Like a Big Pizza Pie...

In my opinion, when the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, you are obligated to eat the whole dang thing. The "amore" is just too complicated. Even my Italian friends would agree that lovely latin lovers come and go, but in Italy (specifically in the same region as Naples), la pizza is securely immortal.

Even here in Sant'Agata exists an extreme pizza pride. Everyone has their own opinion on what toppings are best, how the pizza should be cut, how it should be eaten, what type of oven it should be cooked in, who makes it best, and if it's acceptable to eat it more than 100 kilometers outside of Naples. As a foreigner, these various opinions were overwhelming because frankly all the pizza tasted good to me, but after three solid months of eating pizza at least once or twice a week, I've begun to develop my own narrow minded habits.

First off, the whole, personal pizza is much better than the "American" pizza slices. Maybe it's because it would never be socially acceptable in America to order a pizza the size of a large platter and eat the whole thing without an ounce of guilt, but here that's the beautiful norm. Don’t worry, your stomach magically adjusts to eating that much at once. Secondly, pizza is much better when cooked in a wood-fired oven. You can taste the difference in the vague smokiness, and the heat of the wood gives the crust a slightly burnt, crunchy edge. When your whopper of a pizza comes out of the fire and the waiter at Il Barbaro (my favorite pizza place) gives it to you, it’s necessary to immediately cut it into quarters, leaving four pieces, that are to be folded in half and eaten like a sandwich. Finally, no….no you should not eat pizza outside of the Naples region let alone outside of Italy. I, the American, found pizza in Florence, Italy unappealing, which leaves little hope for my return to America.

Toppings deserve their own paragraph because they can truly make a good pizza. The universal favorite is the basic margarita. Here that entails only tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, and frequently a piece of basil or two. It’s hard to go wrong with this classic, but it is always made better “buffala” style with buffalo mozzarella. Another good one is a pizza bianca (cheese without sauce) with French fries and occasionally a sausage similar to a hot dog, but really how can you go wrong with carb on carb action. However, in my calm, objective opinion, the perfection of prosciutto crudo, arugula, and parmegiano reggianno over a pizza bianca can never, ever be beaten.

My First Real Pizza: Look at the Pizza and Look at My Face...

The World Could Not Be Happier