Gulf of Sorrento and Capri are in the Province of Naples. It is important to remember that culturally, historically, geographically and even linguistically and culinarily the Amalfi Coast and the Gulf of Sorrento are two distinct regions. Many like to think of Sorrento as the gateway to the Amalfi Coast. Fair enough, it is certainly a convenient and less expensive place to stay and use as a home base when exploring the towns of the Amalfi Coast.

Jan 23

Jan 23 Top Ten Trattorias of Naples

Kristin Melia

Dining Guides, Naples Travel

Trattoria, osteria, ristorante….. where to start? And more importantly what is the difference? A trattoria, like an osteria, serves simple, rustic food. Unlike a ristorante, a trattoria features a limited menu, often scrawled on a chalkboard or haphazardly scribbled on A4 paper and photocopied. But thoughtless, trattorias are not. These are establishments of cucina povera and if you hope to eat like a local while in Italy and do not happen to have an Italian nonna, then this where you want to spend you feeding time. Naples particularly has some of the best trattorias of Italy. Waves of tourism that have radically changed the restaurant industry in the rest of Italy (and not in a good way), have left Naples relatively untouched (for now). It is still possible to sit at a communal table, eat a hearty plate of pasta and enjoy a carafe of local wine for 10 euros. Below are Sauced & Found’s favorite trattorias in Bella Napoli. Some of these places have weird hours so always check hours first!

Jan 10

Jan 10 The Foods of Ferrante

Kristin Melia

Dining Guides, Naples Travel

The international press has been obsessed with Elena Ferrante in ways the local Neapolitan press never have been. Some people think they have unveiled her true identity. Some people think she is a man. Many people love the books. Most Neapolitans have either never read them or vehemently despise them. The reason for this is varied- just as the town of Naples is varied- something that gets lost in the books themselves. Neapolitans almost unanimously agree that Ferrante writes like someone who has left Naples- particularly the brutal post-war periphery of Naples that was as chauvinist as it was bleak. There is no subtlety or dimension to this portrait of Naples. It is simply a place of violence that one must silently endure or boldly escape.

Dec 18

Dec 18 A Christmas Walking Tour of Naples

Kristin Melia

Italian Holiday Guides

We can’t all spend Christmas in the best city in the world- and by that I mean Naples. Naples at Christmas is baroque. It is sensual. It smells like salted cod and tastes like cinnamon and almonds. The intricate nativity scenes for which Naples is famous may not accurately depict the birth of Jesus (pretty sure the magi were not there on the same night JC gasped his first breath) but they most assuredly capture the spirit of everyday life in Naples. In fact if you are in New York, you can visit a Neapolitan nativity at the Met this year. But if you are in Naples or feel like imagining you are, follow this simple Christmas walking guide, to experience the frenetic energy that is Napoli at Christmas. Follow the Sauced & Found google map above to stay on course.

Dec 12

Dec 12 A Guide to Christmas Fish in Naples

Kristin Melia

Italian Holiday Guides

Christmas Eve is a fish lovers dream across the South of Italy. In the days leading up to the holiday, fish markets across Naples work over time to keep up with demand. There are many nouveau preparations of old favorites. But classics are classics for a reason. Below is a by no means exhaustive guide to Neapolitan Christmas fish and their simple preparations!

Dec 5

Dec 5 The Advent in Naples

Kristin Melia

Italian Holiday Guides, Naples Travel

Italy is ostensibly Catholic. We check liturgical calendars before leaving the house to determine what saint day it is and whether we need to wish a friend a congratulatory ‘auguri’ on any given day. Everyday is someone’s saint day after all, and some people even get to have more than one. Each day has a saint and each saint has a sweet. And while one can quibble as to how devout your average Italian is, the Advent season is without a doubt nationally celebrated occasion. But what is the Advent and what does it mean to the everyday Italian?

Dec 1

Dec 1 How to Cook Pasta

Kristin Melia

Cooking Guides

I did not know the first thing about making pasta. In the not so distant past, I often boiled pasta to oblivion and then left it in the cooling water before draining it in a colander because I was simply too busy doing something else- something important like watching Netflix or reading US Weekly magazine. Many often think of pasta as a kind of last resort meal alternative to ordering take-out. Boil water, throw in pasta and then throw whatever is in fridge together and eat- preferably standing up while simultaneously clicking away on phone, watching Netflix and posting solipsistic photos on Instagram. Pasta really can be that easy to make. And it definitely is a viable and potentially healthful alternative to freebasing Uber Eats. It also can be incredibly elegant and infinitely more satisfying when following a few essential chronological cooking tips towards making the perfect plate of pasta.

