Taralli sugna e pepe

• Sugna: pork lard, which makes them short and crumbly rather than crunchy like dry breadsticks.
• Pepper: lots of freshly ground black pepper.
• Almonds: whole, pressed into the twist, toasting as it bakes.
• The shape: two ropes of dough twisted and closed into a ring.

Taralleria Napoletana also makes versions with genovese onions, friarielli, cherry tomatoes and a gluten-free one, all at €1.60, and sweet ones at €2.40.

• Taralleria Napoletana, Via San Biagio dei Librai 3, on Spaccanapoli: the full range, €1.60 each.
• Poppella in the Rione Sanità: the bakery's own history says it added taralli 'nzogna e pepe to its bread in 1960, before it became famous for the fiocco di neve.
• Tandem puts lard-and-pepper taralli on its €28 Sfizietto sharing board; see our ragù page.
• Tarallificio Leopoldo on Via Foria is the other name locals give. Its website redirected to Taralleria Napoletana's shop when we checked, so we could not confirm prices or hours.

The classic way to eat them is outdoors: a few taralli and a cold beer, sitting on the sea wall of Via Caracciolo at sunset. Buy them before you set off, because the seafront is better for views than for shops. Our Lungomare walk covers the 2.7 km from Borgo Marinari to Mergellina, and the sunset cruise page covers the view from the water.

• It crumbles, it does not snap. The lard should make it short and sandy. A tarallo that shatters like a cracker is dry or old.
• You can see the pepper. Specks all through the dough, and a warmth at the back of the throat.
• Whole almonds, toasted. Pale, soft almonds mean it was underbaked.
• A faint smell of pork fat when you break it. That is the sugna, and it is the point.

• Taralli are dry and robust: they survive hand luggage, with no liquid rules to worry about.
• Buy them sealed. Taralleria Napoletana ships in Italy free over €20.
• Check your destination's rules on pork products before packing them.