Singolare iniziativa sportivo-gastronomica a Napoli. Al prestigioso Ristorante "Umberto" di Napoli è stata inaugurata il 10 novembre la "Pizza Triathlon", nata da un'idea del Direttore e appassionato di triathlon Massimo di Porzio e del Vice Presidente Campano Alessandro Fattore.
La pizza è - come il triathlon - unica ma divisa in tre porzioni (frazioni) che richiamano i sapori del mare, montagna e terra:
T1 - frazione nuoto (mare) - frutti di mare e polpo
T2 - frazione bici (montagna) - fontina e funghi
T3 - frazione corsa (terra) - pomodoro, aglio e formaggio grattugiato

A detta dei numerosi triatleti presenti all'inaugurazione, il risultato finale è stato assolutamente prelibato oltre ad essere un alimento completo ed equilibrato in termini di carboidrati, proteine e grassi.
Questa idea è inserita nell'ambito di varie iniziative, sportive e non (come in questo caso), che il Comitato Campano ha messo in moto per promuovere il triathlon nella Regione, per attirare l'attenzione dei media e guadagnare spazio e visibilità sui giornali, anche avvalendosi della fantasia ed dell'originalità tipica dei campani.
L'abbinamento è di notevole richiamo: "Umberto", nato nel 1916, è uno dei più prestigiosi ristoranti napoletani, presente, con la "Bersagliera" e "Ciro a Mergellina", nel ristretto e autorevole albo del "Locali Storici d'Italia". (http://www.umberto.it )
La "pizza Triathlon" ha una celeberrima progenitrice nella pizza Margherita, "inventata" in onore della moglie di re Umberto I, la regina Margherita, che nel 1889 andò in visita alla reggia di Capodimonte. Il più bravo pizzaiolo di Napoli, Raffaele Esposito, le dedicò questa sua creazione legata ai colori della bandiera italiana (pomodoro, mozzarella, basilico). La Regina ne rimase incantata e la pizza Margherita entrò nella Storia.
Che la pizza Triathlon possa seguire queste prestigiose orme?

'Vesuvian Torzella'

It is also called Greek cabbage or "torza riccia", in July 2006 it was included in the list of the traditional food products from Campania. It is a country plant which can be eaten raw, steamed, boiled or sautéed. It has a lively and sharp taste, it tastes like broccoli and turnip tops, it is rich in vitamins A and C, calcium and glycoside which protect from cancer. It is a gift of winter, in fact it stands up to cold. It is picked between November and March at different times.

It has become famous thanks to a masterpiece of the Neapolitan cuisine, the 
"menesta maretata" (wedding soup) which was invented in the Seventeenth century and is usually prepared the twenty-sixth of December and in the Christmas period in Naples. This dish, a distant relation of the Spanish "olla podrida", a substantial dish prepared with pulses, meat pieces and spices, includes meat and vegetables like pork rinds, lard, broccoli, lettuce, chicory, Endivem escarole and "torzella".

Giovan Battista del Tufo wrote:
It was called "potaggio di broccoli" by Vincenzo Corrado in "Cuoco Galante" (1773) but was also included by Giulio Cesare Cortese in its ironic short dialect poem "La Vaiasseide" (1604), by Felippo Sgruttendio in "Li spanfe de la foglia" and by Bartolomeo Zito, "lo Tardacino", in "Defennemiento de la Vaiasseide" (1628). In this work by Bartolomeo Zito and in the recipe by Ippolito Cavalcanti (in "Cucina casarinola co la lengua napoletana", 1837) the preparation consists in cooking the meat, adding the torzella and boiling. Cavalcanti added Endivem escarole and some basil.

Cortese wrote that the cleverness at cooking this delicious soup was one of the few good qualities of maids who were described as loose women with obscene culinary metaphors. In the works by these authors many beloved vegetables are mentioned.

The torzella is particularly important, it can be found even in the "Lo mercante" fairy tale by Cortese: Cienzo, saying goodbye to Naples, mentions this vegetable.

Nowadays in the article "I tesoretti" in June 2007 in Il Manifesto supplement the Slow Food editor John Irving remembered Naples at the time of Norman Lewis and in the second postwar period and his rounds in the city. He mentioned the torzella among the vegetables found at market and he said that it wasn't possible to find it anymore. It was described as something like broccoli which grows wild in the countryside around the city. He wrote that many people speak about it but few people really remember it. Mr Irving asked Gaetano, a 25 year old greengrocer, if he had never seen a torzella. "Never"- the boy answered - "but I know that once it was one of the main ingredients of the wedding soup".
Maybe Gaetano doesn't know that the torzella is back again.

Napoli Teatro Festival Italia 4th - 28th June 2009

In the months leading up to the second edition of the Napoli Teatro Festival Italia, which takes place from 4th to 28th June, the Festival will hold a series of encounters in Italy and abroad with the press and public. Events include press conferences, tourism fairs, first nights of shows in program and the presentation of projects in collaboration with foreign theatres.

As of this year, Napoli Teatro Festival Italia is proposing a special offer to its public: MyCARD with special facilitations for initiatives and performances of the 2009 edition, at your convenience, as well as the possibility to benefit from reductions and exclusive promotions, also within the Scelti per Voi circuit, a selection of hotels, bed and breakfast facilities, restaurants, pizza houses, artisan retailers and dealers specifically chosen for its public.

The advantages of MyCARD:
MyCARD offers convenient conditions, reductions and exclusive promotions specifically selected for the cardholder. MyCARD can be activated from March to June 2009 and is valid until the end of the year. It can be renewed from December 2009 onward. The card is nominal and cannot be transferred. Upon activation, you will receive a reply by e-mail containing information such as your name and surname, inscription category and identification code, to be transcribed on the back of your card.

The circuit Scelti per Voi:
A selection of hotels, bed and breakfast facilities, restaurants, pizza houses, artisan retailers and dealers, specially selected for its public. Cardholders may avail themselves of exclusive discounts during the whole month of June 2009.
For further information promozione@napoliteatrofestival.it or http://www.teatrofestivalitalia.it/v2/

Il ristorante Umberto Il Napoli Comicon, Salone Internazionale del Fumetto e dell’Animazione e lo storico ristorante “Umberto” a Chiaia, proseguono la loro joint-venture cultural gastronomica che quest'anno si tinge di GIALLO per degustare:


antipasto
sformato di tenue giallo
con patate e parmigiano reggiano

primo
impasto di giallo napoletano
con trofie della cara, ragù di fiorilli e formaggio

secondo
spennellato con oro lucente
con maialino e chicchi di mais

dolce
sfumatura e dolci trasparenze di camomilla
con mele gialle, miele e crema

*se desideri acquistare questa cena di degustazione consulta la sezione shop