When it comes to pizza, the first thing that comes to mind is Pizza Hut, which is common in shopping malls. Pizza Hut’s pizza represents American pizza, which is still very different from the pizza in the country of origin. Americans still make jokes about Italians: The Mafia is rampant in the United States and opens pizza parlors wherever they go, causing us Americans to fall in love with this kind of flatbread mixed with cheese, vegetables and meat.
The Italians, who have always regarded the Mafia as a serious social issue, retorted: In our hearts, we will not accept American fast-food pizza restaurants like Pizza Hut and Domino's, just like Starbucks cannot attack us?
Knowledge point 1: So what is authentic Italian pizza?
The answer is Napoletana pizza? Margherita pizza from Naples. As early as the ancient Roman period, there was a common folk snack in Naples: round dough cakes made with flour and water, cooked on hot stones, and finally sprinkled with spices, olive oil and honey to eat.
Italian pizza focuses on simple ingredient combinations, traditional oven baking, simple and unpretentious appearance, but mellow and delicious taste. There are two types of Neapolitan pizza, the classic Margherita pizza and the Mariana pizza. In 2015, Italy applied for and was successfully included in the World Intangible Cultural Heritage List relying on Neapolitan pizza.
Knowledge point 2: Why is it called pizza Margherita??
Time came to the summer of 1889 - when the Italian king and princess visited Naples, Queen Margaret had heard about the delicious pizza for a long time and came to Naples to taste it herself. The chef prepared three types of pizza for the queen: one with lard, cheese and basil leaves; one with olive oil, garlic and tomatoes; and one with fresh cheese, tomatoes and basil leaves.
Margaret likes the third type of pizza the most, especially the creative color matching - the white of fresh cheese, the red of tomatoes and the green of basil leaves coincide with the three colors of the national flag. Since then, this kind of pizza has been called "Margarita", which is still used today.
This legend started with Pizzeria Brandi, a pizza shop in Naples, which has been open since 1780. Of course, it still exists today. Friends who are lucky enough to go to Naples may wish to go and trace it on the spot. In fact, this famous Margherita pizza may have been created a few years before the Queen's visit. Now it seems that it is just a very successful marketing, but it also shows that Italians have a deep-rooted passion for pizza, and it has naturally become Italy's "national food".
And the cheese can only be mozzarella, preferably Bufala, the buffalo cheese from Paestum.
The best tomatoes come from San Marzano, and the tomatoes here are called "Pomodoro" by Italians, not the "Tomato" that ordinary Americans call.
This standard comes from the hometown of pizza - Naples, an important town in southern Italy, where there is the highest court in the pizza industry - the Naples Pizza Standards Association (Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana). If any of the above points are inconsistent, it cannot be called a "Margherita" pizza in the strict sense. No matter what, this also represents the glory of the Italian royal family.
Thin dough, baked thickly, with soup in the middle
For Italians, pizza is just a snack, used to socialize with beer, rather than "satisfying hunger" in the eyes of Americans. staple food." Therefore, Italians focus on enjoying the toppings of pizza. The bottom of the pizza must be light and thin. A skilled pizza chef can hide a layer of soup between the pizza crust and the toppings.
The flour used to make the cake base has very strict requirements - it can only be flour with the "00" number, and a maximum of 20% of the "0" numbered flour can be mixed in. The crust made with other flours is not qualified Italian pizza at all.
In addition, the dough needs to be placed in the oven for at least 10 hours. Note that an ordinary oven is not qualified, it must be a wood stove (an oak, cherry or apple wood fire is better). When baking, the temperature should reach 485 degrees Celsius.
Knowledge point 3: Margherita pizza? What does Margherita look like?
Margherita is a classic pizza and a super popular product! Ingredients are San Marzano tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, buffalo cheese (mozzarella cheese), basil leaves, and virgin olive oil.
Although the ingredients are simple, it is a staple food that many Italians will never tire of eating throughout their lives. There is an old saying in Naples: Don’t eat pizza that is too complicated, as it is expensive and harmful to the stomach. Pizza looks simple, but in fact its sauce is extremely rich. Only when the sauce and dough are perfectly blended can a pizza be qualified.
Knowledge point 4: What is pizza Marinara like?
