Pizza's gastronic journey through the ages

By Maria Endah Hulupi

JAKARTA (JP): It's classic shape is round, its golden brown skin is filled with tasty and colorful pieces. Gastronomic history records its patriotic appearance in the medieval century and in modern era.

It has style, very personal ones or highly commercialized ones.

During its century-long experience, Pizza managed to stretch out its melted-cheese arms from just a modest food of humble citizens in its home country, Italy, to becoming a popular food even among higher societies in various countries around the world.

However, this dish still embodies a long culinary tradition as Italians still maintain its classic or their own generations-old family recipes.

According to Antonia Soriente a linguist and cultural collaborator at the Italian Cultural Center said that the history of pizza can be traced back to 500 B.C following the findings of archaeological evidence that ovens in which pizza might have been baked, were burning in Greek colony Neapolis, now Naples, Italy.

In the middle-age, its ancestor, flat pie, was often topped with cheese. "But the tomato pulp became a standard condiment only after the plump fruit reached Naples from Peru by way of Mexico in the late 16th century," Antonia added.

Its name, derived from Latin word picea means "pinching", was mentioned in Italian literature, wrote by Giambattista Basile in 17th century.

In the early 19th century, there were reports that the king of the Two Sicilies Ferdinand II ordered the humble meals at the first commercial pizzeria to be sent to his palace. During this era the Bourbon kings even granted the cook Antonio Testa's son with "Monsu" title, and by doing so he was raised to knighthood.

While in 1889, Raffaele Esposito, a renowned Neapolitan pizza cook, expressed his devotion to the visiting Queen Margherita of the Savoys dynasty by preparing a patriotic version of pizza bearing the colors of the unified Italy -- green from basil leaves, white from mozzarella cheese and red from the tomato pulp. From then on, crust with that particular topping is baptized pizza Margherita.

Antonia explained that in traditional pizzerias, pizza crust is made by mixing flour, leavening, water and salt with hands, leave it to rest over night. Then the cook rolls the dough into thin layer and put it on the floor of a brick oven, heated with burning poplar wood. After three minutes, the crust would turn into golden brown and the tomato pulp is spread on top of it and the pizza is served hot.

"For this (traditional) version, it is best to use fresh mozzarella cheese derived from buffalo milk, for it has a unique flavor; fresh basil is added after the hot pizza is removed from the oven, canned whole tomatoes to maintain its flavor and extra virgin olive oil to add the mild olive scent," said Antonia.

She further added that the crust is basically similar to staple food in Mediterranean countries or other regions, only with different shapes and names, like Nan and pita breads.

Pizza made its way to other countries with the massive emigration of southern Italians to the United States, Canada, Argentina, Brazil and other countries in the western hemisphere.

From then on, local ingredients in respective countries are added to enrich the classic version and to provide more varieties for the toppings. "And the list of additional ingredients to please local tastebuds is practically endless," Antonia explained.

She said that various kinds of wursts are used in Germany, in Japan the crust is made with rice flour and is spread with catsup, while in Indonesia tofu, tempeh and chili are commonly found in the toppings.

"However, the best is not to add too many ingredients for the toppings because such combination would overpower the unique flavor of each ingredients and there will be no distinctive flavor in it," she advised.

Antonia added that pizza is traditionally a "light" meal served for dinner but its commercial versions, which can be greasy or fatty depending on the additional ingredients, are popularly eaten at practically any hours of the day.