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THE IRONY OF ARTISANAL PIZZA:

Pizza Returns to its Roots as a Peasant Food

Evan Silberman

Food History

July 25, 2014

Introduction

Neapolitan pizza originated in Naples, Italy in 1835 as a food for working class Italians. During the late nineteenth century, pizza arrived in America with Southern Italian immigrants as an ethnic, exotic food. After WWII, during industrialization, pizza lost its ethnic association and became a standardized homogenous dish. As a result of the artisanal food movement in the 1980s, pizza regained its likeness to its original form as an ethnic food. This paper considers how Neapolitan pizza and pizza in general started as a food for the poor and circled back to its Neapolitan roots as artisanal cuisine in contemporary society. The objective of this essay is threefold. First, it examines the emergence of pizza as a Neapolitan dish in its original form when, through legend, pizza became an Italian national treasure. Second, it looks at how pizza was established in America as an ethnic dish within the Italian immigrant community before rising to a national food without distinct ethnicity. Third, it discusses the artisanal movement and how pizza gained its authenticity as Neapolitan in contemporary society.

Pizza is a global industry worth 37 billion dollars, and pizza can be categorized as either fast food or slow food.[1] Either way, pizza is a comestible commodity similar to sugar, pancakes, pie, and hot dogs. Applebaum describe that, “the comestible commodity is inevitably a fetish, hiding its own social character, which is to say the social relations through which it is produced and consumed.”[2] He concludes that a comestible commodity is “made to serve the interests of progress….”[3] The social character of pizza is now defined by the “Slow Food” Movement.

Campisi explains the Slow Food Movement as an opposition to fast food and the broader culture of fast life. Campisi characterizes “Fast Life” as, “a world in which speed, as provided by industrialization and mechanization, is championed as the model for living.”[4] Slow food enthusiasts attempt to connect themselves with the tastes of regional cuisines in an effort to recapture a more traditional way of living.[5] Anne Meneley, in Anthropologica, writes about the link between the Slow Food Movement and artisanal cuisine. The slow food movement, Meneley surmises, “replaces mass produced...fast foods with wholesome foods.”[6] In some ways, the Slow Food Movement, and by extension artisanal cuisines are inextricably linked to age old means of food production.

Artisanal pizza can be considered an intersection of time-honored foodways that Slow Food enthusiasts seek. Gvion and Trostler tell us about restaurants, “as agents of lifestyle they act as a symbolic expression of ethnicity as they cultivate foreign culinary knowledge for local tastes, which moderates and regulates the exposure to ethnic foods and makes gastronomic tourism possible.”[7] Artisanal pizzerias, then, in part are selling the experience of engaging in another culture, of being transported, through food to different time and space, without actually leaving the local region. Artisanal pizza is a contemporary cultural exchange between a purveyor and customer that is common in today’s pizza industry, in particular Neapolitan pizza.

Neapolitan pizza is distinguished by its production methods and quality of ingredients. The Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (AVN) is a governing body who certifies restaurants against their standards for Pizza Napoletana.”[8] The AVN depicts Pizza Napoletana as a thin crust dough with tomato, oil, oregano or basil, garlic, and mozzarella or fior di latte with a distinct texture (soft), taste (baked bread), and appearance (red, white, and green). It is cooked in a high-heat, wood-fired oven, and must be served immediately, while it is hot. Since there are many variations of the APVN regulated Pizza Napoletana, this description will serve as the basis for the Neapolitan pizza.

Since Neapolitan pizza is made by hand, using traditional methods, and high-quality ingredients, it is also more expensive and highly desirable because it cannot be massed produced. In some sense, Neapolitan pizza is a return to a way of making food as it was originally intended, being produced traditionally, and resulting in a level of authenticity that isn’t often associated with fast food pizza. Authenticity is what Slow Food followers look for.

The Slow Food Movement, artisanal cuisine, and the lure of authenticity imply Neapolitan pizza is worth preservation. What is truly authentic Neapolitan pizza anyway? What is the cultural experience one is after? The origins of Neapolitan pizza expose a society in stark contrast with the idealism of contemporary food movements, but it does reveal the beginnings of a national Italian treasure worth holding onto.

