A food guide to Naples and Campania covering pizza, fried street food, mozzarella di bufala, seafood, sfogliatella, lemons and local pasta dishes.

Italian food makes most sense when it is connected to place. This guide is designed to help you recognise the dishes, ingredients and everyday eating habits that give this destination its character, without turning the experience into a checklist.

Neapolitan pizza

Southern Italian cooking is shaped by the Mediterranean, excellent produce and strong regional traditions. Look for versions that keep the ingredient list focused and allow the main flavours to do the work. Quality varies, so it is worth choosing places that specialise rather than menus trying to serve everything at once.

Pizza fritta

Southern Italian cooking is shaped by the Mediterranean, excellent produce and strong regional traditions. Look for versions that keep the ingredient list focused and allow the main flavours to do the work. Quality varies, so it is worth choosing places that specialise rather than menus trying to serve everything at once.

Mozzarella di bufala

Southern Italian cooking is shaped by the Mediterranean, excellent produce and strong regional traditions. Look for versions that keep the ingredient list focused and allow the main flavours to do the work. Quality varies, so it is worth choosing places that specialise rather than menus trying to serve everything at once.

Pasta alla Genovese

Southern Italian cooking is shaped by the Mediterranean, excellent produce and strong regional traditions. Look for versions that keep the ingredient list focused and allow the main flavours to do the work. Quality varies, so it is worth choosing places that specialise rather than menus trying to serve everything at once.

Seafood

Southern Italian cooking is shaped by the Mediterranean, excellent produce and strong regional traditions. Look for versions that keep the ingredient list focused and allow the main flavours to do the work. Quality varies, so it is worth choosing places that specialise rather than menus trying to serve everything at once.

Sfogliatella

Southern Italian cooking is shaped by the Mediterranean, excellent produce and strong regional traditions. Look for versions that keep the ingredient list focused and allow the main flavours to do the work. Quality varies, so it is worth choosing places that specialise rather than menus trying to serve everything at once.

Babà

Southern Italian cooking is shaped by the Mediterranean, excellent produce and strong regional traditions. Look for versions that keep the ingredient list focused and allow the main flavours to do the work. Quality varies, so it is worth choosing places that specialise rather than menus trying to serve everything at once.

Amalfi lemons

Southern Italian cooking is shaped by the Mediterranean, excellent produce and strong regional traditions. Look for versions that keep the ingredient list focused and allow the main flavours to do the work. Quality varies, so it is worth choosing places that specialise rather than menus trying to serve everything at once.

How to use this guide

Build meals around a few local specialities, leave room for bakeries, markets and coffee stops, and avoid trying to fit every famous dish into one sitting. Italian Gourmet will continue to expand this guide with related recipes, ingredient explainers and practical destination articles.