27-08-2015

Pizza unites people

Improved essence and multiple ways of consumption. Yet the convivial spirit doesn’t change

The wall at the entrance of the pavilion of the Re

The wall at the entrance of the pavilion of the Republic of Korea at Expo. Every tag answers this question: «What is your favourite food?». Pizza wins, says Matteo Aloe, the author of this piece and a leading figure in the nouvelle vague of Italian pizza with Berberè

A question is being asked on the entrance wall to the pavilion of the Republic of Korea at Expo: «What is your favourite food?». You can answer by simply writing a tag on the wall. I took a photo of the word pizza, but zooming a little and reading closer the words in pen, in this small square the word pizza appears at least five times (you can play and try to find more). The world loves pizza. I wonder: is there another dish that is so globally delicious? And I also wonder: what pizzas do they eat around the world? From the frozen one in Norway to the thick American one, to the Roman, Neapolitan ones, the rolled ones and the ones in the baking tin. The list is endless.

Lots has been done in the past five years about pizza, in Italy and abroad (just think that at Bæst in Copenhagen mozzarella is homemade). If this trend continues, we will probably give once again attention and pride to a product that needs to be made with few yet super good ingredients, used with the right technique so as to give people what they deserve.

From left, Gino Sorbillo (Sorbillo, Lievito Madre...), Gennaro Salvo (Pizza a Portafoglio, Naples), Matteo Aloe (Berberè in Castelmaggiore, Bologna and Florence)

From left, Gino Sorbillo (Sorbillo, Lievito Madre...), Gennaro Salvo (Pizza a Portafoglio, Naples), Matteo Aloe (Berberè in Castelmaggiore, Bologna and Florence)

Pizza unites people, even the take away one you eat from the cardboard box in front of a film, because in fact in that moment pizza gives you the company you would wish for. Pizza makes children happy, in every shape: I still remember on Saturday nights when I’d hear screaming “pissaaaaaaa!!!” at home. You can eat it in the street, like the one you fold “a portafoglio” made by Gennaro Salvo, in Via Toledo 246 in Naples, or wait for your name to be cried from the megaphone after waiting for around one hour in Via de’ Tribunali at Gino Sorbillo’s, only to finish it in a few minutes and leave with a sense of fulfilment for the day.

I had a beautiful trip to Naples, recently, where what with tomatoes, flour, oil and mozzarella what truly wins is the history of each place. You can also eat pizza fine-dining-style, at Simone Padoan’s in San Bonifacio (Verona): who would have ever thought it would be possible to have a pizza based tasting menu that included pigeons, red prawns and scallops with yuzu?

Berberè is the synthesis of various concepts: it is no chance it was born in Bologna, the city uniting the North and South of Italy. Pizza is made with obsessive attention, from the dough to the topping, it is sliced so it can be shared. The menu includes classic pairings (recommended if you want to eat pizza by yourself) and a little more creative ones to trigger your tasting desire: the tasting menu makes it easier to dare, without the risk of exchanging a slice of pizza with the other guest (you always exchange a slice, in every situation) and think «Damn it, I like this one more» for the duration of the meal.

You can taste Matteo Aloe’s pizzas also at Expo, at "Pizza and Cereals", inside the organic pavilion (in the photo, the one with courgettes, sweet and sour onion from Tropea, potatoes and fiordilatte cheese, in the menu in July)

You can taste Matteo Aloe’s pizzas also at Expo, at "Pizza and Cereals", inside the organic pavilion (in the photo, the one with courgettes, sweet and sour onion from Tropea, potatoes and fiordilatte cheese, in the menu in July)

Our way of serving pizzas in slices allows people to always taste hot flavours and always right out of the oven, it induces people to share their impressions while chatting, and bring back the attention to the product that’s being tasted. Perhaps there’s no longer the boccone del prete in the middle of the pizza [the central part that once was left for the end], but for some this is today the edge used to pick the solitary caper from Salina left on the plate in the centre of the table, for the dismay of the person who was aiming for it but was too shy to be fast enough.


Dall'Italia

Reviews, recommendations and trends from Italy, signed by all the authors of Identità Golose

by

Matteo Aloe