Napoleons!

My sister- in- law texted me this last weekend asking me what the name was of " that delicious pastry you got for me at that Italian bakery?". I feel it my civic duty (as a citizen of New York, that is), to educate my loved ones in their knowledge of good eats that exist here in the city-escpecially the food that is inundated with copious amounts of sugar. I mean, how could you not share something so exquisite with the people that you hold so dear? It would just be morally wrong. I equate it to a parent depriving his/her child of a knowledge of God or something. Actually, not showing your peeps the best desserts in NYC is probably much worse. (Cue lighting from the sky to strike me on the spot.)
The pastry that my sister- in- law was asking about was a Napoleon, one of my favorite pastries. Traditionally, I'm actually not sure whether a Napoleon is in fact Italian or French. It's origins seem to be hard to pin down. The term Napoleon seems to be a corrupted form of the word Neapolitan which means something characteristic of Naples, which is of course in Italy. Then again, the dessert itself very closely resembles the French millefeuille pastry, which means a thousand sheets or leaves. Those of you who have ever eaten a Napoleon know that it does, in fact, include many layers of puff pastry sheets, in between which resides delicious vanilla pastry cream.
Bottom line: who cares? It's delicious! Let the French and the Italians fight over it. MY favorite Napolean resides at Ferrara, a very old (maybe the oldest- they've been around since 1892) Italian bakery in NYC. Take that for what you will. Ferrara is on Grand Street, between Mulberry and Mott, in (where else?) Little Italy.
One more thing- a Napolean can be a very frustrating and messy pastry to eat if you don't know how. So, for maximum enjoyment I will share with you how I feel it is best to eat them. You can thank me later.
I have found that the natural inclination is to use the side of your fork to cut into it for a bite. Don't do this! Besides being poor etiquette (tsk tsk), what will happen is you probably won't wind up puncturing the puff pastry layers, thus instead, inadvertently pressing them down and squeezing out all of that good pastry cream. (Blaspheme!) Instead, assertively use the prongs of your fork to press down and then pull away. A good, fresh Napolean will have layers that are still relatively flakey and not too moist from the cream in between, and will pull away fairly easily. Do not be afraid. As Napolean himself said: "He who fears being conquered is sure of defeat!"
Or you know, you could just pick it up and shove the whole thing in your mouth. That works too.