Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Regional Focus
In reality, southern Italian cuisine encompasses the culinary traditions of five regions:
Campania, Puglia, Basilicata, Calabria and Sicily. They might share similarities, but they
are all distinctly unique. So raise your fork to the following appetite-piquing regional for-
tes.
Campania
Perfect Pizza
It was in Naples that the city's most famous
pizzaiolo,
Raffaele Esposito, invented the clas-
sic pizza margherita. Esposito was summoned to fire up a treat for a peckish King Umberto
I and his wife Queen Margherita on a royal visit in 1889. Determined to impress the Italian
royals, Esposito based his creation of tomato, mozzarella and basil on the red, white and
green flag of the newly unified Italy. The resulting topping met with the queen's approval
and was subsequently named in her honour.
Pizza purists claim that you really can't top Esposito's classic combo when made by a
true Neapolitan
pizzaiolo
(pizza chef). Not everyone is in accordance and Italians are often
split between those who favour the thin-crust Roman variant, and those who go for the
thicker Neapolitan version. Whatever your choice, the fact remains that the pizza they
make in Naples is nothing short of superb. It's also a brilliant cheap feed - giant discs of
bubbling perfection usually start from €3.
According to the official Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (Real Neapolitan Pizza
Association), genuine Neapolitan pizza dough must be made using highly refined type 00
wheat flour (a small dash of type 0 is permitted), compressed or natural yeast, salt, and wa-
ter with a pH level between 6 and 7. While a slow-speed mixer can be used for kneading
the dough, only hands are allowed to form the
disco di pasta
(pizza base), which should not
be thicker than 3mm. The pizza itself should be cooked at 485°C (905°F) in a double-
domed, wood-fired oven using oak, ash, beech or maple timber.
Don't believe the hype about espresso: one diminutive cup packs less of a caffeine wallop than a large cup
of French-pressed or American-brewed coffee, and leaves drinkers less jittery.
