You cannot visit the city of Naples , an unmissable stop for gastronomy enthusiasts, without tasting a sfogliatella, one of the sweet symbol of the Neapolitan pastry . Loved by both Italians and foreign tourists, this delicious and fragrant pastry, of which the curly and shortcrust variants are known, originated 400 years ago and then underwent changes and evolutions. Let's go then to discover its fascinating history, from the conception of the recipe to the present day.

The legend on the birth of the sfogliatella

According to legend, in 1600 a cloistered nun from the convent of Santa Rosa in Conca dei Marini (Salerno), on the Amalfi Coast, accidentally invented this iconic sweet from Campania. There are those who say that a nun from the convent was intent on preparing biancomangiare, a Sicilian sweet made with almonds and milk, but then opted for a creative variant that contained puff pastry and ricotta. The most accredited version narrates that the recipe was born from his desire to compose a dessert that contained advanced ingredients in the kitchen. The nun would have had the idea of adding ricotta, dried fruit and lemon liqueur to leftovers of wet semolina and inserting everything inside a dough made with lard and wine and shaped like a monk's cap ; what resulted was the first version of the sfogliatella. It is said that the recipe was well received within the convent and that it was transmitted over the years, and then ended up, 200 years later, in the hands of an innkeeper called Pasquale Pintauro , relative of one of the nuns. The latter, impressed by the idea of delicious creation, decided to open a laboratory in via Toledo and revisit the recipe; thinning the dough and changing the filling would have given life to the first real Neapolitan sfogliatella . From the creation of the Pintauro onwards, the sfogliatelle would soon become fashionable and there were many bakeries and pastry shops that began to produce and sell them.

Evolution of the sfogliatella: from Santa Rosa to the lobster tail

The two main types of sfogliatella are riccia and frolla . The first has a triangular shell shape, is covered with several crisp and thin layers of puff pastry and has a dough made with semolina, ricotta, candied fruit, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon and sugar for the filling. The pastry has a round shape and is characterized by a soft short pastry and a filling identical to the curly one. To these must be added the "historic" santarosa which, like the riccia, has a hood-shell shape but larger dimensions and an interior based on custard and candied black cherries . The most recent among the recipes of the sfogliatella is the one called lobster tail ; very similar to curly, however, it has a larger and elongated shape and is stuffed with cream, cream or chocolate cream.

If before the puff pastries were mostly sold by specialized pastry shops, over the years they have spread everywhere and established themselves as one of the symbolic sweets of Naples. Finally, in recent years, the Neapolitan city has witnessed a new and decisive reinterpretation of the classic recipe , between more or less successful experiments. Among the most popular inventions, in addition to the savory, vegan or gluten-free variants, the konosfoglia (see previous photo), an ice cream cone in the shape of an ice cream and filled with a cream and a grain of your choice, the giant puff pastry

Stuffed with babà and finally the hearts of sfogliatella , invented by the pastry chef Enzo Ferrieri , famous for their original fillings which include pistachio cream, lemon cream and red fruit cream.

In short, between tradition and modernity, the sfogliatella always remains a beloved artisan dessert, with a delicious characteristic flavor and an unmistakable aroma that hovers in the alleys of Naples .

by Ivana De Innocentis
Revised, corrected and expanded by the Tumn® editorial staff