Italians fight for their gastronomic heritage

Press, 15 August 1984, Page 24

Italians fight for their gastronomic heritage

NZPA-Reuter Naples

A new conservation group has sprung up in Italy with the aim of protecting what it says is an endangered species — the Neapolitan pizza. Restaurants around the world are taking in vain the name of the symbol of Naples cuisine and offering products which bear no relation to the original, says the Real Neapolitan Pizza Association.

“Pizza is not what it was,” said Tonino Aversano, one of the 20 long-estab-lished restaurant owners in Naples who have set up the association to promote and defend four types of pizza native to the city. ' The association will award membership to restaurants anywhere in the world that can satisfy its vetting committees that they follow Neapolitan tradition.

Mr Aversano, president of the Naples Restaurateurs’ Society, said that the group had no quarrel with restaurants that offered other types of pizza under different names.

“Other pizzas can be good but they are not Neapolitan — they are different products,” he told Reuters, "Our pizza is a particular type of product, not a dish to which you can add anything different.” The warm, sunny climate of Naples, making it an, ideal place to grow the tomatoes essential to the dish, has long established the city as the home of the pizza, Mr Aversano said. “Pizza is part of our culture.”

A Neapolitan pizza has a basic topping which includes basil, oil and salt but has none, of the fancy ingredients found in many overseas versions, the association says. The original is the “Marinara,” covered also with tomato, oregano, and garlic.

The “Margherita,” named in 1899 after Italy’s first queen, who was said to be partial to v it, has added tomato, mozzarella cheese, and grated cheese. Also traditional to Naples are the “Ripieno,” topped with cheese and salami or pork fat, and a basic cheese and tomato pizza. The association’s list of rules lays down precise ingredients, utensils, and booking methods. The dough must be left to rise for at least six hours, kneaded by hand, and cooked on the floor of a wood-burning oven.

Mixers, rolling pins, baking tins and electric ovens are forbidden. “A rolling pin destroys the rising qualities of the dough while a pizza not cooked with a living flame at high temperatures dries out,” explained Antonio Pace, director of the\

association. Member restaurants will be entitled to display the association’s emblem, showing Punchinello, a stock character in Neapolitan puppet theatre, with a pizza. In the background rises Vesuvius, the volcano which overlooks Naples. The circular sign is printed in red, green, and white — “the colours of the national flag and the basic colours of a Neapolitan

pizza,” said Mr Pace, who followed his father and grandfather into the restaurant trade.

Pizza has become an accepted dish and an accepted word in every part of the world, he said. “We believe there are about 10,000 pizza restaurants in the world, including the Soviet Union and China. “Pizza, in its journeys abroad,“has changed according to the tastes and gastronomic traditions of the countries where it is produced to the point that often it has lost the heritage of Naples.” The association plans to set up overseas committees to vet restaurants wanting to join and already has contacts in the United States, Britain, and France, Mr Pace said.

“Our sign will indicate those restaurants all over the world which are faithful to the Neapolitan tradition.

“We cannot tell people not to write Neapolitan pizza on their menus when it is not the real thing, but only our members will be able to display the sign.”

In return for the 500,000lire ($560) membership fee, the association plans to offer publicity, advice, and courses in Naples and overseas on pizza-making, Neapolitan style.

“It isn’t that we have any jealousies or want to keep a secret,” Mr Pace said, “We want to give all the information and help necessary to be able to find the real thing in any part of the world.”