Using San Marzano tomatoes, garlic, oregano leaves (mint leaves) and virgin olive oil as raw materials
Knowledge point 5: Where to eat Neapolitan pizza?
The Italian people are well known for their dedication to delicious food.
The answer is: Antica Pizzeria Da Michele, a century-old classic pizza restaurant in Naples. This restaurant was founded in 1870 and became famous because the Julia Roberts movie "Eat, Pray, Love" was filmed here. Only the classic Margherita and Mariana pizzas are sold here. Margaret is 4 yuan! Double cheese is only 5 yuan! A big one! (As I write this, I am already extremely greedy...)
Address: Via Cesare Sersale, 1-3, 80139 Napoli, Italy
Knowledge point 6:? Pizza and horses What does it have to do with Polo?
The answer is it doesn’t matter! If you search for the origin of pizza, you will definitely see it: It is said that when Marco Polo traveled to China, he ate the scallion pie from northern China and never forgot it. Although I didn’t know how to bake it, I still dreamed about it, so at a party, I vividly described the scallion pie I had eaten in China to a chef friend from Naples. But it failed and ended up eating the fillings on the flatbread. The chef tried it a few more times and added other toppings, and the pizza was born!
However, this is very serious nonsense. There is a very serious flaw in this statement, because in the 13th century when Marco Polo lived, tomatoes, the most important ingredient on pizza, had not yet been introduced to Europe! The history of eating tomatoes is not very long, only more than 400 years, and it really has nothing to do with Marco Polo in the 13th century.
Knowledge point 7: Can a lot of meat be put on pizza?
The answer is no. In the Italian concept, there can only be one kind of meat on each pizza.
For example, the ingredients for pork pizza can be Parma ham and salami (a kind of cured sausage popular among people in Southern Europe). The seafood pizza includes sardines, tuna, prawns, seaweed, etc.
You won’t see pizza with a variety of meats in Italy, and you won’t see chicken, lamb or beef pizza either.
But the United States has always been a paradise for meat lovers. As long as it is given by the butcher, they will happily accept it. The same is true when it comes to pizza. Italians call Americans typical "nouveau riche" - not only do they make pies boldly, but they also dare to "greet" any kind of meat on pizza, and they even directly call it "trash can."
>>>Knowledge link: What are the general choices for toppings on Italian pizza? For example, Prosciutto (the famous Italian ham, divided into raw and cooked types: raw ham - Prosiutto Crudo; cooked ham - Prosciutto Cotto), Funghi (mushroom), Salame Piccante (Italian ham, a little spicy and a little salty), Carciofi (Artichokes, the king of vegetables and one of the main ingredients of Four Seasons Pizza), olives, etc.
Knowledge point 8: Do you put pineapple in Italian pizza?
The answer is no! It is said that pizza is a very inclusive food, but in Italy, pizza is also very particular about simplicity. It can put cheese, vegetables, and meat, but it cannot put pineapple. It is not so much that it cannot put "pineapple" , it’s better to just say that you can’t put fruit! Including but not limited to pineapple, durian, etc.
In 1960, a Canadian uncle named Sam Panopoulos sprinkled a can of pineapple on the surface of pizza. Just the year before, Hawaii became the 50th state of the United States, so he had the idea to call this pizza "Hawaiian Pizza." Then, Hawaiian pizza became a classic. Not surprisingly, the Italian people naturally strongly resisted this pizza for the following reasons:
*Pizza must be salty, sweet pizza does not exist in the lives of Italians.
*As a fruit, pineapple is rich in water. After baking, the entire dough will be wet and sticky, which completely ruins the appearance and dining experience of the pizza.
*The water contained in pineapple makes it dissipate heat slower than other ingredients. It is possible that the pineapple is still very hot and will burn the tongue and mouth first.
In the eyes of Italians, adding fruit on pizza is like rinsing fruit in hot pot. It is too far-fetched and cannot be tolerated! So when you go to an authentic Italian pizza restaurant, don’t say what you want to eat such as durian pizza, Hawaiian pizza, or fruit pizza. That’s definitely a joke! flow! Hooligan! It's a "mix and match" that Italians can't stand. If you do this, you will definitely suffer critical damage!
Warm reminder: It is not impossible to eat sweet pizza in Italian pizza restaurants, such as hazelnut chocolate pizza, which is rich and delicious.
