European canned tomatoes are an edible history of the land they come from: carefully grown, picked at the peak of sweet ripeness, and processed in a high-tech version of traditional preserving. The “Greatest Tomatoes from Europe!” campaign team is coming to the International Pizza Expo, August 17-19, at the Las Vegas Convention Center (Booth #769) to share their story with attendees.
The Greatest Tomatoes from Europe! is also sponsor of the “World Champion Pizza Maker of the Year” competition as well as Wednesday’s Pizza Expo Block Party.
In 2018, UNESCO named pizza as part of the “intangible heritage of the world”. There was celebration in the streets of Naples, with music, dancing, happy craziness, and, that night: free pizza for all. It was a way of honoring the pizzaiuoli, those hardworking men and women who work long hours, as well as the genius of this simple dish, created from only a few ingredients.
Discover the authentic Italian pizza ingredients on the Italianfood.net platform
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE WORLD’S FAVORITE FOOD
Is there any corner of the world left that doesn’t know, doesn’t love, pizza? Throughout the Middle East and Europe, Latin America, India, even in the far reaches of China, pizza is a number one treat. And here in America it has its own regional and national identity. The whole world loves pizza.
Hearth-baked savory-topped flat-breads have always been a Mediterranean food. Perhaps they came with the Persians when they attacked Athens, then spread through Magna Grecia (which included parts of southern Italy). Many say that Roman soldiers stationed in Judea brought their love of flat-breads back; called maza (sounds a lot like matzo, doesn’t it?). Cato the Elder wrote about the tasty flat cakes; Virgil described them as edible plates. By 79AD they were so popular that, (along with several pizzerias), pizza-like flat-breads are preserved in the ashes of Pompeii.
Fast forward – love for this food has spread far and wide; in 1570, the chef to Pope Pius V, describes similar flat-breads. But wait: something is still missing! What could it be? Tomatoes! All agree that the arrival of the tomato created the pizza the whole world knows and loves. But, how did tomatoes meet the flat breads? Fate, as they say, brought them together in Naples.
NAPLES, THE PIZZA CAPITAL
Naples was the first place in Europe to embrace eating tomatoes when the rest of Europe still feared these New World plants as poisonous. Once discovered as safe (and delicious and healthy), Neapolitans also realized that they could cook tomatoes and preserve them throughout the winter. That was the start of their preserving tomatoes tradition.
Around this time, Naples was a thriving seafront town with a lively street-food scene. What were they eating in the street? Pizza! (Okay, and pasta too). In 1830 the first pizzeria in Naples (Pizzeria Port d’Alba) opened; it’s still in business.
The aristocracy, tired of the French menus their chefs were serving, grew excited by this new food eaten with such gusto and enthusiasm in the teeming streets of the city. Not all could come to the center of town, though. In 1889 Raffaele Esposito, from pizzeria Pietro e Basta Così, now known as Pizzeria Brandi, was called to the Capodimonte Palace to prepare a pizza for king Umberto I and his queen, Margherita of Savoy. The king and queen were summering in Capodimonte Palace.
Esposito prepared three different pizza pies: one with pork fat, cheese and basil; one with garlic, olive oil and tomatoes, and one with the colors of the Italian flag: white mozzarella, green basil, and the scarlet red of tomatoes. Asked her favorite, the queen was emphatic: the one with the cheese and tomatoes. “How is it called?” She asked. Thinking quickly, Esposito answered: “It’s the Margherita, after you, of course!” And so it has been ever since: tender chewy crust, melted mozzarella cheese, all bathed in the bright, fresh, taste of tomatoes, named after a queen.
The story, by the way, is written on a wall plaque at Naples’ Pizzeria Brandi; if you stop to read it, chances are that current owner, Vincenzo Pagnani (a pizza maker since when he was 14 years old), will be extremely pleased to tell all.
Discover the Greatest Tomatoes from Europe campaign member companies
THE ROLE OF ANICAV
Anicav – the Italian Association of Canned Tomatoes Producers – is organizing special events as part of a European Union co-funded program to promote canned tomatoes from Europe. The Greatest Tomatoes from Europe is among these. With 90 member companies, Anicav is the largest representative association of tomato-processing companies in the world.
