COOKING IT THE ITALIAN WAY: Strict rules set for pizza-making
Pizza is now a stateless, boundless, flag-less food.
- Antonio Pace
Apparently, life in Italy is pretty damn good if this is the only thing that the Agriculture Ministry can find to worry about.
The rules, issued by the Agriculture Ministry and printed Tuesday in the country's Official Gazette, are part of Italy's efforts to protect its cuisine across the European Union, although it was not immediately clear what steps would be taken for enforcement.
The standards recognize only three types of real Neapolitan pizza: Marinara, with garlic and oregano; Margherita, with basil and mozzarella from the southern Apennines; and extra-Margherita, with fresh tomatoes, basil and buffalo mozzarella from Campania, the region that includes pizza's hometown, Naples.
The dough must be rolled out manually and baked in wood-burning ovens that can reach the required temperature of 905 degrees....
Restaurants that abide by the rules will get a label saying their pizza is a "guaranteed traditional specialty."
"These norms protect one of the most ancient and most important gastronomic traditions," said Antonio Pace, owner of one of Naples' oldest pizza restaurants and the president of a pizza-makers' association.
"We don't want the others not to make pizza, only we want them to make it as we make it -- as it should be done," he said Wednesday....
Financial daily Il Sole 24 Ore, which like many other Italian newspapers devoted a front-page story Wednesday to the pizza rules, described the move as "an act of love, but a desperate one."
Hey, as long I can get it delivered to my door within 30 minutes, the Italian Agricultural Ministry can kiss my furry white butt....
