Why Tourists Need A Wide Stance To Enjoy This Iconic Street Food In Naples, Italy

Naples is a truly magical — but at times quizzical — place, which is one of the reasons why it's not a city for every type of traveler. When walking through the buzzing city, you'll see drying laundry strung across the streets like prayer flags and perhaps spot cars driving backwards down narrow side roads, acting like that's a perfectly normal thing to do. But nothing quite prepares you for this: People on the streets guzzling wildly foaming beverages while leaning over, legs spread wide apart. And these people aren't even tipsy, as these mysterious potions don't contain a single drop of alcohol. So what on earth is going on here? 

It's one of those offbeat delicacies for an adventurous foodie's bucket list: the Naples street food tradition of drinking "limonata a cosce aperte," which is Italian for open legs lemonade. It involves a vendor preparing the limonata at one of the stands around the city and handing it over to a thirsty customer as it starts to bubble. The fizzing action is so vigorous that liquid starts running down the sides of the cup. This is why people adopt that wide stance — they are holding the cup as far away from their bodies as possible while drinking to avoid drenching themselves in lemonade. They are also drinking quickly to consume the liquid before it all explodes out of the cup and splashes onto the street.

The main ingredient of the drink is fresh-squeezed juice from regional lemons. But this is not just your average, everyday lemon juice. It's from Sorrento lemons, which are known around the world for their distinctive aroma and flavor.  What's more, to press the prized lemons, vendors use special juicers that press the peel as well as the fruit. This causes the oil from the peel to be released into the juice, giving it an unusual flavor. Next, vendors add sparkling water to the lemon juice, and the final touch of magic is ... sugar? Herbs? Nope, it's sodium bicarbonate (aka, good-old baking soda) that makes the liquid foam so madly. 

The refreshing drink not only quenches your thirst on a hot summer day but also enhances your digestion after a meal, according to the locals. The tradition is also just plain fun, allowing you to participate in pure human silliness for a second. Imagine starting your day in Napoli off on the wrong note. Maybe you missed the ferry to Capri, or you tripped over a Vespa and now your ankle hurts. Then, a street vendor hands you an open legs lemonade. A crowd forms around you, clapping, as you drink in the cold, tingling goodness. Afterwards, you're laughing too, and your tummy feels better. You actually feel hungry again, which you never thought you would after this morning's enormous sfogliatella. But more importantly, your mood is better, too. 

Appetite and mood restored, it's time to explore other Neopolitan street stands. In the beverage category, most other quintessential Naples drinks — exquisite coffee, limoncello liqueur, regional wines — are traditionally drunk indoors at cafés, bars, and restaurants. But you can grab a to-go aperol spritz on some of the main streets and sip it as you're walking around, which is a cool experience. Just know that locals might not totally approve of this practice, and they might side-eye you a little bit for breaking with tradition.

In the food category, you can find many tantalizing options: pizza a portafoglio (pizza folded like a wallet), pizza fritta (fried pizza), frittatina di pasta (little bites of pasta omelettes), and cuoppo di pesce fritto (a paper cone filled with fried fish). You might also find that the simplest snack of mozzarella and tomatoes slapped between two slices of bread becomes a gourmet meal in Neapolitan hands. I still remember tasting a panini like this the first time I strolled the streets of Napoli, many moons ago. The quality of each ingredient in that most blasé of all street foods — the sandwich — made that meal one of the best I've ever experienced anywhere in the world. I still salivate when I think about it.