Italian, Neapolitan Cuisine and Pizza

See more Arts, Crafts & Cookery. See best of Naples in Italy.

The Italian language may have originated in Rome, but pizza was most definitely invented in Naples, so what better place could there be to learn a little of both? But America’s favourite food – cheesy, doughy and the gastric equivalent of a blocked u-bend – is a million miles from the light, crisp, ingredient-savvy concoctions for which Naples is so famed. Their unique, mildly smoky flavour is brought about by the traditional wood-burning ovens in which they are cooked at searing hot temperatures, and Neapolitan toppings (for example the popular ‘pizza marinara’, so well known in the UK) don’t always include cheese and tomato paste. The mysterious, gravity-defying technique used to make the base is perhaps the hardest part of all, involving flour so fine that it could be mistaken for talcum powder and a regulation ‘3mm or under’ thickness in order to comply with the Associazione Ver Pizza Napoletana regulations! And then comes the most important part: eating it as soon as it comes out of the oven.

Casatiello breads, pastiera cheesecake, sfogliatelle pastries and bite-sized, honeyed struffoli all come from Naples too, as do Italy’s most famous mozzarella and the gorgeously sweet Piennolo tomatoes which grow on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius. One way to plunge into this foodie heaven is with Language Courses Abroad on a two-week course in Neapolitan cuisine. You’ll have to make your tongue work for the experience by learning Italian at the same time – so you’ll be able to pronounce what you’re eating as well as cook it! You’ll learn (and live, if you choose) with local Neapolitan families, and there will be plenty of time for excursions to Pompeii, Vesuvius, Capri and other nearby places of interest, during which you can test your Italian phrases.

If you’d like to get really seriously into the spirit of the land of pizza, combining a Italian language course with professional pizza-making lessons, you could take on their challenge of an eight-week course, followed by eleven weeks of work experience in a real Neapolitan pizzeria!