TAKE AWAY MY TAKEAWAY
PROGRAMME 2: NAPLES
BACKGROUND
The experts
AJ and Daniel were mentored by Enzo, who runs a pizzeria in Naples.
Their cooking was judged by Antonio Pace, President of the Real Neapolitan Pizza Association.
History of the pizza
The pizza has a long history. The ancient Greeks, Romans and Egyptians all used flat breads as a base for vegetable toppings, and this kind of food is found in cuisines all around the Mediterranean. The first modern pizza was created in 1889 by Neapolitan restaurant owner Raffaele Esposito. It was named Pizza alla Margherita, in honour of a visit by the queen of Italy. The topping - red tomato, white mozzarella and green basil – was chosen to represent the colours of the Italian flag.
The Italians quickly took to eating pizza for breakfast, lunch and dinner, buying slices sold on the streets from large trays. Pizza stalls gradually evolved into open-air cafés called 'pizzeria', where people could meet to enjoy a meal of freshly cooked pizza with a variety of simple toppings, including herbs, mushrooms, olives and anchovies.
Italian migrants took pizza to America in the late 19th century. The first New York pizzeria opened in 1905, and the deep-dish pizza was created in Chicago in 1943. Pizza gradually become more and more popular in the States during the 1950s, as American stars of Italian origin, like Frank Sinatra and baseball ace Joe DiMaggio, were seen devouring them. Frozen pizzas appeared in American grocery stores in the late '50s and found their way across the Atlantic to the UK a few years later.
Pizza is now the UK's favourite takeaway food, with over 200 million being eaten as takeaway or restaurant meals every year, and many more being consumed as snacks and meals at home.
Modern toppings are a far cry from the originals, with such varieties as Peking duck, ham and pineapple, egg and bacon, and barbecued chicken that would never make an appearance in a genuine Italian pizzeria like Enzo's.
Our appetite for lavish high-fat toppings, deep fillings and additive-laden supermarket and frozen pizzas, have turned the simple, ultra-healthy original dish into something that's far less good for our wellbeing, especially if eaten too often and in large portions. The healthiest pizza option is thin-crust, with a vegetable or fish topping, and you should avoid adding extra cheese and salami, which are high in both fat and salt.
