As the calendar year turns over, we’ve grown accustomed to the barrage of lists telling us where to travel during the next 12 months. Oftentimes these places are a country or even a whole region – you could spend an entire year exploring just one of the locations listed and still barely make a dent.
We like to travel on a smaller scale. Forget countries and cities, for us the neighborhood is the ideal unit of exploration. Celebrating neighborhood life and businesses is, of course, essential to what we do as Culinary Backstreets. Since our founding in 2012, we’ve been dedicated to publishing the stories of unsung local culinary heroes and visiting them on our food walks, particularly in neighborhoods that are off the beaten path.
Last January, we declared 2018 as “The Year of the Neighborhood,” and what a fruitful year it was. We had our fair share of fresh experiences and were also able to contribute to the economies of neighborhoods otherwise neglected by the tourism industry. Tourism is an important economic force in many cities, as it should be, but if it is not dispersed responsibly, it can devastate the urban ecosystem, one that’s based on the sound health of all of a city’s neighborhoods.
With that in mind, we are happy to again focus on neighborhoods off the main tourist trail in 2019, as well as the people and places that keep them going. Below is a compilation of the less-visited areas that our correspondents are planning to explore this year:
Naples: Materdei
Until a few years ago, the neighborhood of Materdei, “middle ground” as Neapolitans like to call it, was known for being just that: an unremarkable district squeezed between the ancient city center and the upper part of the city, the hillside neighborhood of Vomero.
That’s not to say it’s necessarily unattractive; built mainly after the Second World War, the area is home to appealing buildings and urban parks in the Liberty style (the Italian Art Nouveau), typical of Neapolitan construction in the early 20th century.
Recently, however, Materdei has experienced a cultural and artistic rebirth. Many buildings are covered with murals and street art – the young Argentinian street artist Francisco Bosoletti’s large-scale work “Parthenope,” which was inspired by the legend of the siren who allegedly gave her name to Naples, has become a symbol of the area and is particularly beloved.
Moreover, community organizations have sprouted up, turning disused buildings into thriving cultural centers and meeting points for the local community. Je So’ Pazz has occupied an abandoned psychiatric hospital, which they have turned into a community center open to all, while a group of neighborhood associations founded the Liberated Garden of Materdei in an overgrown former convent.
One benefit of being overlooked, though, is that a number of gastronomic gems catering to locals have flourished in Materdei. Some of them are well known, like Pizzeria Starita, one of the city’s most famous pizzerias. Serious pizza eaters arrive from every corner of the region to try their exceptional pies, like the pizza with zucchini, zucchini flowers and provola cheese, the pizza with radicchio and Gorgonzola, and the baccalà pizza (our favorite). Others are not quite as popular but no less tasty, like Cantina del Gallo, an old country winery near the famous Fontanelle Cemetery that prepares the legendary pizzicotti (small rolls stuffed in six different salty ways). Or the lovely Caseari Cautero, a tiny wine shop where a Neapolitan doctor fond of French Champagne will guide you on a tasting journey through various types of local meats and cheeses, all paired with excellent wine.
With so many delicious options on offer, it’s no wonder that curious eaters from all over Naples have begun visiting the “middle ground.” – Amedeo Colella
Click here to read the full neighborhood guide.
January 14, 2019 Going Deep
As the calendar year turns over, we’ve grown accustomed to the barrage of lists telling […] Posted in Barcelona, Special category- January 14, 2019 Going Deep
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