Life in Italy

Pizza

One of the things that often surprises tourist is that pizza in Italy is quite different than the typical American pizza.

Pizza here is the (relatively) cheap way to eat out.  While dining at a restaurant here tends to be quite pricey, one can always get a pizza at a more reasonable price.  In fact, one can even go to a rather nice restaurant - better than could be otherwise affordable - and eat "on the cheap" by getting a pizza.

It can be tough to do this at midday however.  Most pizzerias or restaurants do not start serving pizza until supper time (starting around 7:30).  It is possible to find "Pizza a mezzo giorno" (Pizza for lunch), but not everywhere.  That is because most pizzerias cook their pizzas in a wood burning over.  Basically this is a large clay oven with a stone base.  They build a wood fire inside and keep it going for a few hours to heat things up.  The fire is kept burning on one side while the pizzas are cooked on the other.  This type of cooking makes a huge difference in the taste!

The pizza itself is very simple.  The crust is very thin and crunchy on the edges.  It is hand tossed, then topped with plain tomato sauce (albeit very good tomato sauce) with perhaps just a touch of fresh basil thrown in.  Then they top it with mozzarella cheese - although generally not as much as one would find on an American pizza.  That would be your plain or "Margherita" pizza (named after the Italian flag for the red sauce, green basil and white cheese). 

To this one can add toppings, of course.  It is actually easier here since everyone gets their own pizza.  That may sound like a lot, but because it is thin and light, it really is not too much to eat in one sitting.  One word of caution though, a pepperoni pizza in Italy had not the salami known as pepperoni in the US, but rather green peppers on it.

Enjoy!

NOTE: In the above I have described the "traditional" pizza.  They also have what they call "Trancio" pizza here.  That is a much thicker, raised crust with slightly more cheese and toppings.  It often is sold as "fast food" in rectangular pieces.