Nov 24

Nov 24 Five Christmas Traditions in Naples

Kristin Melia

Naples Travel, Italian Holiday Guides

The holiday season is a magical time in Southern Italy. Confectionaries and nativity scenes beseech even the grinches among us to join in all the merriment. At the very least we don’t have to listen to Grandma Got Ran Over By a Reindeer and Feliz Navidad no less than 2,000 times until the Rose Bowl. Although in Italy you can also expect to here John Lennon belting And So Merry Christmas in the middle of July. In honor of the holiday season, below are five indispensible Neapolitan Christmas traditions. If you can’t make it here for Christmas, you can think of us as you enjoy another slog of Eggnog-which by the way- try explaining that one to the average Neapolitan!

Sep 22

Sep 22 Top Five Gelaterias in Napoli

Kristin Melia

Dining Guides, Naples Travel

While the sfogliatella pastry and pastiera pie may be the undisputed kings of Neapolitan dolce, gelato will always remaining an admirable favorite. With warm weather still going strong as we launch into fall, the gelato shops of Napoli remain humming with activity. And what better way to spend a Neapolitan Sunday afternoon than with a constitutional stroll with a constitutional cone in hand. Below are Sauced & Found’s selections for the top five gelaterias in Napoli.

Sep 6

Sep 6 A Guide to Limoncello !

Kristin Melia

Dining Guides

It’s a calm summer night on a terrace overlooking the Gulf of Sorrento. You have eaten a lot—too much really. Bruschetta, smoked provolone, oregano studded olives, bubbling eggplant parmesan, Gragnano pasta shells stuffed with salted cod and wild parsley and baked to a crisp gratin. Those were only the first two courses. The main course of Branzino stewed acqua pazza style in Vesuvian tomatoes and garlic puts you over the edge. Then dessert arrives- a crostata of plump boozy apricots and vibrant mint leaves. You are stuffed, finished, finito- but somehow your stomach defies its limits and the laws of gravity. You eat that sublime slice of tart. Just as you are wishing you wore those stretchy pants, out of the corner of your eye you spot a tray approaching. Chilled ceramic glasses and a bottle of electric yellow nectar materialize. Dinner is not over yet. The digestive has arrived. And it is limoncello.

Aug 6

Aug 6 Ten Amalfi Coast Summer Foods

Kristin Melia

Amalfi Coast Travel, Dining Guides

So many foods to sample in this most spectacular region of the world. While the views alone are worth the trip- it is the food that makes you yearn to return.

May 16

May 16 Top Ten Pizzerias in Naples

Kristin Melia

Naples Travel, Dining Guides

Let’s get one thing straight ragazzi- pizza is just one of the MANY iconic dishes that Naples offers. Still no trip to Bella Napoli is complete without it. The original Neapolitan pizzas are the simple Marinara of San Marzano tomato sauce, oregano and garlic or the Margherita of tomato sauce, mozzarella or fiori di latte cheese and basil. The secret to enjoying a good pizza is to keep it simple. And for the love of God, don’t drive the pizzaioli of Naples crazy by trying to customize your f*cking order. Order what is one the menu and basta!

May 13

May 13 Top Five Thermal Spas of Ischia

Kristin Melia

Ischia Travel

Since when the Greeks arrived on Ischia about 3,000 years ago, the Island has been highly prized for her volcanic waters. The Romans created thermal baths in grottos here cleverly pumping bubbling naturally hot water into cavernous rock saunas. After both world wars, veterans came to Ischia seeking rest and relaxation. Today, the island’s famous thermal baths feature fresh and saltwater pools as well as water and mud treatments of every type imaginable. That is not to mention access to the best water therapy there is- the beach! Below you will find my top five thermal parks on Ischia.

Feb 26

Feb 26 How to Get to the Amalfi Coast (and not go completely crazy…)

Kristin Melia

Amalfi Coast Travel

Let me tell you a little story about my first journey to the Amalfi Coast. My friend met me in Rome. Easy enough. We stayed two nights. Did our thing- Spanish Steps, Vatican, Trastevere. Drank too much Frascati, woke up one morning hungover and it was time to take the train to Naples and continue onward to the Amalfi Coast. Feeling plucky, we decided to take the Freccia Rossa high speed train. We had tramezzini sandwiches and little bottles of prosecco to wag a hair out of the dog or whatever it is they say about drinking more alcohol to cure drinking too much of it. In spite of the fact that we seemed to be approaching our upcoming holiday with the same mental fortitude as a harem of spring breakers in Panama City, I was feeling pretty good about how the day was going.

Feb 25

Feb 25 Ribollita

Kristin Melia

Recipes

Tuscan and Neapolitan cuisine are natural cousins. Both hark back to days of poverty in their use humble, oft-discarded ingredients. Both feature beans prominently. Both do weird things with offal, although that is true for nearly every Italian region. Nowhere is the cucina povera link more apparent then with the peasant dish of ribollita. Literally meaning, re-boiled, ribollita utilizes a mish-mash of ingredients that may have found their fates in rubbish bins were in not for the ingenuity of Tuscan home cooks in leaner times. The most compelling use of an otherwise discarded food would of course be stale bread. Every region in Italy has its own take on stale bread usage. This Tuscan version is among the most famous abroad. Strangely a bastard cousin of ribollita is often called Tuscan White Bean Soup on generic restaurant menus in the United States The resulting dish is a flaccid and less nutritious version of the original and oddly includes entirely too much pancetta. Ribollita it is not.

