Brian Nazzaro
3/2/16
Food essay
Ever since I was a young kid, pizza
has always had a special place in my life. I never was a huge fan of toppings,
up until the last few years I have experimented a lot more than I ever have.
From pizza day in the school cafeteria to pizza parties at summer camps, there
was something almost magical about seeing a box with cooked bread, red sauce
and cheese. Early on, I learned that everybody eats their pizza differently
than the next person. Almost anything kind of topping can be placed on pizza,
the classic pepperoni that Americans love to foods like anchovies to barbecue
chicken and pineapple, every pizza pie is like its own special creation. Even
the pizzas themselves are all different shapes and sizes. Especially while
being in Italy this country is basically home of the pizza (and pasta). But,
there is one place in particular, Napoli, Italia is known to have started the
creation of the margherita pizza. While growing up in the suburbs of Boston,
Massachusetts there weren’t a massive amount of great options for pizza.
Besides going to the North End, of Boston also known as little Italy, just
ordering in from Domino’s and Pizza Hut was a typical occurrence of where I
come from.
While spending a semester abroad in
southern Italy for 4 months I knew I was going to be trying a whole lot of
unfamiliar and new foods. But, just because some type of food isn’t “new” to me
doesn’t mean it can’t make me the happiest to eat it! I know I always feel warm
and complete after I eat a big meal that I enjoy, sleepy is also another
feeling. But, the place that had my fantastic plate was Naples. My roommates
from Plymouth State University and I spent a long weekend here looking to
escape little Sorrento. So, we traveled to the third largest city in Italy
looking for food and a good time. The food I had that I can still mange to
taste on pure memory was margherita pizza. But, this “plain” pizza was unlike
any other pie I have had, it tasted amazing. Just how the way the warm gooey,
mozzarella cheese fell off the thick but doughy bread right into the highway of
my mouth into my belly. Naples Italy is actually known to have started
margharetta pizzas. Which I find amazing because the pizzas back in America
whether they are just a plain regular cheese or covered with toppings seem
different! Maybe it’s the years of love and hard work the chefs have put into
these works of art. Or it might even be the lack of preservatives and GMOs used
on the actual food. Some way I know I will be going back to Naples to have
another plain margharetta pizza but, when in a place like Italy I know there is
more than meets the eye to a cheese pizza here. I might even travel back with
my mom, who is coming to visit in mid April. But, even though I have eaten
roughly 10+ pizzas while being in Italy I have not enjoyed a pizza as much as I
did in Napoli. I find it quite interesting since the ingredients are made
basically the same even if your in Sorrento, Naples or even a city in the north
of Italy. Maybe it is the brick oven style they use to have the pizzas cooked.
I am not a chef but, I have been speaking to my friend who is in culinary
school in Providence, Rhode Island at Johnson and Whales University and he spoke
particularly high about how all of the pizzas are prepared in a brick oven
instead of a conventional oven, which they use back in America. The Naples
cheese pizzas all seem to be made with love and care, and prepared well. I just
can’t wait to go back to Napoli to try another restaurant’s style of a “plain
boring” margherita pizza.
