Italians, as we know, are very fussy when it comes to their traditional food and if there’s one thing they really can’t stand is seeing their typical dishes “disfigured” by exotic extravagances and “contaminated” by other traditions. Above all, pizza. A sacredness of which Italians are proud and which cannot be modified in any way.
In fact, 1 in 3 Italians says to be horrified by the bizarre pizza toppings found while traveling abroad. This is what emerges from the survey of Coldiretti (the largest association representing and assisting Italian agriculture) on the occasion of the opening of the temporary “Horror Pizzeria”, in Naples, on the anniversary of the inclusion of pizza in the UNESCO Heritage List of Humanity (December 7th, 2017).
Around the world it is possible to “taste” atrocities of all kinds, from the Americas to Asia, from Africa to Australia up to Europe where the most terrible variants are found in Northern countries. In Asia, for example, you can find Hong Kong snake pizza. According to a Cantonese proverb, the best time to eat snakes is “when the autumn wind begins to blow”, when they fatten up for hibernation. Those who consume it are convinced that snake meat has medicinal properties, improves skin conditions and warms the body.
In Oceania, more precisely in Australia, you can find pizza with kangaroo, crocodile or ostrich meat, but also with cannabis. Yes, with cannabis! In the United States, the presence of “parmesan”, the fake version of real parmigiano and grana padano, combined with chicken, is widespread, while the Hawaiian pizza with pineapple is now a great classic made in USA. But in the States they do even worse, with pizza topped with macaroni and cheese. In South Africa it is possible to find pizza with bananas, but also one with zebra meat.
In Portugal they make pizza with cod and hard-boiled eggs, while in Sweden they add anything in addition to the basic ingredients: turkey and honey, canned fruit and chocolate, meatballs and even cabbage salad. In Holland there is pizza with kebab. But around the world there are also those who use ketchup instead of tomato sauce and make extensive use of the most diverse cheeses, from Italian fakes to Anglo-Saxon cheddar. May God forgive them…
Among Italians who have “burned” themselves with pizza abroad, 14% – according to the Coldiretti survey – said they were very disappointed, while 22% said they were quite dissatisfied. A share of 26% did not trust it and had never eaten pizza abroad, but believe it or not there were also 6% enthusiasts and 20% who quite liked it.
The disappointment with pizza abroad concerns various aspects: in the first place is the dough (52%), in second place is the flavor (48%) and in third place is the type of ingredients used (36%). But among the reasons for disappointment with pizza abroad, there are also the unusual combination of ingredients (34%), the incorrect cooking (30%), the high cost (25%), the preparation (24%) and the poor digestibility (23%).
The traditional art of the “Neapolitan pizzaiuolo” has been recognized by UNESCO as part of the cultural heritage of humanity, transmitted from generation to generation and continuously recreated, capable of providing the community with a sense of identity and continuity and of promoting respect for cultural diversity and human creativity, according to the criteria established by the 2003 UNESCO Convention. It is a culinary practice that includes various phases, including the preparation of the dough, the particular rotary movement made by the pizza chef and cooking in the wood oven.
Guaranteeing the authenticity of the recipe and the art of preparation also means defending a dish that is an integral part of the Italian tradition threatened throughout the world by the spread of fake Made in Italy products which have reached the astronomical figure of 120 billion euros, practically the double Italian exports, taking jobs and growth away from Italy.