I’m proud to be in general a rather open-minded person, who try hard to avoid all preconceived ideas,prejudices and common places, which might prevent me from judging autonomously what my attitude to things should be.
But I must confess there is one topic about which my attitude is totally intransigent; I cannot help being a strict integralist about…pizza.
I have a deep respect and a sincere passion for gastronomy and I fully value all fresh home-made dishes, where time, accuracy and selected ingredients play a fundamental role.
I have not any hesitation in tasting everything at least once, before claiming it’s not suitable for my tastes.
But I must confess there is one topic about which my attitude is totally intransigent; I cannot help being a strict integralist about…pizza.
I have a deep respect and a sincere passion for gastronomy and I fully value all fresh home-made dishes, where time, accuracy and selected ingredients play a fundamental role.
I have not any hesitation in tasting everything at least once, before claiming it’s not suitable for my tastes.
But when we come to pizza, I’m a real ayatollah and I’m ready to launch nearly threatening fatwas against the diffuse use of frozen pizzas and the abuse of fancy toppings.
People might eat what they like, even though often I’m surprised by their perverted tastes for horrible things, but pizza needs total respect of traditions.
The True Neapolitan Pizza Association recognises only the Marinara and Margherita verace as “real” pizzas and has set the very specific rules that must be followed for an authentic Neapolitan pizza. These include that the pizza must be baked in a wood-fired,
domed oven at 485°C for no more than 60 to 90 seconds; that the base must be hand-kneaded and must not be prepared by any mechanical means (i pizzaioli — the pizza makers — make the pizza by rolling it with their fingers) and that the pizza must not exceed 35 centimetres in diameter or be more than one-third of a centimetre thick at the centre.
I enthusiastically agree!
People might eat what they like, even though often I’m surprised by their perverted tastes for horrible things, but pizza needs total respect of traditions.
The True Neapolitan Pizza Association recognises only the Marinara and Margherita verace as “real” pizzas and has set the very specific rules that must be followed for an authentic Neapolitan pizza. These include that the pizza must be baked in a wood-fired,
domed oven at 485°C for no more than 60 to 90 seconds; that the base must be hand-kneaded and must not be prepared by any mechanical means (i pizzaioli — the pizza makers — make the pizza by rolling it with their fingers) and that the pizza must not exceed 35 centimetres in diameter or be more than one-third of a centimetre thick at the centre.
I enthusiastically agree!
It’s impossible to make a good pizza at home, because domestic ovens cannot reach the needed temperature; pizza delivery is a crime, because pizza is put in a box to be delivered and, even though the deliver is quick, there is always a certain time between the exit from the oven and the effective delivery and during this time the pizza remains inside a box, with a cover, it generates hot steam and the steam makes the pizza soft and the topping gummy.
I’m aware that pizza delivery is an enormous world business, but if it depended only on me they would go all bankrupt (so it’s good it doesn’t depend on me).
From my very strictly integralist point of view, pizza must be eaten only in the same place where it’s baked and immediately out of the oven, it must be extremely simple and made of first class ingredients, no succedanea; the topping must be light, please forget those thick layers of it doesn’t matter what alternated with slices of doubtful cheese which belong to the family of plastic derivate.
It’s always a matter of quality not quantity, also for pizza!
I have read somewhere that the favourite pizza for Americans is topped with pepperoni.
This is one of those amusing case of so called“ false friends”…if you go to a real Italian old-fashioned pizzeria and you ask for “ a pizza pepperoni” in the bestcase you’ll get a pizza topped with
roasted bell peppers or another kind of capsicum, no sausages at all.
The matter is that in Italy nobody knows any sausage called “ pepperoni” even though the name comes for sure from the Italian word “ peperone” ( with only one “p”)which means a actually bell pepper.
It’s always a matter of quality not quantity, also for pizza!
I have read somewhere that the favourite pizza for Americans is topped with pepperoni.
This is one of those amusing case of so called“ false friends”…if you go to a real Italian old-fashioned pizzeria and you ask for “ a pizza pepperoni” in the bestcase you’ll get a pizza topped with
roasted bell peppers or another kind of capsicum, no sausages at all.
The matter is that in Italy nobody knows any sausage called “ pepperoni” even though the name comes for sure from the Italian word “ peperone” ( with only one “p”)which means a actually bell pepper.
There are many amusing mysteries of this kind in the history of food and various recipes, but we might explore them another time…
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