Hi all,
I've just been lurking the list in the last few months, as my newborn second
child is draining all my energies and attentions, but this discussion
definitely caught my eye as it deals with one of the things we italians are
more proud of... :)
It's (partially) true that here in Italy we tend to be somehow chauvinist
about food, and that each and every of our 20 regions claims its cuisine as
being the best with respect to the others (if not to the world as a whole).
It's certainly true, indeed, that italian cuisine has been spoiled of its
original mix of simplicity and genuinity having been literally abused - by
italian emigrants in first place - when re-interpretated all over the world
(i've seen some "carbonara" recipes widely circulating over the Internet,
that really made me wonder how could such a mess be ever eaten).
And pizza makes no exception.
Pizza purists (as many of the most famous "pizzaiuoli" in Naples and
surroundings) allow only two different types of pizza to be considered as
such: the "margherita" (with san marzano tomatoes, mozzarella di bufala,
basil leaves and olive oil), and the "marinara" (with san marzano tomatoes,
oregano, a bit of minced garlic and olive oil). And they all should
mandatorily be cooked in wood-fired oven.
Other 'tolerated' variations are more or less widely known (as the
'napoletana', a kind of margherita or marinara with anchovies, the 'quattro
stagioni', the 'capricciosa' and the 'diavola' or 'calabrese'), but they
still tend to have toppings that do not exceed four or five distinct
ingredients.
As a constant, the topping should not be too thick (tomatoes included) or
exaggerate, and the pizza itself should be really thin, with 'crunchy'
borders being definitely thicker than the base.
Assuming that one's tastes cannot be debated, I am anyhow sure that what the
rest of the world calls 'pizza' is something really different from what it
was originally meant to be...
Indeed, replacing san marzano tomatoes with simple tomato sauce, mozzarella
di bufala with other (decent) latticini, using an (at least) non-toxic mix
of wheat flour, water, yeast and salt for the dough should give decent
results too, even if baked in an electric oven, unless you stick yourself in
adding pineapple and french fries to the topping... :)
As for the original question, my favourite pizza is the "napoletana", with
salted anchovies added just a few seconds before taking the pizza out of the
oven, in case someone cares... :)
Ciao!
Fabio
PS: a pizza made according to the above mentioned rules is anything but a
'culinary dustbin'! Nutritionists all agree that it's a well balanced and
complete dish, if you dare asking... :)
On Wed, Feb 25, 2009 at 12:05 PM, John Hudson <OM4T@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> .......... and all served up in folded over pages from yesterday's
> newspaper.
>
> You forgot those lime green mushy peas !
>
> jh
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Ian Manners" <oice500@xxxxxxxxxx>
> To: "Olympus Camera Discussion" <olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Wednesday, February 25, 2009 1:09 AM
> Subject: Re: [OM] pizza, was New Bessa Pics
>
>
> > How I miss the old fish n chips from days long gone.
> > Real beer batter, real local grown pototoes, and real vegy balls.
> >
> > Cheers
> > Ian Manners
> > http://www.comkal.net/
> >
> > well it worked on Monty Python!
> > --
> > _________________________________________________________________
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> > Themed Olympus Photo Exhibition: http://www.tope.nl/
> >
> >
>
>
> --
> _________________________________________________________________
> Options: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/listinfo/olympus
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>
>
--
The definitive answer to the meaning of life, universe and everything else
is: 42.
--
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