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Neapolitan pizza

Friday, 7 July 2023 - 11:00 am (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination: European Union / Europäische Union
Category/Kategorie: General, Bon appétit, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  4 minutes

🔊 Listen to this Post Neapolitan pizza (Italian: pizza napoletana), also known as Naples-style pizza, is a style of pizza made with tomatoes and mozzarella cheese. The tomatoes must be either San Marzano tomatoes or Pomodorino del Piennolo del Vesuvio, which grow on the volcanic plains to the south of Mount Vesuvius. The cheese must be Mozzarella di Bufala Campana, a protected designation of origin cheese made with the milk from water buffalo raised in the marshlands of Campania and Lazio in a semi-wild state, or fior di latte, a cow’s milk mozzarella created according to the procedure for which it was registered as a Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (TSG). Pizza napoletana is a TSG product in the European Union and the United Kingdom, and the art of its making is included on UNESCO‘s list of intangible cultural heritage. Motivated by the success, Italy is now promoting the inclusion of all Italian cuisine in the world heritage. It has been part of the Mediterranean Cuisine World Heritage in parts since 2010.

According to the rules proposed by the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana, the genuine Neapolitan pizza dough consists of wheat flour, natural Neapolitan yeast or brewer’s yeast, salt and water. The dough is always fat-free and sugar-free. The regulations specify that the dough must be made primarily from a medium-strength (W value of 250–320; 11–13.5% protein), finely ground wheat flour, with no more than 20% of the flour being strong flour (W value above 350). Since the end of World War II in Italy, when strong flour was imported from Canada as part of the Marshall Plan, this strong flour has been called Manitoba flour.

The dough must be kneaded by hand or with a low-speed mixer. After the rising process, the dough must be formed by hand without the help of a rolling pin or other machine, and may be no more than 3 millimeters (0.12 in) thick. The pizza must be baked for 60–90 seconds in a 485 °C (905 °F) wood-fired oven. When cooked, it should be soft, elastic, tender and fragrant.

There are different variants, with the original one being called “pizza Margherita“, topped with tomato, mozzarella, basil, and extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO), sometimes with parmesan cheese sprinkled on top. Other variants are: pizza marinara, topped with tomato, garlic, oregano, and EVOO, and pizza Margherita DOP, made with tomato, buffalo mozzarella from Campania, basil, and EVOO. The pizza napoletana is a Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (TSG) product in Europe. The TSG certification attests that a particular food product objectively possesses specific characteristics which differentiate it from all others in its category, and that its raw materials, composition or method of production have been consistent for a minimum of 30 years.

Read more on CNN, 3 January 2024: Italy divided over new pineapple pizza, CNN, 9 February 2024: National Pizza Day 2024: Slice into some absurd facts and Wikipedia Neapolitan pizza (Smart Traveler App by U.S. Department of State - Weather report by weather.com - Global Passport Power Rank - Travel Risk Map - Democracy Index - GDP according to IMF, UN, and World Bank - Global Competitiveness Report - Corruption Perceptions Index - Press Freedom Index - World Justice Project - Rule of Law Index - UN Human Development Index - Global Peace Index - Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index). Photos by Wikimedia Commons. If you have a suggestion, critique, review or comment to this blog entry, we are looking forward to receive your e-mail at comment@wingsch.net. Please name the headline of the blog post to which your e-mail refers to in the subject line.