STORM2K

Italian Law on Pizza Purity a Mouthful

The draft law to separate pure pizza from the putative kind - all three pages, eight articles and six sub-clauses of it - was published under the state seal in the Official Gazette on Tuesday.

(Reuters)
Rome - It may be too early to talk about "Pizza Police", but Italian legislators are pondering a draft law that lays down rules to protect real Neapolitan pizza.
The draft law to separate pure pizza from the putative kind - all three pages, eight articles and six sub-clauses of it - was published under the state seal in the Official Gazette on Tuesday. It decrees that a Neapolitan pizza must be round and no more than 35 centimetres in diameter. The centre should be no higher than 0.3 centimetres and the crust cannot rise over two centimetres. The law specifies what kind of flour, salt, yeast and tomatoes have to be used.
The sub-clauses go even further. The classic Margherita type must be topped not with just any type of mozzarella but mozzarella "from the southern Apennine" mountains. And restaurateurs beware, because you can't call a pizza a "Margherita extra" unless it is topped with mozzarella made from buffalo milk, a southern Italian speciality. Rolling pins are blasphemous and dough machines are heretical. The law says the dough must be kneaded by hand.

Take a whiff of this phrase from a government document that usually offers the latest on tax brackets and bilateral trade: "On the whole, the pizza must be soft, elastic and easily foldable in half to form a 'libretto' (booklet)". If made to specifications, restaurants can label their pizzas STG, or Guaranteed Traditional Speciality.
Neapolitan pizza makers convinced the agriculture ministry to work up the law to protect their craft from bogus copies. The law, which can still be modified before it becomes effective, makes provision for "controls" on restaurants but gives no details.
In a front-page story on Wednesday, Italy's leading financial daily, Il Sole 24 Ore, gave it a half-baked review.

"There's no point in closing the stable door now that the horse has bolted," the paper said, noting that people and restaurants the world over were making pizza any way they wanted.

(Reuters/Philip Pullella)

I've never had a true Italian pizza, but I'm willing to bet they are the best. The closest I've come is NY style pizza which is the best available here in the states. What's your opinion on this Pizza Law Paolo? Do you think it's necessary to stop the competition?
...Jennifer...

I guess we shall protect our traditions. A good pizza made with the right elements all coming from our country is something precious. The place, the air makes the difference too. You can never eat a real Italian Pizza (or a real Italian plate of pasta) if you're not in Italy. Be aware anyway: many places here make their cooking pleaseable to tourists. What we eat daily is another story
Don't be afraid to travel, don't be afraid to experience new things. When in Rome, forget McDonald's, Burger King, Planet Hollywood and enjoy "Lo Scopettaro", "Da Gigi al Portico d'Ottavia", "Agustarello" and many other places where no matter how gently you sak, no one will serve you a "cappuccino" after meal. *yeach*

My favorite is an "Italian Government banned", Sicilian THICK crust pizza...the Chicago style, as made at Talayna's in STL. Started off with an artichoke heart plate, then pizza, red wine, and whatever gelati they have on hand for the day.

Wait a minute, I thought Pizza originated in the USA and was merely copied by Italians.

We have a restaurant chain called Original Italian Pizza. I thought they started it.

(razzing Paolo)

My kids don't discriminate. We get frozen single-serving pizzas at our supermarket. I go for the generic, "Big Top" brand. 88 cents each. Kids like 'em, my budget likes 'em.

I love pizza. Italian, ny style, chicago deep dish, weird california kinds...bbq. All delicious to me. You should try some of the pizza types in America Paolo they are yummy! I'll try an Italian kind.

If memory serves, pizza goes back to at least the 13th Century in Italy. Poor people could obtain large "family-sized" slices from bakers, and pay him for them at the end of the week...besides, pizza was an ingenious way of disposing of/reusing leftovers in an age without refrigeration or spices.

And I believe the first pizzas were mostly "vegetarian", since meat spoiled too quickly...correct me if I'm wrong, Paolo.

You're right street. Very first pizza was just covered by garlic.

And about american pizzas I had them often in the past. I spent some times in Dallas, Euless, Lake Conroe, Houston and Galveston.
I like them, as I like many "alien" foods. Yesterday I had two fantastic Double Cheese Burgers with the brand new (at least here) Pepper Cheese and a secret sauce, at Burger King.
The day before a delicious Doner Kebab in a turkish take-away.
Anyway, when I'm really hungry I do need my pasta or my pizza.
BTW my favourite pizza is, other than the classic Margherita, the "ricotta&spinaci" tomato, ricotta (fresh cheese) and spinach; and the famous "zola&mele": gorzonzola cheese and apples.

PaolofromRome wrote:I guess we shall protect our traditions. A good pizza made with the right elements all coming from our country is something precious. The place, the air makes the difference too. You can never eat a real Italian Pizza (or a real Italian plate of pasta) if you're not in Italy. Be aware anyway: many places here make their cooking pleaseable to tourists. What we eat daily is another story
Don't be afraid to travel, don't be afraid to experience new things. When in Rome, forget McDonald's, Burger King, Planet Hollywood and enjoy "Lo Scopettaro", "Da Gigi al Portico d'Ottavia", "Agustarello" and many other places where no matter how gently you sak, no one will serve you a "cappuccino" after meal. *yeach*

Indeed, pizza in Italy is TOTALLY different than the "American Version". While being stationed aboard the USS America CV-66 during our Meditteranean cruise, we spent a LOT of time in Italy, Naples was our home port in the Med. There was 3 of us who, whenever we'd pull into port, would take various tours around the country. I went to Pompeii, Venice, Rome and other towns that I cannot remember and every city/town we went to, we would have pizza....the big difference I found was the Olive Oil, most of the pizzas I had was DROWNED in olive oil. Now.....the BEST PASTA I ever had was in a seaport village, the sauce was a "seafood sauce"......every kind of seafood imaginable was served in a WONDERFUL tomato sauce *drools just THINKING about it*. Hey Paolo, what town/city is famous for making cameos? I remember the place very well, just cannot remember the name

Dennis

azsnowman wrote:Hey Paolo, what town/city is famous for making cameos? I remember the place very well, just cannot remember the name
Dennis

ehm Dennis... What u exactly mean with "cameos"? Can u describe 'em

Could you be thinkng of Capri?

My favorite type of pizza is 1 with pepperoni on it. My 2nd favorite would have to be barbecued chicken..

I myself can actually make a pretty good barbecued chicken pizza

My favorite: Pepperoni and Mushroom

Eric

I am allergic to shrooms

streetsoldier wrote:Could you be thinkng of Capri?

Hmmm......doesn't ring a bell, the tiny town was just outside of Pompeii. Paolo, a Cameo is a piece of ladies jewelry, a carved head of a woman, it's carved out of some sort of stone, it can either be a broach, a necklace, earrings etc. The *factory* of sorts is FULL of *little old men* with their jewelers glasses on carving the Cameos.

"Just outside of Pompeii"? It has to be Ercolano!

azsnowman wrote:

streetsoldier wrote:Could you be thinkng of Capri?

Hmmm......doesn't ring a bell, the tiny town was just outside of Pompeii. Paolo, a Cameo is a piece of ladies jewelry, a carved head of a woman, it's carved out of some sort of stone, it can either be a broach, a necklace, earrings etc. The *factory* of sorts is FULL of *little old men* with their jewelers glasses on carving the Cameos.

I know what a cameo is, actually I thought you were asking for some tipical food!!! That's why I spent many hours wondering what food sounds similar to a cameo here You owe me some hours of madness!!