The Naples Pizza Festival « Pizzavillage » – is the main pizza festival in the world and one of the brightest events in Italy. It takes place in the summer and lasts a little over a week, becoming a place of pilgrimage for all lovers of this famous Italian dish. Traditionally, guests from many countries of the world come to this event. For several days, the whole of Naples is filled with the unique aromas of basilica, mozzarella and fresh pastries.
Pizza – business card and edible symbol of Italy, in Italy itself, pizza – is a symbol of Naples, which is officially considered its homeland and, at least, according to the Neapolitans themselves, only there she is real. Demonstrating their love and respect for this dish, Italians honor it every year at the pizza festival.
Pizza has a centuries-old history. Long before the founding of Naples, different parts of the world and different peoples had their own cooking recipes « Pizza ». So, cakes with dates, spices and cheese were popular in the army of the Persian Empire, roasting directly on the shields, and in ancient Greece – flat bread seasoned with cheese, onions and olives, preparing right on the coals. Something similar could be found in the diet of the Vikings, who also added meat there.
In Italy, a prototype of future pizza appeared on the Apennine Peninsula around the 10th century. And for many centuries, the round cake (, taken from the Greeks ), seasoned with garlic, onions, herbs and olives, served as food for the common people of Italy, and sometimes replaced the poor and breakfast, and lunch and dinner. Later – in the 16th century – it was the Neapolitans who came up with flat cakes with an exotic then overseas novelty – tomatoes. In its current appearance, pizza first appeared in the 19th century and again in Naples, and quickly became one of the most famous dishes of Italian cuisine.
As history says, in 1889 the king of Italy, Umberto I, with his wife Margarita Savoy, visiting Naples, expressed a desire to taste something simple but original. And the best pizzayolo of the city prepared a peasant dish – pizza for them, where the filling of tomatoes, mozzarella and basilica symbolized the Italian tricolor. Despite the simplicity of « village » food, the royal couple was very pleased, and the queen herself wrote a letter of thanks after the visit. As a return gesture, with the permission of the queen, the favorite dish was called « Margarita ». It was with him that the history of pizza began, then its other species appeared. But one of the most popular pizza varieties in the world today is « Margarita ».
Despite truly royal success, pizza for a long time remained exclusively the national product of Italy and was little known beyond its borders. Only at the beginning of the 20th century, together with Italian emigrants, does it enter America and become popular. But pizza gained worldwide success only after the end of World War II, when soldiers from different countries who fought in Italy, returning home, took with them the birthplace and recipe for preparing a favorite Italian dish.
Nowadays, appetizing pizza is prepared and loved in many countries of the world by representatives of different segments of the population. But a special holiday dedicated to her appeared not so long ago. These mass events in honor of pizza were organized in 1984, when the Association of Real Neapolitan Pizza held the first festival in Naples. Then there were several more, but they were spontaneous.
Since 1995, the holiday has become an annual event for both the city of Naples and the whole of Italy. Since then, the best masters of pizzeria – pizzayolo – from around the world come here. They compete in culinary craftsmanship, speed, dexterity and ingenuity, and also conduct master classes for colleagues and visitors, because pizza must be able to not only cook correctly, but also eat correctly.
During the festival, the air of Naples is saturated with the aromas of freshly baked pizza. The main events of the festival are held on the Karachcholo embankment – these are dance evenings, theater performances, souvenir fairs, various shows and concerts. But the main thing is – of course, tasting. Guests of the festival eat pizza in huge quantities from morning to evening. And they don’t get bored, because cooks who come to the celebration from different countries bake cakes of all kinds and with a variety of fillings. But the main queen of the holiday is rightfully the Neapolitan pizza – Margarita.
Also at the festival you can learn a lot about the culprit of the celebration, expand the collection of recipes, listen to good music, buy souvenirs, become a participant in all kinds of contests or just cheer for others, and also – must vote for the best pizza eaten. After all, the central event of the festival is the competition of famous culinary masters who are fighting for the honorary title of the best pizzayol of the world.
By the way, there is an international standard for Neapolitan pizza. Indeed, today in Italy alone there are more than 2000 types of pizza, and in the world this dish has managed to get many new variations in both cooking technology and the variety of ingredients used. Therefore, the Association of Real Neapolitan Pizza, founded in 1984, has developed a special standard containing a detailed description of the entire manufacturing process of this « Neapolitan » pizza and the quality of the products included in its composition. And then he even got this « code of practice » to get fixed at the legislative level. A dish prepared without observing the norms of this law cannot be considered non-apolitan.
Therefore, the festival « Pizzavillage » – is not only delicious, but also real Neapolitan pizza. And when you are in Naples at the festival, you can not help but visit the pizza series Antica Pizzeria Port'Alba. This is one of the very first pizzerias in the world to treat its guests since 1738.