Scaturchio (1905)

Two Scaturchio brothers opened a pastry shop on via Toledo in Naples at the start of the twentieth century. They brought the almond-paste tradition of Calabria with them and later added a chocolate factory. The younger brother, Giovanni, returned from the First World War with an Austrian wife and a daughter named Ivanka. He opened the Pasticceria on Piazza San Domenico Maggiore. Strudel and Sacher joined the Neapolitan repertoire, and he perfected the Brioche del Danubio in sweet and savoury versions. In the 1930s the house created the Ministeriale, a chocolate pastry whose preservation method is still kept secret. Francesco Cannatiello arrived from Calabria in the same decade and married Ivanka. After the war Francesco ran the workshop as a cake decorator. Ivanka kept the till and the books, and her brother Mario handled public relations. In 1994 the house made the Baba Vesuvio for the G7 summit in Naples, a baba shaped like the volcano that still fills the window. The historic shop at Piazza San Domenico Maggiore 19 hosts a sfogliatella workshop for visitors. Casa Scaturchio upstairs occupies the palazzo of the Dukes of Casa Calenda and was renovated by architect Giuliano Andrea Dell'Uva for private events. Further shops trade at Piazza Amedeo and on Via Luca Giordano in Vomero. Others stand inside Napoli Centrale station and Roma Termini.