What is Neapolitan Pizza ?
What is Neapolitan pizza ?
By definition: The true Neapolitan pizza has a crust which is made from a dough that is made with a highly refined Italian type 0 or 00 wheat flour (read more about flour types). Neapolitan or fresh brewer’s yeast (not dry yeast), water, and sea salt. The dough must be kneaded by hand show. Or with a low-speed mixer and formed by hand, without the help of a rolling pin or dough press. The dough is aged for 3 days. It is very wet and hard to handle due to the high water content . But the hydration level water percent compared to the flour must be high in order to withstand the high heat of the wood oven. When stretched it is topped with raw, pureed San Marzano tomatoes from Italy; fior di latte, which is mozzarella cheese made from cow’s milk, or mozzarella di Bufala, which is mozzarella cheese made from the milk of water buffalos, usually raised in the Campania and Lazio marshlands in Italy; fresh basil, and extra-virgin olive oil. The ingredients must be all-natural and fresh. The pizza is baked for 60–90 seconds (baking time cannot exceed 90 seconds) at a minimum temperature of 800°F in a stone oven with a wood fire.
Rules Rules Rules
That being said, Neapolitan pizza is a very good pie but as we say in New York (the true capital of pizza) it is a knife and fork pizza which doesn’t travel well due to its puffy soft crust. So that drops it from being good for takeout and delivery from the start. Another downside of “true” Neapolitan is that it has to be baked a certain way with certain ingredients resulting in a cookie cutter pie from place to place across the country and world.
But this is America the home of the free and built by the brave so following someone else’s idea of how pizza must be made according to a small town in Italy with fewer pizza places than any neighborhood in Brooklyn, it seems that most American entrepreneurs have a hard time following the pack and in fact most of the big guys don’t either! Besides, we have been making pizza along time too! Some of the earliest pizza places in New York have been around for 100 years without any rules.
Traditional Pizza with tomatoes
Aside from that why would anyone want to be told that making the same exact pizza as the guy down the block? It seems rather boring and takes all the creativity excitement out of making pizza to me.
Though it is fantastic that my ancestors in Naples took the roman soldiers flatbread created and standardized the Margherita pizza But like the Italians did with pasta that was borrowed” from China. They turned it into an art and experience with so many unique styles and toppings that it would take years to try them all. We have in America turned pizza into a true art and experience as well. From the current fast casual rage of Blaze, Mod, Spin, Revolve, Pie Craft and Pizza Fire( just to name a handfull) And all the Incredible local favorites like Strong’s, Denino’s Goodfella’s and the thousands of others, to the full service places and delivery specialists included in the over seventy thousand pizza places in the United States, Americans have innovated and dominated the world pizza market by doing it our way! So factor into the pizza equation the amount of competition, the need for speed and originality and you can decide for yourself if Neapolitan is a good move for you or not. Personally, I Like it but only once and a while. I still prefer a crispy pie and lots of options .
Having the ability to use different doughs, toppings and sauces allow the operator to tailor parts of his pizza menu to local favorites and flavor profiles If it’s a sweet sauce, lots of spice , Hawaiian pineapple pizza or even a southern BBQ pulled pork pizza it all helps to ensure some agreement with local customers. Adding to your uniqueness to the mix lets you stand out from the crowd as well being known for that special pizza can go a long way. One last thing to consider is that not many Americans like burnt, charred floppy pizza not do the kids. Whichever way you go, go with pizza and you can’t go wrong.
