«Francesco Martucci from Caserta, 41, awarded as best pizzaiolo in Italy and in the world»: with only a few words Paolo Marchi perfectly depicted the protagonist of one of the episodes of Identità on the road, that is to say the owner of I Masanielli, the pizzeria chosen by Top 50 Pizza as the best of the year. Sitting one in front of the other in the large dining room in Caserta, Martucci and Marchi went through the debut of a career that turned out to be bright, starting from the love for pizza and ending in an avantgarde approach, while never abandoning a solid rooting in tradition.
Martucci and Paolo Marchi
«My passion for pizza was born out of necessity –
Martucci explains, while going down memory lane – my father was not a pizzaiolo, my mother's brother was. I started working at 10, at the time our family had quite a few problems, so I started by washing dishes, cleaning bathrooms, floors in a pizzeria. Then in the evening, since I was fascinated, I would watch the pizzaiolo work behind his counter. I was a child. To me this was just a beautiful game. When I was 11, maybe 12, I overcame my shyness, and at the end of the evening I asked if I could make a pizza myself. I still remember that day: it changed my life».
Martucci behind the counter of his pizzeria
A first experiment, spurred from childhood curiosity, turned out to be enlightening: «I remember every detail, as if it were today, even the moment when I truly understood that would be my road, my future. I was 13, I was in the pizzeria and the pizzaiolo was late, stuck in traffic. We had already opened and, even though it was early, an old lady arrived and asked for two pizzas to take away. I offered to make them myself: one was
Margherita and the other just with Fiordilatte. They came out really nicely, almost perfect, and they required different cooking too. Making them and seeing them come out of the oven, so beautiful, thrilled me. I understood that was my life».
The steamed and then fried dough of the Futuro di Marinara
The story of
Francesco Martucci continues with his first experience behind the counter: «I have only worked in two places, before opening my pizzeria, and I spent a decent amount of time in both. The first experience without a teacher by my side was in a takeaway pizzeria. I started at 17, and the pizzeria too had just opened. In the first days I prepared 30 pizzas per evening, but in a few months' time they became 200 per day. I was lucky enough to have a teacher who had an avantgarde approach even at the time. Doing what everyone else did was not enough to us. Instead, we discussed hydration, maturation, an approach I never abandoned. I learnt that for a pizzaiolo sensitivity is a crucial gift: it's not enough to follow the numbers, you must feel things».
