Italian Notebook

Il Mondo è Bello Perché è Vario!

Italy - Roughly "variety is the spice of life," and nowhere does this apply more than to pizza. Here we are not speaking about the variety between using these or the other toppings. While certainly a consideration, this is only the lowest and most apparent layer of variety.

Think of the biologists' taxonomic system of classification . . . domain, kingdom, phylum, class, etc., etc., down to species . . well, only this last one corresponds to "toppings". Variety of pizza in Italy follows a similar schema.

Pizza (da pizzeria), pizza tonda, pizza alla pala, pizza da forno, pizza alla genovese, pizza in teglia, pizza al taglio, focaccia, and pane pizza are just some of the main variations of pizza . . before toppings are even added! Each one is made from a different dough, in a different oven, and available from different places, at different times of day.

Today's photos are of pizza al taglio (cut pizza). This is a semi-shallow pizza, prepared only in rosticcerie (rotisseries, also simply called pizza al taglio). These are your proto- fast-foods joints, no tables, so one usually eats standing up outside or simply walking. Eating pizza al taglio around lunch time (1-1:30 p.m.) will require aggressive elbow tactics in order to maintain your position in line. It is best from about 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Most places will then make another round around 5 p.m. Good pizza al taglio places will also do fritti (fried finger foods), and some will even make oven-baked dishes, like lasagne and parmiggiana (in photo 3).

Confusing and overwhelming? Just think of the possibilities though . . . it simply means that one must scientifically and methodically try them all . .

--contributed by GB, Editor, Italian Notebook

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