Knowledge point 10: Can you share a pizza at an Italian pizza restaurant?
The answer is no! Because in Italy, one pizza is usually for one person, not shared! Even if the pizza you order is larger than the plate, you will usually eat it yourself. Moreover, the store sells them in whole pieces and does not cut them into pieces and does not give you the possibility of sharing them.
However, it is not difficult to eat a piece of pizza, especially the thin and delicious Italian pizza. If your appetite is really small, you can let your stomach empty before going to the pizza shop.
Knowledge point 11: Can you eat Italian pizza elegantly with a knife and fork?
Yes, you can, but let’s just skip it and get started! How simple! When talking about eating Italian food, what comes to everyone's mind is this scene - sitting at attention on a long dining table, holding a knife and fork elegantly! But in fact, in Italy, eating pizza doesn’t have much to pay attention to. Just tear it open and put it in your mouth, enjoy it! If you don’t want to tear it, just fold it or roll it up. The flexibility of Italian pizza is very nice~!
Knowledge point 12: Is it better to pair Italian pizza with wine?
That’s right. How can it not be worthy of “fine wine”? ! But drinking wine also requires pairing. Pair it with white wine when enjoying pasta, seafood and other delicacies, and pair it with red wine when enjoying heavy red meat! And pizza goes well with beer, cola or sparkling water! If you want to experience the most original and authentic Italian pizza style, then try Italian local beer, it will be absolutely refreshing!
Knowledge point 13: Is it okay to eat pizza in any restaurant in Italy?
Eating pizza in Italy is really easy. It can be found in every corner of the streets and alleys. But if you are going to eat pizza, it is generally recommended to choose Pizzeria. Of course, other types of Italian restaurants like Ristorante, Trattoria, and Osteria also sell pizza, but they are certainly not as authentic as Pizzeria, which only sells pizza! After all, they have been doing this thing for decades, or even hundreds of years, so it’s no surprise that they make the most delicious pizza!
I have something to say: There are many famous century-old pizzerias in Italy that don’t give you many flavor choices. For example, they only sell Margherita and Marinara, and they are not very good-looking. You feel arrogant whether you like it or not, but the more you do it, the more likely you are to eat authentic and good pizza! Because people just have the capital to be arrogant!
Knowledge point 14: Is Italian pizza just thin-crust pizza?
Wrong, "thin base" is not a unified feature of Italian pizza. The most representative Neapolitan pizza and Roman pizza are well-deserved thin-crust pizzas, but there are also many regions in Italy that are rich in thick-crust pizza, such as Sicily's thick and fluffy Sfincone, Genoa's thick pizza Sardenara, etc.
Roman square pizza: Square pizza, also known as "slice pizza", is generally baked in an electric oven using a rectangular thin-bottomed baking pan, and is sold in slices and weighed. We can see it in simple pizza shops, bakeries or supermarkets on the roadside. The ingredients are not too particular, ranging from "light pizza" with only cheese to "luxury pizza" piled with various toppings.
Sicilian pizza? Sapori Ideali
This pizza looks a bit like our flatbread, with tomatoes, onions, anchovies and bread crumbs placed on the surface. After baking, both appearance and taste give people a fluffy feeling. But some Italians don't admit that this "pizza" is authentic pizza, but interestingly, Sicilian pizza is also the ancestor of American pizza.
Pizza Sardenara?: It comes from Genoa, the capital of Liguria. Traditional Sardinara pizza dough is thicker than regular pizza and generally consists of onions, garlic, anchovies and black olives. It is also popular in southern France and is a traditional food in Nice, Marseille, Toulon and other places.
Half-moon pizza?cooking channel
It basically follows the method of Neapolitan pizza, but it only spreads the ingredients on one side. After spreading the ingredients, fold the round pizza dough , use a fork to press the edges of the pie tightly. Fillings include ricotta cheese, mozzarella, salami and Parma ham.
Toto, the most famous comedian in the history of Italian film, has a classic line about pizza, "I'll treat you to pizza, but don't bring me the money!" This has also become a common joke among Italian friends over dinner. if.
Toto is from Naples and once wrote in an essay: "The pizza box is square, the pizza is round, and it is cut into triangles when eating. Look, life is full of flavors. In a piece of pizza."
By the way, when you lift the pizza, remember to say "Buono appetito?" before eating!