Feb 24

Feb 24 Top Ten Cafés in Naples

Kristin Melia

Dining Guides, Naples Travel

You have to try hard not to drink good coffee in Naples. Every neighborhood bar is a window into the vivacity of that sliver of Neapolitan territory. The first thing I do every morning after rolling out of bed and making myself look generally presentable (locals might argue that lululemon pants and crocs do not qualify as presentable Napoli- and who am I to quibble) is head to the bar across the street from my house. I go for the company. The invasive inquiries into my personal life. The exchange of hyper local recipes and even more hyper local gossip. This is the bar where I start my day. Twelve hours later, I will also end my day here with a spritz or a gingerino and a complex discussion of what was for lunch and what will be for dinner and how I will spend my Easter and whether I will make or buy my pastiera. It may only be February, and yet this is the idle chatter heard in Neapolitan bars everyday across the city. To know Napoli is to know her bars. Below are the most iconic.

Feb 20

Feb 20 How to Order Coffee in Italy

Kristin Melia

Dining Guides

There is a generous degree of debate regarding who has the best coffee in Italy. Neapolitans will unfailingly boast that ours is the best coffee in the world. I agree with that assessment. But I am also biased. As a rule, the coffee of the South is earthier and more full bodied. As you move up the boot, coffee brands change. In Naples Kimbo is King. In Rome you find a lot of Lavazza. Trieste is home to Illy. The brand you use at home says a lot about your allegiances so never give a Neapolitan a gift of Illy coffee. This will be unapologetically offensive. I did this once so I should know. After learning that I was supposed to take coffee and sugar to a dead relative’s family to commemorate a death-o-versary, I took Illy, thinking it posh. Let’s just say I made them all forget the somber occasion of the day.

Feb 14

Feb 14 In Defense of ITALIAN Food: Ten Commandments

Kristin Melia

Dining Guides

When I lived in America, I always secretly harbored this idea that dried pasta was intrinsically inferior to fresh pasta. Maybe it was the Calvinist in me that maintained anything that requires more work is naturally better. I also perhaps romantically believed that all Italians made all things by hand- and by extension that all Italian food was the same. In the 1990s, regional Italian food was largely non-existent in the United States. Even New York, bastion of Italian-American cookery was largely void of regional Italian cuisine. Fine dining chefs served exotic dishes like vitello tonnato (which I never really liked or understood) on the same menus that offered ribollita. The former is from the Piedmont and has some suspicious origins in French Savoy; the latter is a fine example of Tuscan Cucina Povera. Call me a zealot, but those two dishes should never be on the same menu together. It is offensively blasphemous. Unless maybe you are Massimo Bottura and are doing something whimsically ironic.

Feb 12

Feb 12 Top Ten Foods of the Amalfi Coast (Actually 11!)

Kristin Melia

Amalfi Coast Travel, Dining Guides

Let’s get one thing straight. This list is by no means exhaustive. You could eat for years on the Amalfi Coast and still have not tried every plate the region has to offer. Many of the same dishes are found in the the Gulf of Sorrento, Capri and the Phlegrean Islands. I have tried to limit this top ten list to foods that are strictly native to this wondrous stretch of coast and have stories linked to specific towns. Sfogliatella, for example, was invented in the Amalfi Coast town of Conca dei Marini. Parmigiana di Melanzane (Eggplant Parmesan), on the other hand is ubiquitous throughout all of Southern Italy and is a true staple of the Southern Mediterranean summer diet. To understand the foods typical to the Amalfi Coast, one must observe the region’s topography.

Feb 9

Feb 9 Ten Best Beaches on the Amalfi Coast (Actually 11!)

Kristin Melia

Amalfi Coast Travel

Rossellini was correct. The people here are crazy. They also know how to live. And the beaches prove it. After years living on the Amalfi Coast, I have learned a few things about beach going here to make things a little less crazy.

First, there is a different between a private and public beach. Stablimenti or beach clubs require you to pay anywhere from 5-10 Euro for a beach chair on their part of beach. Spiggie libere, or free beaches allow you to spread out your towel, picnic and do as your heart’s content. Often the people on the free beaches can be a bit on the vulgar side. These beaches attract large families from the provinces who seem to colonize with umbrellas, picnic tables, sports equipment. You would think they were prepared to head west on the Oregon Trail with all of the equipment they have. Unsurprisingly, I don’t particularly enjoy these beaches. From time to time, I may spread out a towel and enjoy a panino on a free beach. However, if you are on vacation on the Amalfi Coast- be civilized and treat yourself to a lettino. Otherwise you may end up with an errant beach ball to the head and screechy nonna telling you to move your beach towel over because you are in her spot! There is not such thing as a free beach when a nonna from the provincial hinerlands of Pagani is bellowing at you...