What is Italian pizza and how is it customary to eat it in Italy? The answers to this question and “life hacks” were presented by the British newspaper The Sun. A selection of useful tips from an Italian living in London included many things that surprised tourists but will be useful to them.
Where can I buy it?
The Italian expert advises avoiding restaurants – “tourist traps” – close to places of interest, where the food is only not authentic, but also very expensive, as well as large chain restaurants, if possible. They “usually sell mass-produced pizza” and it’s not the original Italian pizza culture, and it doesn’t meet quality standards either.
Instead, he advises tourists to head to a local trattoria or pizzeria, where they prepare fresh pizza to order using traditional methods and high-quality ingredients.
“In many traditional establishments, there is often a giant wood-burning oven in the middle of the restaurants, and you will see the pizzaiolo chef preparing your pizza,” Tourprom newspaper quoted the expert as saying.
Another tip is “avoid restaurants with extensive and varied menus” – they are most likely inauthentic.
What to buy?
Here, the expert, first of all, warned tourists about the main mistakes. So, tourists who order the popular Pepperoni pizza in “authentic” places will most likely not be understood.
Pepperoni is Italian for pepper. For lovers of pizza with spicy sausage, he recommends ordering the “Devil”.
Also, in Italy, there is no pizza with ham and pineapples, which “strikes victoriously” in the post-Soviet market under the name “Hawaiian” most often.
“Save yourself the hassle and don’t try to order it at an Italian pizzeria. If you can’t refuse fruit on pizza, you can choose pizza e fichi, that is, pizza with figs,” the Italian advises. This is a “white” pizza that includes mozzarella, figs, ham, and garlic.
And the most beloved and popular pizza among Italians is the most common Margherita.
“Italians also often say that if a restaurant can’t make a good Margherita pizza, they probably won’t be able to make any other pizza,” says the Italian expert.
Sauces and other additions
The first thing the man warns about is that in Italy there are not and never have been dips for dipping “pizza crust”, popular in the English-speaking world.
“Italians eat pizza as it is, without any sauces or extra cheese on top – it’s just as delicious as it is. However, sometimes you can find chili oil to add to your pizza,” he added.
At the same time, pizza is usually served as a main course, but most pizzerias offer antipasti (appetizers) that are served before pizza – a variety of bruschettas with tomatoes, olives, and jerky, as well as a cheese platter.
Often a variety of “fritti”, deep-fried foods such as “arancini”, fried rice balls with cheese and meat, or “fritti misti”, a set of fried vegetables and seafood, are available at the pizzeria.
What to drink?
“In Italy, they do not approve of ordering cappuccino with pizza,” the Italian expert said. So he recommends that a tourist combine pizza with other drinks – perhaps lemonade, beer, Aperol, or just water.
“Ordering a cappuccino after a meal is also not allowed, so if you need a dose of caffeine, order an espresso,” adds the Italian.
How to eat?
“First, leave the fork and knife alone and just eat with your hands – it’s much easier,” he advises.
For convenience, you can use the method of “paper pizza”, or “pizza bag”. To do this, you need to fold a piece of pizza in half so that the filling is inside and the dough is outside.
“Once this is done, you can eat your slide like a sandwich and be sure that the filling does not fall out and stain you,” the Italian assured.