Friday, March 5. 2010Pizza Romana
In 1850, pizza was the unsanitary street food of the Napoli slums. Today every region of Italy has its own style of pizza ... and each region thinks they have the best, of course! Rome even has two styles. The pizza above was the first we had in Rome. We had it, believe it or not, at a kosher pizzaria ... which had been recommended to us not because of being Kosher, but simply as one of the best pizzarias in the city. Yovata, in the Jewish Ghetto. Since we were eating in the Jewish Ghetto, it made sense to order pizza with a classic Jewish topping: artichoke hearts. This pizza was soft and chewy, with generous amounts of mozzarella.
We also ordered a calzone, with chard and soft pecorino. This was delicious.
That kind of pizza, while popular, is not actually what's referred to as "pizza romana". What Rome is really known for is the kind of pizza which comes from bakeries, pizza bianca and pizza rosso. These are huge long flatbreads, which are crispy, thin, and dressed simply with oil, rosemary and salt (bianca) or seasoned tomato paste (rosso).
Pizza bianca is baked in huge deep ovens. The bakers slide them in using 3m-long paddles, stretching the pizza out as they slide it off. This is in the bakery on the Campo di Fiori, which I strongly recommend as a place to buy pizza bianca.
Today, bakeries will sell you Roman-style pizza by the meter, half-meter or piece, with all kinds of non-traditional toppings, like porcini mushrooms, or spinach and dried tomatoes. Pizza bianca is also used as a sandwich bread. Never, ever, buy this kind of pizza from the "pizza shops" which line many popular tourist sites; that's all soggy day-old schlock. Get your pizza bianca only from a real bakery. Going back to round pizza, we made a point of going to the most famous pizzaria of the Trasavere, Dar Poeta. I'm happy to say it lived up to its reputation.
We started with a huge salad. The olives on this salad are a Roman specialty, "baked olives". We have not been able to find them elsewhere, or even a recipe, so if someone knows how to make baked olives (or where to buy them) please let me know.
I had a pizza with squash blossoms and anchovies, a Roman classic combination (and, as usual, inspired by the Jews). Sorry about the bad lighting; it was very dim in the restaurant.
Kris's pizza had tomato sauce, 3 kinds of cheese, and olives. Fantastic! Notice the blistering from the 800F ovens; the pizza also had a chewy texture which comes from the natural sourdough process used by Dar Poeta.
The finale: a chocolate and ricotta calzone. Wow! I wish places in San Francisco would learn about sweet pizza. On second thought, it's probably better for my waistline that they don't. So, now it's your turn to have some great pizza in Rome! Tell them I sent you. Trackbacks
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