Neapolitan ice cream is literally 'ice cream from Naples'. Back in the late 1800s Italy was known, among other things, for its frozen desserts. One popular preparation of ice cream was to layer various types of ice cream together, as in spumoni. Ice cream served in this manner came to be known as 'Neapolitan'. Over time it came to be most common to layer three types of ice cream together (in America, even spumoni is sold with only three layers), and then, to serve only three specific flavors. These flavors are now always chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry. In that order. Despite the fact that these are somewhat boring flavors, and despite the fact that generally the chocolate and the vanilla get finished off long before the strawberry, Neapolitan ice cream is still a staple in the freezer section of grocery stores around the world.