Some believe that the Hellenic presence in southern Italy influenced the cooks of the time. For example, Pita, a disc of dough cooked to wrap meat and other products. But these influences, if we wanted to confirm them, have produced a completely new dish in the Campania region, different from those of the time. The pizza is rolled out, does not include meat or sweet ingredients, and is made from practically the same dough as bread: water, flour and yeast.
The first traces of this dish in Naples date back to between the 16th and 17th centuries. In Naples the chefs found an alternative solution to the use of bread dough, perhaps waste, creating a disc cooked in a wood oven with garlic, caciocavallo and other spices. This dish, very similar to current pizza, had different names based on the seasoning. Variant called “mastunicola” and another called “cecinelli”
Subsequently, based on written testimonies, we find a treatise by Vincenzo Corrado, a cook and scholar of the 1700s, in which he describes how in Naples they had begun to use the tomato, which arrived from the Americas in the mid-16th century, to season pasta (macaroni) and Pizza.
Almost certainly, this use of the tomato gave rise to the Neapolitan culinary tradition: pizza, Genoese, ragù, etc.
The turning point came in 1889, when a Neapolitan chef, Raffaele Esposito, created the Pizza Margherita, topped with pureed tomatoes, mozzarella and basil. Esposito created it in honor of Queen Margherita of Savoy, with the colors of the Italian flag.
The Margherita thus became the icon of Pizza! Even today, if we think about pizza, the image that appears in our brain is Pizza Margherita.
2017 the art of the Neapolitan pizza chef (and consequently Neapolitan pizza as a direct product of this art form) became a world heritage site.This recent recognition was anticipated by others:
- True Neapolitan Pizza
1984 - the Neapolitan pizza chefs united in an association, obtain a UNI certification (10791:98) for the "true Neapolitan pizza"
- Traditional Specialty Guaranteed (TSG)
2008 - the pizza must be prepared with ingredients and methods codified in the ingredients and in the manipulation: in fact, the manipulation of the dough to obtain the disk and a "cornice" must be done by hand. Thus, since 5 February 2010, Neapolitan pizza has been officially recognized as a guaranteed traditional specialty of the European Community.
The pasta must be made with a dough of soft wheat flour and without other fats (oil, lard, etc.). It must be soft and elastic, thanks to a long leavening and must be rolled out by hand into a disc shape without touching the edges. The edges created when spreading by hand will allow the typical "cornice" to be obtained during cooking. A crown of 1 or 2 cm with large internal honeycombs
True Neapolitan pizza is defined in only two ways:
Pizza marinara: with tomato, garlic, oregano and oil.Pizza Margherita: with tomato (San Marzano is ideal), STG mozzarella strips, mozzarella (or rather fior di latte), basil and EVO oil.Since the 1980s, Neapolitan pizza chefs have introduced variations, some of which may fall within the "Neapolitan culinary tradition":
Capricciosa: tomato, mozzarella, grated parmesan, basil, mushrooms, artichokes, cooked ham, olives, oil. Not in Naples, in some cases salted anchovies and hard-boiled eggs are also added.Four seasons: normally the same ingredients as the capricciosa, each arranged in one of the four quadrants into which the pizza is divided, sometimes with thin strips of dough to divide them.Four cheeses: mozzarella, other cheeses at your discretion, basil.Calzone, i.e. baked filling: tomato, provola, grated cheese, ricotta and (your choice) salami or cooked ham.Fried Pizza NapoletanaA separate mention must be given to this pizza.
Neapolitan Fried Pizza is fully part of the tradition of Neapolitan cuisine.
The dough is practically the same as pizza margherita, but is more elastic and "prepared" for frying. Masardona is the post-war recipe. The disk of dough was fried and served hot. A perfect street food in a historical period in which Naples had to be completely rebuilt due to the German and then Allied bombs. In fact, on the street, in large cauldrons of oil, it was fried and served for a few lire.
In the years of the Italian boom, the 1960s, the masardona, which can still be eaten in Naples today, became a "richer" fried pizza. In fact, it was stuffed with new ingredients: cicoli and ricotta, or mozzarella and tomato.
The disc of dough is rolled out and the ingredients are inserted on one side only. They are covered with the unseasoned side and closes well. In hot oil for a few minutes.