L'Italo-Americano

www.italoamericano.org 20 L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2017 LIVIA HENGEL I arrived in Naples in early spring, wide eyed and brim- ming with anticipation at the wonders awaiting me over the next two months, cultural, culi- nary and otherwise. Naples was a city that had captivated me since my first visit six years ear- lier and it was the only place in Italy that continued beckoning me to return, year after year. The city's vibrant markets and jum- bled alleyways, grandiose archi- tecture, views of Vesuvius and mouthwatering pizzerias lin- gered in my mind, and on my tongue, long after each trip. G oethe famous ly s aid vedi Napoli e poi muori - see Naples and die! - and I agreed whole- heartedly with him, though I quickly adapted the phrase to vedi Napoli e poi vivi - s ee Naples and live!- for the sense of joy the city transmitted to me each time I visited. And so I vowed to the better part of this spring living, breathing and eat- ing my way through my soul city, eager to peel back the lay- ers of this glorious place and to finally discern, among other important matters, which pizze- ria was truly the best in the city. I moved into a little apart- ment in the heart of the centro storico armed with a suitcase containing my most inconspicu- ous clothing, a copy of Napoli Insolita e Segreta (an indispens- able guidebook to Naples' best kept secrets), and an extraordi- narily long list of pizzerias. And then, much to the wonder and horror of my friends, family and Instagram followers, I began to eat pizza every day for the next two months. I worked my way through the city strategically, vis iting a cultural s ite each morning and identifying a near- by pizzeria on my list for lunch. I waited in long lines at the most popular es tablis hments – Sorbillo, Da Michele, Di Matteo – and was seated immediately at others (w hich w ould s oon become my favorite go-to's) – Starita, Concettina ai Tre Santi and La Figlia del Presidente. I was rigorous in my gastronomic research and exclusively ordered pizza margherita, a truly satisfy- ing control variable that never disappoints in its perfect and delicious simplicity. I took tast- ing notes about the texture and flavo rs of the ingredients , snapped dozens of photos as visual evidence of my epicurean exploits and spoke to the piz- zaioli about their dough, meth- ods, and personal histories – only to come aw ay learning much more about pizza than I ever thought was possible. Like in many experiments, sometimes you end up making discoveries you didn't anticipate when you first began gathering your research and planning out your tests. I had come to Naples thinking there was one type of pizza in the city: pizza Napoletana, the round fluffy pie that came topped with fragrant tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella and a large handful of basil. Instead, I learned that Naples' pizza traditions extend well past the wood-fire oven and into the deep fryer. Leave it to the Italians to take something sinful- ly decadent as pizza and upping the ante by submerging it in bub- bling oil until it is perfectly gold- en brown and crisped to perfec- tion. Piz z a fr itta, like many of Italy's most beloved culinary tra- ditions, has its roots in cucina povera. This pizza pocket, either shaped as a half-moon pocket or small round pillow, became a popular and affordable street food after World War II, when the city had been ravaged by war and was suffering from wide- spread poverty. To help out their families and make some extra money, the wives of pizzaioli would use extra dough on hand to make small pies filled with inexpensive ingredients such as ricotta and ciccioli (fatty pork bits) and then deep-fry the treats in vats of oil outside of their bassi, or modest ground-floor flats. Whereas traditional pizzas required an oven – and moz- Pizza fritta is not as known as its baked cousin, but in Naples it's just as traditional. Photo: Livia Hengel In hot pursuit of Neapolitan pizza... fritta zarella and tomato sauce were luxuries that were expensive and hard to come by – ricotta and ciccioli were always on-hand, and heating up a boiling pot of oil was much simpler than heat- ing up an entire oven. Pizza frit- ta, in fact, came to be known as la sorella povera della pizza al forno - the poor sister of the oven-baked pizza - and the piz- zas were often paid back after eight days of cons umption, becoming known as "pizza a otto." Today, pizza fritta remains an important culinary tradition in the city and many pizzerias fea- ture it on their menu. Some of the most famous establishments have been around for over a cen- tury and s tick to the clas s ic recipe, while newer venues pro- vide a contemporary spin on this enduring food. S ome of the mainstays that provoke intense adoration from N eapolitans include D'è Figliole, a friggito- ria in Forcella that dates back to 1860, Da Fernanda, a centennial eatery located in the Quartieri Spagnoli, La Masardona, an eatery just south of the central s tation that has been around since 1945, and Zia Esterina Sorbillo, a small takeaway shop in the heart of the city, born in 1935. One of the new venues capi- talizing on this fried frenzy is the highly praised 1947 Pizza Fritta, whose name pays homage to the pizza's post World War II her- itage. This modern establish- ment, directly opposite beloved pizzeria Da Michele, makes over 20 creative variations of pizza fritta, including a Posillipo pizza, with lemon zest, provola, rocket and caciocavallo cheese, and a Positano pizza, with escarole, black olives, capers and pro- volone. Needless to say, I quickly realized that the scope of my ini- tial query had been too narrow and that in order to be truly thor- ough in my culinary research, I would have to take into account a whole new range of pizzas, namely those of the fried variety, and added a few dozen new spots to my list. I arrived in Naples with the best intentions, but two months ended up not being enough to pay justice to this food mecca; I've since booked numer- ous weekend jaunts south to con- tinue my culinary foray with the hope that one day I'll have tried every pie in the city. For all its artistic treasures and vibrant energy, it's Neapolitan pizza that keeps me coming back. Maria Cacialli, daughter of Ernesto, pizza maker in the historic center of Naples (Pizza del Presidente) LIFESTYLE FASHION FOOD ARTS ADVICE

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