PIZZA, UNESCO HERITAGE

 

Why has our pizza become UNESCO heritage?

Who doesn’t know Italian pizza or  doesn’t like it? Everybody  loves  it, all are fans of Italian pizza, or more precisely,   Neapolitan pizza and now it has even been certificated.

Pizza is the most widely known and eaten food in the world and that best identifies Italy. Every day in our country about 5 million pizzas are baked, while 5 billion are sold all over the world. It was born in 1889, when the Neapolitan chef, Raffaele Esposito,  was summoned by Queen Margherita to prepare her famous favourite pizzas. The pizzaiolo then prepared a classic pizza in her honour with tomato, mozzarella and basil, which represented the colours of the Italian flag. So, December 7, 2017 is a historic date for Italy: on this date UNESCO proclaimed pizza, or rather, the art of Neapolitan pizzaiuoli, World Heritage.

According to the official motivation, "the culinary know-how related to the production of pizza, which includes gestures, songs, visual expressions, local jargon, ability to handle pizza dough, perform and share is an indisputable cultural heritage. The pizzaiuoli and their guests engage in a social ritual, whose counter and oven serve as a «stage» during the pizza production process. This creates   a convivial atmosphere that involves constant exchanges with guests. From the poor neighbourhoods of Naples, the culinary tradition is deeply rooted in the daily life of the community. For many young practitioners, becoming a pizzaiuolo is also a way to avoid social marginality”.

Why is this recognition  so important?

 

The recognition of UNESCO is not only a matter of pride, but it is also the official and world celebration of the values of the Mediterranean diet, a well-defined lifestyle that characterizes the everyday life of many Italians, influencing the local economy and having a positive impact on the enhancement of the traditions and historical alleys where it is produced. From a social point of view, for Naples this "prize" means a lot: enhancing the gastronomic excellence and traditions keeps the local economy alive. In short, as already mentioned, making Neapolitan pizza has a huge social value and an incredible economic impact.

Moreover this recognition from Unesco was also important to defend it from an attempt of theft by the United States, after their announcement  to want to nominate the pizza american style. Americans are the biggest consumers of pizza surpassing Italians. «It is true that pizza was born in Naples, but until the Italian migrations to the United States only a white pizza rich in garlic and oil was known», said the professor of food history Alberto Grandi interviewed in a podcast of Spotify (March 2022), which confirms the so-called "pizza effect" linked to migrations.

The Neapolitans  are very defensive of traditional pizza  and they say that adding tropical fruit to a typical Italian dish is a real sacrilege and pineapple pizza should be prohibited.  

Neapolitan pizza is the result of how the perfect combination of raw materials, craftsmanship, experience and tradition can totally affect the success of the product: despite the many imitations and while following to the letter the typical recipes of the place, there is no pizza in the world that is as good as the one made according to the Neapolitan tradition.

The texture of the Neapolitan Pizza must be soft, elastic, easily foldable; the product is soft to the cut, with a characteristic flavour, sapid, resulting from the cornice, which has the typical taste of well-grown and well-baked bread, mixed with the sour taste of tomato, the aroma, respectively, oregano, garlic or basil, and the taste of cooked mozzarella. Pizza, at the end of the cooking process, will emit a characteristic, fragrant  smell.

The Real Pizza Recipe

Since the moment when Raffaele Esposito made his historic pizza Margherita in 1894, the basic structure of pizza became unchangeable. All variations of pizza  are made with four  ingredients: the crust, the sauce, cheese and topping.

Useful ingredients to prepare pizza according to the Neapolitan tradition

According to the production disciplinary of the true Neapolitan pizza, the ingredients that characterize and make this product unique are:

• soft wheat flour

• brewer’s yeast

• drinking natural water

• peeled tomatoes and/or fresh cherry tomatoes

• salt

• extra virgin olive oil

• garlic

• origan

• Dop Bufalo mozzarella from Campania

•  fresh basil

 

What pizza do you want?

The list of pizzas is infinite nowadays, there’s something for every taste from traditional tomato pizza to Deluxe Veggie pizza from pineapple to Nutella.The most popular is probably with tomatoes and cheese. Not only the flavours but also the shapes and dimensions can be different: from the typical round one to the famous pizza in the wallet, a take-away version.  This type of pizza - served thin and in a smaller size, to fold in four and wrap - was invented to feed the Neapolitan customers in the fastest way possible, without sacrificing the flavour of the normal pizza dish. Over time, pizza a portafoglio became a tradition in its own right, a must on a visit to Naples.

 Agnese, 4sc