Guest shannon_coolj. Posted February 11 Report Share Posted February 11 Pizza Junkie. What happened to him? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pizza_junkie Posted February 11 Report Share Posted February 11 I'm here, I'm here! I have just returned from my tour of Italy and have just been so busy writing my new book that I rarely find time to post. Since this warms my heart just so much to know I have been missed, here is an exceprt from my new book.Naples is the exuberant capital city of Campania and is one of the most beautiful cities in Italy. With its sunny climate, numerous historic and artistic sights, friendly people, great cuisine, and a gorgeous natural setting, Naples has long been a favourite destination in Italy for visitors. It has a great bay with nice views of Capri and Ischia Islands. Not far from Naples there are two more reasons to come to this city: Pompeii and Herculaneum. These two cities were buried by Mont Vesuvius’ eruption in 79 AD. Mont Vesuvius is the only active volcano in Europe’s continent.Naples is a very old city, having been established as a Greek trading centre around 600 BC. The city was later conquered by the ancient Romans and became a residence of several emperors and other important persons of that time. Today Naples is a bustling city located in a beautiful natural setting, with a colourful street life, chaotic traffic, and numerous narrow and winding alleyways that lead to many quaint shops and restaurants.Although pizza and pasta are the culinary symbols of Neapolitan cuisine, Naples is also known for its superb cheeses (including the famous mozzarella), its tasty fish and seafood dishes, and its delicious ice cream and pastries."Neapolitan pizza has neither inventors, fathers nor masters, but is the fruit of the ingenuity of the Neapolitan people."Pizza is without doubt the culinary symbol of Naples and Neapolitans refuse to accept the hype about that hybrid – American pizza.A Neapolitan pizza is by definition a Dish of Neapolitan origin consisting of a flattened disk of bread dough topped with olive oil, tomatoes, and mozzarella cheese, baked quickly and served hot. The traditional pizza is dedicated to Queen Margherita. She was interested in the popular dish that her French chefs could not prepare so the famous "pizzaiolo" Raffaele Esposito was invited to court and suggested three pizzas, one of which one reflected the colours of the Italian Sabauda flag – yes you guessed it red, white and green. Garlic was not considered fit for the delicate palate of the Queen so was avoided. So on the 11th June 1889 Pizza became a dish fit for Royalty.Now there is even an association to protect and promote the real Neopolitan pizza founded in 1984 by a disgruntled pizza maker Antonio Pace from Naples. The Verace Pizza Napoletana Association is now an international trade association. Its purpose is to promote the culinary tradition of the Neapolitan pizza and to this end, it provides training in the production of Neapolitan pizza and certification for those pizzeria/restaurants which produce Neapolitan pizza.Antonio Pace struggled for years to have Neapolitan pizza recognized by the Italian government as a "DOC" (d'orgine controllata) product. The DOC designation was already in place for other products such as Chianti or certain cheeses which are of regional origin.The pizza tomato is complimented by mozzarella di bufala – that cheese that you find occasionally in US supermarkets costing a small fortune. In Naples mozzarella di bufala is a daily staple and like most food stuffs in the city – mozzarella are always larger than any of the ones you see in the US. Neapolitan mozzarella is made from buffalo milk – unlike other mozzarellas made from humble cows milk and you can really taste the difference. Mozzarella di bufala di Campana gained “DOC†recognition in 1993 – a mark of how esteemed this cheese in Italy.During the day I meet Carmela Caputo, a fiery Neapolitan chef who runs a dynamic cookery school from my old Neapolitan villa in Vomero overlooking the city. Carmela and I cooked potato gnocchi with a tomato and mozzarella sauce, a genuine pizza margherita.Neopolitan gnocchi are made of potato rather than the flour version from the North of Italy. Potato gnocchi tend to be lighter than the flour version so are easier on the stomach and can be mixed with any sort of sauce. They are easy to make and even easier to cook – when they all float to the surface of a pan of boiling water – they are done.Carmela also prepared a magnificent Baba – a traditional sweet from Naples – probably of Turkish origin. She made the cake in the shape of Vesuvius and together they decorated the Baba with cream to look like the volcanic smoke and lots of fresh fruit!Carmela and I dined on their efforts in the sun on a terrace overlooking the bay of Naples, although I end up slightly tipsy from the homemade limoncello (local citrus liqueur) that Carmela foists on me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JMT Posted February 11 Report Share Posted February 11 hey PJ, Margherita is a female name, no? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MIRZA1414779019 Posted February 11 Report Share Posted February 11 hey PJ, Margherita is a female name, no?That's what I thought. I wonder who it is lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryan2772 Posted February 11 Report Share Posted February 11 having pizza for lunchmmmmmmmmmm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MIRZA1414779019 Posted February 11 Report Share Posted February 11 having pizza for lunchmmmmmmmmmmFrom where? I might have a slice tonight after the chesterfield 8) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryan2772 Posted February 11 Report Share Posted February 11 papa johnsstill isn't here yet, what the fuck?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest shannon_coolj. Posted February 11 Report Share Posted February 11 yay! pj's back! my work ordered pizza for lunch - papa john's.was good....but i keep longing for steve's pizza. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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