The Roots of Neapolitan Pizza

The origin of pizza is what contemporary cultural food movements are trying to connect to. Waverly Root tells us that Neapolitan pizza is without a doubt an origin of Naples Italy.[9] According to Thorne, “Neapolitans were eating pizza when Naples was still a Greek Colony in the form of a flat cake made of flour and olive oil.”[10] What Neapolitans were eating was yet to be considered the famous Neapolitan pizza that is universally associated with Italy today. Turim adds, “Naples in the 1700s and early 1800s was a thriving waterfront city. Technically an independent kingdom, it was notorious for its throngs of working poor, or lazzaroni."[11] In the heart of the city, where it was very populated, many working poor lived outdoors.[12] According to Helstosky, Alexandre Dumas, a French travel writer who wrote The Three Musketeers, in 1835 in Naples observed:

...At first, it appeared to be a very simple thing...Pizza was kind of a bread, but it was not purchased whole; rather, customers bought the size they could afford. There were also many varieties of pizza for sale: pizza with oil, pizza with lard, pizza with tomatoes, pizza with tiny fish, pizza with cheese...pizza was not so simple a food; it was actually quite complicated in that it told as much about the society that ate the pizza as it did about the pizza itself.[13]

The customers he was describing were the lazzaroni of Italy who subsisted on pizza because it was a cheap meal. His commentary wasn’t just about the complexity of food either, but a reflection of the society in Naples in the early nineteenth century. Pizza was sold at stands from a lidded metal box, or a narrow board. It could be purchased by the penny and one could buy what they could afford, and there was a buy now pay later system called pizza otto for those destitute.[14] These payment methods reflected how difficult life was for the peasants of Naples. Pizza was an integral foodstuff that could be eaten quickly, did not require any utensils, and was extremely nourishing for those with little money to buy enough food.

Sir Emmanuelle Roco, writing in 1855:

“The simplest pizze, known as pizza with oil and garlic, are sprinkled with oil, then salt, then oregano, then finely chopped a few basil leaves. The former are often garnished with little fish as well, and the latter with thin slices of mozzarella, or sometimes with slices of ham, tamatoes, clams, and so on.”[15]

Pizza was a simple meal to some, with the potential to be more complex for others. In pizzerias of Nepals the experience of eating pizza was quite different. For those who could afford it, pizza was available with toppings such as shellfish and cured meats. The atmosphere was social and lively. Pizzaiolo (pizza chefs) were admired for their art of crafting pizza.[16] An art that is cherished by foodies seeking today’s dining experience of Neapolitan pizza.

John Thorne, who depicts the typical Neapolitan pizzeria experience, asks us to think about the theatrics of pizza making and the atmosphere of the pizzeria. He describes the pizzaiolo performing for his audience as if he were on stage, and his customers are paying to watch an artist who has perfected his craft. Thorne writes:

At the cry of una pizza, he snatches up the dough from its resting place in a wooden trough, and works in quickly, vigorously with is hands, now with the golden trowel that serves as the emblem of his craft. Next, he dots it with lard or olive oil, lays out triangles of mozzarella, which until just recently was still floating in its own whey, perhaps throwing over as well a handful of sharper cheese. He adds a generous helping of freshly cut tomatoes or a ladle of sauce, and then lays over a crisscross pattern of anchovies. With a final wave of the hand, he crumbles dried oregano leaves in his fist, wafting the broken aromatic bits across the top.[17]

The clientele of the pizzeria are from all walks of life, but are always in a celebratory mood. They are enjoying a meal that was crafted for them by the expert pizza chef. Thorne depicts the ambiance of the pizzeria:

The air is noisy with convivial conversation, savory with smells of good food, smoky from the burning fire. In winter, the customers cram inside for warmth, in summer they spill out around tables on the sidewalk. And all this centered on a small piece of the most basic of great doughs- flour, water, and leavening - topped with a bit of cheese, tomatoes, anchovies, and oregano.[18]

