pizza

The Neapolitans say they invented it, and it's best not to disagree, though there may be a Greek or Middle Eastern influence behind it (pita, etc). Neapolitan pizzerie certainly make some of the best anywhere.

The city, not surprisingly, also claims the oldest in the world, the Antica Pizzeria Port'Alba on Via Port'Alba, built in 1830 with an oven lined with volcanic rock from Vesuvius. Its origins go back to 1738, where pizzas were made for itinerant peddlers who strolled the street with small tin stoves with coals in them balanced on their heads. Some simple ones sold to sailors by the port became known as marinara, which some say was invented here.

Nearly all Neapolitan pizzas have a thin, tender base, that puffs up in airy bubbles along the edges when baked, leaving the characteristic scorch marks of a proper pizza napolitana. American bready, deep-pan pizzas, though, have their origins in the Old World, too, as with the Sicilian sfincione.