And then there is pasta. For centuries, Campania has been the undisputed capital of pasta production, thanks to the experts who brought large-scale pasta production to the coastal town of Torre Annunziata in the 1840s. Dry pastas, as opposed fresh egg-based pastas, are the preferred version. Besides being less expensive and having a longer shelf life, dry pastas also pair better with fish and seafood, which abound in the region's cooking. The most important meal of the week, Sunday lunch, is traditionally based around a plate of maccheroni al ragù, which consists of long, spaghetti-like pasta with a rich meat sauce that has been simmering all day. After the pasta comes a meat course, a vegetable side dish, plentiful amounts of wine, and then the sweets. Some of the most beloved are the sfogliatella, a shell-shaped phyllo triangle filled with sweet ricotta and candied fruit, and babà al rhum, a cupcake-shaped brioche soaked in rum syrup. Sounds like more than enough? Not for some napoletani. Around 4:30 on Sunday, while most healthy eaters are drifting off into their post-prandial snooze, an unexpected smell wafts through the air-that of sizzling pan-fried steaks, the traditional appetite topper for a truly ravenous Sunday eater.

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