If you were lucky enough to spend your Italian Easter in Naples, you may have had the chance to taste this traditional Neapolitan recipe from Campania - ricotta pie. Called la pastiera, the Italian dessert is made from shortcrust pastry, ricotta, candied fruits and the unusual ingredient of aroma of orange blossoms.

According to Barbara on Italian Notebook, you can buy the orange blossom aroma from pharmacies in Naples, while the ingredient itself is meant to represent “innocence, chastity, eternal love, marriage and fruitfulness” (from the days of the recipe being developed by nuns of the San Gregorio Armeno convent in Naples). The recipe is key to Neapolitan traditional cooking for Easter.

The recipe uses cooked durum wheat, otherwise you can buy it already pre-cooked. Ingredients for two pies are: 500 gr of flour, 250 gr of sugar, 250 gr of butter, three eggs and some vanilla powder or essence (for the pastry). For the filling: 500 gr of ricotta cheese, 275 gr of cooked durum wheat, 200 gr of milk, half a tablespoon of butter, five eggs, 250 gr of sugar, half a tablespoon of lemon zest and the same of orange zest, 25 gr of strega liqueur and 25 gr of rum.

Continue reading: Italian ricotta pie from Campania

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The city of Naples is to host an exhibition devoted to the treasure of San Gennaro, the city’s patron saint. Made up of unique pieces of jewellery donated by Italy’s most noble and powerful families over the centuries, the treasure has no rivals in the whole world, outshining by far the famous crown jewels that people can admire at the Tower of London.

From April 8 more than 2000 precious stones will be put on display in Naples; a dazzling array of jewellery and objets d’art which will take your breath away. Don’t miss it!

A Napoli una grande mostra sul tesoro di San gennaro

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We’ve already talked of Italy’s famous nativity scenes, especially from Naples and the via S.Gregorio Armeno. The “presepe” (nativity scenes) workshops along this street are renowned for making famous figures as part of the scene, with previous appearances from Barak Obama and family, and Michael Jackson. This year, infamous Wikileaks personality Julian Assange has made an appearance, with the first and only copy of his statuette costing 130 euros.

Further to this year, Naples is once again in the middle of a rubbish crisis, and so many Italian nativity scenes from the city this year represent the holy family wearing gas marks. Whatever you think of this treatment of nativity scenes, it’s a must for an Italian Christmas to know what’s happening in the Naples nativity scene market.

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With his latest movie Passion, John Turturro takes us on a journey through Naples which a critic called one of the biggest jukeboxes in the world with a treasure chest of songs from the 1200s to present day! Well we can’t but agree with him and Turturro’s movie testify to this unique musical heritage. Its soundtrack contains a series of beautiful Napolitan songs performed by such great Italian artists as Mina (Carmela), Pino Daniele (Napul è), Avion Travel (Nun te scurdà) and Fiorello (Caravan Petrol). Passion opened to mixed reviews but its songs have been universally praised!

Continue reading: John Turturro's movie Passion celebrates Neapolitan music

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The World Press Photo Exhibition Italian stopoff will take place in Naples this year, marking one of the world’s most prestigious photography events occurring since 1955. The exhibition has previously been held in Milan, but this year it’s moving to the Palazzo delle Arti in Naples from September 24 to October 14.

The Exhibition will be on its way from Japan and the move to Naples is an exciting event for the city as the 2009 World Press Photo prize went to a local photographer, Pietro Masturzo, for his depiction of the rooftops of Teheran. The city of Naples is hoping to host the Italian leg of the exhibition in the future and plenty of workshops and meetings have been organised to help support the event. Photographers present include Masturzo, Joe Petersberger who will run a workshop and David Chancellor, a previous winner of the People In The News Stories category. For more information, see the World Press Photo Italian site.

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Naples has been named as Italy’s cheapest city after research carried out by Italy’s Istat statistics agency. On the expensive side, Bolzano sits at the top, followed by Bologna and Milan as Italy’s most expensive cities. The results are based on the cost of various food and goods, and have also been divided into categories.

If you’re interested to know, the cheapest city for clothes shopping in Italy is Campobasso, while the most expensive is Trieste, although the range is quite close. In terms of housing and household expenses, Rome sits at the top, costing 12.8 percent more than the average. Health costs are more expensive in Ancona and Milan than anywhere else.

Generally speaking, the statistics won’t tell the Italians anything they don’t know already - it’s more expensive to live in the north and the autonomous region of Trentino-Alto Adige, while expensive, is also rich and a reality a part from the rest of the country. And anyone who’s slogging it out working and paying rent in Bologna, Milan and Rome…. good luck!

Source | Corriere della Sera

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The 2010 Neapolis Festival is one of Italy’s most popular summer music festivals, around since 1997, and takes place this year from July 15 to 16 in piazzale Tecchio. While often the program has been a mixed bag, this year’s festival continues what has been a solid offering for some time now, with a main stage and a second stage sponsored by Red Bull.

Acts on show include Gang of Four, Fat Boy Slim, The Morning Benders, Yann Tiersen and Jamiroquai. Tickets cost about 30 euros for a one-day pass and 50 euros for two days. You can get a VIP ticket, available only for the 16th, for about 150 euros. The concerts start at 6pm. For more information, see the Neapolis website, program after the jump.

Continue reading: Jamiroquai and Fat Boy Slim at Neapolis summer music festival

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The island of Capri has always attracted the rich and famous and this is thanks to the beauty of its landscape and sea which has no parallel in the whole world. Located at Anacapri, the Capri Palace Hotel is one of the most luxury and beautiful hotels on the island; with its majestic columns and archways, the hotel was modelled on the aristocratic palazzos in Naples, so to be there is a bit like travelling through time. The rooms are all richly decorated and feature exquisite works of art inspired by the greatest artists of the 20th century such as Mondrian Kandinsky and Calder. For more information please click here.

Continue reading: Summer Holidays in Italy: Capri Palace Hotel & Spa at Anacapri

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Inspired by Gianlorenzo Bernini’s statue, street artist Banksy painted a portrait of Saint Theresea on a wall in Naples; a personal reinterpretation of her ecstasy which in Banksy ‘s work was caused by indigestion from fast food. A small masterpiece in its own right which some new and far less talented artist a few days ago decided to cover up with a new but rather mediocre mural. Let’s hope for his sake that he was not aware he was committing a crime against art!

Coperta un’opera di Banksy a Napoli

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AC Milan football player Marco Borriello has accused Italian writer Roberto Saviano of making money out of giving Naples a bad name. Saviano wrote the book “Gomorrah”, since becoming a world famous film, and is a particularly controversial figure in Italian intellectual and political circles at the moment.

Borriello himself grew up in Naples and knows what it means to pay the price of the Camorra: his father was killed by the organised crime group when Borriello was just 11 years old. In an interview with GQ magazine, Borriello said:

“Roberto Saviano has made money off my city. There was no need to write a book to know what the Camorra is. He has only said bad things and has forgotten the rest.”

Within 24 hours of that interview being published, though, Borriello had changed his tune slightly, explaining that as a local Napoletan, he was tired of hearing his city constantly criticised:

Continue reading: Marco Borriello vs Roberto Saviano: Italian intellectuals, Naples and her footballers

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