The best pizzerias in Naples and the history of pizza, from the first gourmet wooden oven in Capodimonte to the school of “Tramonti”.

If the genesis of pizza is a “heritage of humanity” and is lost in the cradle of Mediterranean civilizations, it is in Naples and Tramonti, in the province of Salerno, that it becomes the most loved food of all time as we know it today. Let’s discover the history of the most famous pizza in the world and where to taste it.

The habit of consuming a flattened loaf of bread to accompany various dishes is common to all peoples bordering the Mediterranean; in ancient Greece it was called “pita”, which later became “pinsa” in Rome, from the Latin “pinsare”, meaning to pull.

In Napoli, where love is king. When boy meets girl, here’s what they say. When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that’s amore. (Dean Martin, 1953)

If today it is still the subject of study of how the word “pinsa” became “pizza”, its first written testimony can be found in the lease agreement for a mill in Gaeta in 997. But at the time pizza was still very different from how we understand it today.

We must wait for the discovery of the Americas in the 16th century for one of pizza’s fundamental ingredients, the tomato, to be imported to the Western world. It is, in fact, only at the end of the 18th century that it entered Italian kitchens via Naples, where its cultivation for food purposes began.

At the time, however, pizza was still considered a street food to be filled in various ways, which also began to be appreciated by the higher social classes thanks to the fashion of the “Grand Tour” trips. The news reports among its admirers also Maria Carolina D’Asburgo, sister of Marie Antoinette and wife of Ferdinand of Bourbon, king of Naples, who even had a wood-fired oven built in the famous Royal Palace of Capodimonte to prepare it.

And today, that very same oven can be visited. Inside the Museum and Royal Wood of Capodimonte in Naples, the Giardino Torre pizzeria and bistro, which once was the royal fruit and vegetable garden, has now been returned to its original splendor thanks to a conservative restoration that has reopened the greenhouses and even the ancient pizza oven to the public.

At this point our narrative is intertwined with that of the two main schools of pizza chefs from Campania, namely Neapolitan pizza and that of Tramonti, a small town on the Amalfi coast, as Carmine Porpora, legendary maître of the Hotel Santa Caterina Amalfi tells us. The 5-star hotel’s Ristorante al Mare, in fact, embraces the Tramonti’s tradition and we recommend tasting a pizza there in the company of a wonderful view.

The history of this school of pizza makers dates back to the Middle Ages, when biscuit bread was prepared in the rural ovens of Tramonti to supply the ships of the Maritime Republic of Amalfi (and thus the secret behind the name of the “marinara” pizza was revealed). The area was full of dairies, which is why the pizza was often topped with a fresh cheese similar to primo sale.

Tramonti’s pizza differs from the Neapolitan one in that it is cooked more slowly and at lower temperatures, around 300-350 degrees, giving rise to a crust that is crunchier on the outside and softer on the inside compared to the Neapolitan one with a higher and softer crust.

With the fall of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies first and then the tragedy of the two world wars, the economic condition of Campania forced various families to look for work in other countries.
Curiously, it was the pizza chefs from Campania who opened the first pizzerias in America at the beginning of the 1900s, long before this format arrived in Northern Italy.

For this we have to wait until 1953 when the famous Luigi Giordano from Tramonti launched the first modern pizzeria in Northern Italy in Novara after having opened a dairy business, an entrepreneurial idea born because mozzarella fior di latte was not yet a known cheese in the region, hence to optimize its business’ supply chain.

The pizzeria was so successful that many other pizza chefs soon left Tramonti to open similar businesses, so much so that historians agree that Tramonti is responsible for making pizza known worldwide.

In the meantime, in addition to the “Giordano” school, the custom of seasoning pizza with mozzarella fior di latte and tomato puree consolidated itself from the USA where pizza makers had difficulty finding the fresh product and therefore preferred to use canned tomatoes and cheese. A custom that will also spread in Italy thanks to the many American soldiers present in our country (along with the custom of consuming pizza while sitting like it was already in use in the States).

At this point, Neapolitan pizza has almost taken on the appearance of how we know it today. The last “ingredient” comes, once again, from the United States which in the post-war period, thanks to the Marshall Plan, sent a lot of food aid to Italy, including “American wheat” which would make it possible to obtain lighter and highly leavened breads.

And here it is the “classic” pizza as we understand it today: round, with tomato puree, fior di latte mozzarella and a high, soft crust. Why it is called Margherita – whether from the former Italian Queen’s name or because the cheese was arranged in a daisy flower (margherita in Italian) shape – is still, however, the subject of controversy.

It is in Naples that we find the true legends of pizza, its sacred “temples” where we recommend tasting it, including Pizzeria da Michele and Concettina ai Tre Santi, two different, albeit complementary, experiences.

The first owes its name to Michele Condurro, the founder of a dynasty of pizza makers who, since 1870, and 1930 in the Forcella district where they still are, continue to churn out pizzas respecting Michele’s ideas. He, in fact, was use to sell only the “Marinara” and “Margherita” flavors without the addition of “papocchie” (other toppings). Here you cannot book and it is part of the experience to take the number and wait your turn entertained by the local folklore and the friendliness of the staff.

Concettina ai Tre Santi is a historic place that has been able to reinvent not only the concept of a pizzeria, but also the neighborhood itself in which it is located, the Sanità district. A fairy tale that begins in 1951, when Ciro Oliva‘s great-grandmother sold fried pizzas near the newsstand called Tre Santi, and which today the young pizza chef has made into a glam business. He introduced a cool mise en place, trained an attentive staff able to transform even the addition of fresh basil to the pizza into a ritual, created a well-stocked wine list, without obviously compromising the quality and care with which each pizza is prepared (and yes, they take reservations!).

Also recently opened in Naples is a pizzeria, Antica Pizzeria Chiaia, which has already earned a place of honor among connoisseurs. Led by pizza chef Gianluca Marra, it celebrates the tradition of Neapolitan pizza, and everything is vintage, from the grandma-inspired decor to the staff uniforms.

The interior design was inspired by Antonio Mattozzi’s famous book on the history of pizza, “Pizza. A Neapolitan Story. Pizzerias and Pizza Makers between the End of the Eighteenth Century and the Beginning of the Twentieth Century”, focusing the decor and menu on the two most important periods for pizza: its birth, around 1890, and its current form and ingredients, in the 1970s.

Poor and noble at the same time, generous and colourful, simple and ingenious, pizza is today a metaphor for the very essence of Naples and its wonderful people.

The Secret

There is a secret to not having to wait hours for your turn at the Pizzeria da Michele, and it is to take your number when the pizza chefs change their shift, at 4pm, the only way to get a seat straight away, perhaps right at the famous Maradona table, where the great football champion used to eat, as evidenced by a framed newspaper article on the wall.