Pizza Wars
Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi has lost a lot of respect through his questionable
politics and
plastic surgery, but his administration recently passed a piece of conservative legislation that is upsetting Italian business owners: the process and ingredients for making
Neapolitan pizza have been strictly regulated. (Story was first covered
weeks ago, but the
Times article offers more squabbling of pizzeria owners.) The Association of Real Neapolitan Pizza urged the new laws to help brand Naples as "the cradle of pizza." We really like our pizza here at Amy's Robot, and I can understand the need for standards (as one of Naples' foremost pizza makers says, "Pizza with pineapples? That's a cake.") However, one of the Naples pizzerias that will be declassified as Neapolitan pizza is
Da Michele, one of the best and cheapest pizzerias that I, or anyone else travelling in Naples using a budget travelers' guide, have ever been to. Under the new laws it may be an outlaw pizzeria, but it's the real deal. The menu consists of the following: cheese pizza; marinara pizza; Coke; beer. I admire its uncomplicatedness. I doubt the lines of locals and travelers at Da Michele will shorten based on government certification of the pizza.
Can you imagine what would happen if New York State passed laws regulating the size, ingredients, baking time, and flavors of bagels, and H&H was suddenly declared a producer of unworthy New York bagels? Their inclusion of the "everything" bagel flavor is suspiciously progressive.
categories:
Culture, International
posted by amy at 10:29 AM | #
