Italy has chosen a culinary staple - classic Neapolitan pizza with tomato, basil and mozzarella commonly known as pizza margherita - as its number one candidate for protection under UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list, local media report.
Neapolitan pizza already boasts special status, granted to it by
EU law back in 2009. A committee in Brussels officially listed
the ingredients from which it must be made in order to be
regarded as authentic. Imitations are limitless, but the real
pizza Napoletana measures up to 35cm in diameter and has a
slightly-elevated rim of no more than 2cm. The base should be
cooked for between 60 and 90 seconds in a stone oven with an
oak-wood fire.
A bill tabled in the Italian parliament in 2004 specified which
types of flour, yeast, salt and tomatoes - sourced from Naples -
must be used in pizza Margherita. It also determined that the
dough has to be kneaded only by hand.
An Italian farmers' association then noted that half of Italy's pizzerias were using foreign ingredients to make one of the world's most popular dishes, including Chinese tomatoes and Tunisian olive oil.
This time around the Italian National Commission for UNESCO
decided to recognize "the art of Neapolitan pizza
makers" - pizzaiolos – as a tribute to their culinary
skills.
Naples is the city of pizza aficionados. On Tuesday Pope Francis
accepted a pizza handed to him by a restaurant owner in the
southern Italian city, whilst riding in his Popemobile. The pizza
was topped with yellow cherry tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella, in
reference to the Vatican flag, read "W il Papa" (Long live the
Pope).
The Neapolitan pizza was invented between 1715 and 1725, with
Margherita first cooked up in 1889. According to legend, the
Margherita pizza, whose red tomatoes, green basil and white
mozzarella represent the Italian flag, was named after Queen
Margherita of Savoy.