According to Helstosky, pizza is thought to be eaten by all social classes starting after World War II. Prior to the mid-1800s, it was mostly an undervalued cuisine. What accounts for the paradigm shift is the popular story of Margherita Pizza made at the request of Queen Margherita and King Umberto. According to legend, Raffaele Esposito - a local pizzaiolo - was summoned to prepare three pizzas for the Queen. One of these was a tri-color pie with red (tomato sauce), white (mozzarella), and green (basil). The Queen was so appreciative; she sent Raffaele a letter of praise. The letter exists today in Pizzeria Brandi where Raffaele Esposito was a pizza chef. Pizza Margherita became “an important detail in the narrative of Italian nationalism,” Helstosky writes.[19] The tri-color pizza represented Italy because the colors of the pizza were the same as the Italian flag.

From this moment forward, pizza gained an association with Italian nationalism and elevated its status in culinary rankings. It was no longer a food for the poor, but something to be celebrated as a representation of Italy. Pizza eventually become a national dish of Italy in 1889, which solidified its place in history, a period in time, artisan pizza makers are trying to return to with their Neapolitan bent pies.

Before Neapolitan pizza was part of the artisanal food movement, it was an important food for Neapolitan immigrants in America. It connected them to their homeland, defined their unity in a new place, and shared a culture for those who were unfamiliar with it. As immigrants assimilated into American culture, so did their cuisine, and pizza eventually transformed from a regional food to a standardized, national dish.

Pizza in America

The unification of Italy created an identify for Italians that Neapolitan immigrants tried to re-capture in America. After the unification of Italy in 1861, there was a mass exodus of Italians to other parts of the world.[20] A majority of the 9 million immigrants who arrived in the United States, especially along the eastern seaboard, between 1901 and 1910, were Italians.[21] During its peak, Italian immigrants accounted for 7.4% of of the population of New York City.[22] La Cecla, author of Pizza and Pasta, describes the causes of diaspora as a result of economic hardships for southern Italians after the federation of Italy. For example, feudal land was exploited and peasants were taxed heavily. Ninety one percent of the Italian immigrants came from Southern Italy. Most of them were of peasant background and thrived in close-knit, city environments. At first, Italian immigrants arriving in New York didn’t have an identity in their new homeland. La Cecla goes on to ask, “When these “recent” Italian citizens who spoke a number of dialects, crossed the ocean, they were asked, “Who are you?”[23] Their heritage, no longer expressed by being Italian citizens was being redefined as they domesticated in their new environment. Italian immigration resulted in images and stereotypes of Italians being spread throughout the world, especially through food. La Cecla concludes, “Pasta, along with Pizza, have become synonymous with Italianness, in the dual sense that they provided an image of Italy presented to non-Italians."[24] One-way in which outsiders viewed immigrants was through how they settled and what they ate.

Italian identity in America was the direct result of Italian immigrant communities. Italian immigrants lived their lives on a public stage making their private lives public through large outdoor markets, push carts, plants on balconies, and laundry dangling in the street. Mulberry Street in New York City’s “Little Italy” was a staged display of their culture. The imagined identity of Italy was not only created by the Italian immigrants lifestyle in New York City, but also as perceived by those who experienced their cuisine.[25]

According to food historian, Evelyn Solomon, the first pizzeria in New York City was opened in 1905 by Gennaro Lombardi, a Neapolitan immigrant who arrived at the age of 14. He started thin Neapolitan pizza out of a bakery to help increase revenues for the owner. Eventually, Lombardi had the opportunity to buy the bakery and opened his pizzeria using the existing coal-burning oven. Since Lombardi’s was established in an Italian immigrant community, many of the Italian immigrants arriving in New York passed through his doors. In fact, Lombardi’s was credited for the growth of pizza in New York City, which also spawned similar pizzerias along the Eastern seaboard. Many of the men who worked for him went on to open competing and now famous pizzerias, including John’s Pizza and Totonno’s.[26] However, Lombardi’s provided more for the Italian community than pizza and pizza chefs. It was both a social and cultural intersection for the community.