Neapolitan Pizza / Southern‑Italian Pizza
Neapolitan Pizza / Southern‑Italian Pizza
Previously we talked about “What makes a good pizza?” Today, let’s take a look at Neapolitan Pizza, also known as Southern‑Italian Pizza, and its stylistic features.
Baking Neapolitan Pizza requires an extremely high oven temperature. As a result, its crust rim is often dotted with dark, leopard‑like charred spots. The tomato base sauce is spread only in the centre of the dough, leaving a wide outer rim for blistering and charring. Apart from the tomato sauce, you can barely find other toppings and ingredients. Minimalism is the defining pursuit of Neapolitan‑style pizza.
Neapolitans take great pride in their pizza. They regard the traditional preparation method of Neapolitan pizza as a precious heritage. As pizza‑making techniques and ingredients kept being experimented with and innovated across different regions, Neapolitan pizza makers founded the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana, abbreviated as AVPN. In 1984, this association obtained the well‑known European STG certification (STG stands for Specialità Tradizionale Garantita). The STG mark does not indicate geographical origin. Instead, it certifies that a product follows traditional ingredient proportions or traditional production methods. STG‑certified Neapolitan pizza must be strictly made in accordance with a set of traditional specifications. Every detail is regulated, from the type of flour, the final colour of the baked pizza, to the required baking temperature. The standard oven temperature must reach 485 °C, with a baking time between 50 and 90 seconds.
Pizzas granted the STG Traditional Guaranteed Specialty certification:
Pizza Margherita (Main ingredients: tomatoes, fior‑di‑latte mozzarella, basil, olive oil)
Pizza Margherita Extra (Main ingredients: tomatoes, buffalo‑milk mozzarella, basil, olive oil)
Pizza Marinara (also known as Sailor’s Pizza) (Main ingredients: tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, oregano)
In September 2017, UNESCO inscribed Neapolitan pizza‑making on its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. For hundreds of years, this refined craft embodies humanistic spirit. It has been referenced repeatedly in songs and plays of different eras, bringing people endless gustatory delight as well as spiritual enjoyment.
