It is the queen of Saturday night, the most confidential food that can exist. Let’s talk about pizza, an all-Italian excellence.
Today the Taste of Health makes a stop in Caserta, a stronghold of good pizza. The online column coordinated by the immunologist Mauro Minelli responsible for Southern Italy of the Foundation for Personalized Medicine, crosses the threshold of the local ‘I Masanielli’ ranked first in the 50 Top Pizza 2020 Guide. Here Francesco Martucci, owner talks about the pizza. of the pizzeria and master pizza maker, which illustrates the peculiarities of Neapolitan pizza and its strong link with the products of the earth, the vegetables and the preserves of the many farmers who, through the quality pizzerias, have provided themselves with an opportunity for economic redemption after the damage suffered by the pandemic.
But when was pizza born, this disc of dough made of flour, water and yeast? “Well, at the dawn of the first civilizations the Persians already made use of this type of flattened dough, then with the Egyptians came the yeast, up to the Romans who, using different types of cereals, cooked these discs of flattened flour in the hearth domestic – explains Martucci – Pizza as we understand it, however, was born in the Kingdom of Naples between 1500 and 1600 and then in the eighteenth century with the introduction of the tomato. However, it was a certain Raffaele Esposito who, dedicating a pizza to Queen Margherita, launched what would become the most famous pizza in the world on the world stage “.
“This food – explains the biologist and nutritionist Dominga Maio – has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and, in addition to being the symbol of Italy beyond its borders, is to be considered a complete meal also due to the habit of seasoning it. with vegetables, sausages and cheeses. The pizza, depending on the situation, can be eaten regularly or categorically prohibited. The Margherita pizza is to be considered the lightest. Those who, however, do not intend to give up the taste of pizza, can decide to take one once a week, giving up other carbohydrates during the day. One of the suggestions is not to accompany the consumption of pizza with carbonated drinks because it would add an excess load to an already high-calorie and sodium-rich food, while it is useful to accompany pizza with vegetables or salads that help regulate the intake of carbohydrates and fats present “.
Mauro Minelli remembers that “there are various types of pizzas, the thin one with high edges like they do in Naples, the low and crunchy one, the high and soft one and those with the most imaginative tastes and names.
It is clear – explains the doctor – that flour is very important even if it is not the only element to be evaluated in the quality of the pizza, because the oil used, the type of mozzarella, the quantity of salt, certainly the dough also counts. it is essential and many pizza makers today choose to use more digestible flours and doughs. A recommendation, the latter, to keep in mind to always combine the pleasure of the table with the taste of health “.