The pizzaiuolo craft, twirling the dough and baking it in a wood-fired brick oven, has been handed down for generations and encompasses the social ritual of songs, stories and gestures that takes place between pizza makers ("pizzaiuoli") and diners in working class Neapolitan neighbourhoods.
It was less well known outside the Italian city of Naples.
That certainly changed after the UN's cultural body gave it world heritage status. Pizza-makers in Naples celebrated by handing out free pizza on the streets. "After 250 years of waiting, pizza is humanity's heritage, its intangible heritage," Neopolitan pizza maker Enzo Coccia told the BBC.
The traditional Neapolitan pizza has two classic versions.
One is the Margherita with tomato, mozzarella, oil and basil, which has the same red white and green colours as the Italian flag and is believed to have been named after Italy's Queen Margherita of Savoy.
The other is the Marinara, with tomato, garlic, oregano and oil.
The practice of pizzaiuolo consists of a few stages: first the dough (water, flour, salt and yeast) must be kneaded by fist for at least 15 minutes, then allowed to rest and rise for 12 hours. Next balls or panetti are formed and left to rest some more. Then the dough is stretched and beaten into a circle. Finally the toppings are added, and the pizza is placed in the oven and rotated with a pizza shovel to ensure uniform baking. Two minutes is all it takes.
Comments