The Pizza

 

Vocabulary

shore	proper	draw/drew/drawn
dough	cuisine	greengrocer
brick	regional	ingredient
basil	genuine	Neapolitan
flavor	crucial	seasoning
yeast	sample	fundamental
spiral	buffalo	homogeneous
mass	sprinkle	mozzarella
mild	topping	concentrate
vital	simmer	alternative
peel	kneed	represent
edge	intense	draw (2)

 

 

 

 

 

Video: The Pizza Margarita

 

Transcript

Naples at the foot of Mt. Vesuvius and on the shore of the Mediterranean draws a million tourists every year.

When it comes to cuisine, the city is know for one thing: pizza.

On Via Del Tribunali, there are plenty of pizzerias to choose from. It’s said that Italy’s best pizzas are baked right there.

One of the city’s oldest pizzerias is Bandi. Here they make it exactly the same way they did a century ago.

Enrico Palumbo is going to show us how to the traditional Pizza Margarita is made in Naples.

The pizzaolo, or pizza chef, begins his day with a visit to the local greengrocer.

The true Neapolitan pizza uses only regional ingredients for everything from the dough to the seasonings.

Enrico Palumbo, Pizza Chef: “The ingredients are fundamental to making a good pizza: they have to be healthy and intense in flavor, like these tomatoes and fresh basil. Only then does pizza have that genuine taste.”

Back at Brandi, the chef knows that the dough is crucial to the success of a Pizza Margarita.

In the kneeding machine, water, salt, yeast and flour are mixed to a homogeneous mass.

Then Enrico Palumbo forms the dough into balls, and leaves them to rise for four hours.

But one vital ingredient is still missing.

Enrico: “Good day sir, as always, exactly on time. And there we have it: the fior di latte. I’ll just sample a bit.”

The local dairy, Saudino delivers cheese fresh to the pizzeria’s door. Today it’s fior di latte, a mild mozzarella produced from cows’ milk just last night.

A stronger alternative would be buffalo mozzarella.

Now Enrico concentrates on the topping. For the sulgoa sauce, he simmers peels chopped tomatoes for an hour at low heat. The resulting tomato sauce is spread on the dough in a spiral, leaving the edges free.

Then he sprinkles mozzarella over the sauce. The pizza is topped off with a few basil leaves, and a little olive oil.

Pizza Margarita received its name about 125 years ago.

The topping has remained unchanged ever since.

Enrico: “Pizza Margarita was originally baked in honor of Queen Margarita. The red tomatoes, white cheese and green basil represent the colors of the Italian flag.”

Now the pizza goes into the oven.

In Naples, pizza chefs only use wood-fired brick ovens, which heat up to 500 degrees Celsius.

The pizza has to be turned several times to ensure that it bakes evenly.

After just 60 to 90 seconds, Italy’s national dish comes out of the oven and on to a plate.

What’s the proper way to eat a pizza?

Whether with a knife and fork, or a portfolio — folded and with the hands — here, anything goes.

In Naples, it’s traditional to drink beer, not wine, with your Pizza Margarita.

Bon Apetito!

  Questions

1. What can you say about Naples?

2. The pizza chef goes shopping for all the pizza ingredients. Is this true or false? Does he use canned tomato sauce?

3. What happened 125 years ago?

4. Do they use electric, gas or a wood-burning oven?

5. The pizza bakes quickly. Yes or no?

6. Is there only one, proper way to eat pizza?

7. In Naples, people usually eat pizza with wine. Is this correct or wrong?

 

A. Pizza is very popular in my city. Yes or no? If yes, when did pizza start to become popular?

B. Are there many different types of pizzas and pizzarias?

C. What are other popular meals or snacks in your city?

D. What will happen in the future?

E. Would you like to open a restaurant or food stand?