Pizza is Italy’s satisfaction and the world’s obsession. However amongst billions eaten yearly, just a few can really be referred to as one of the best. So I set off throughout Italy with pizza masters Gigio Attanasio, Vincenzo Viscusi and Antonio Pascarella to uncover three extraordinary pizzas. Each is exclusive, artistic, and definitely worth the journey. Let me present you why.
Watch: I Traveled to Italy to Discover the BEST PIZZA within the World!
Listed here are three of the world’s finest pizzas, each particular in its personal approach.
The Greatest Pizza within the World #1: Pizzeria Carmnella, Naples
A Household Story
Simply steps from Naples’ principal practice station, Pizzeria Carmnella has been drawing locals for many years. Right now it’s run by Vincenzo Esposito, the third era to hold the torch. His grandmother, Carmela, opened the doorways in 1982 and the place nonetheless bears her identify. Again then, lots of Naples’ pizzaioli had been ladies, although in the present day the sphere is generally made up of males. Vincenzo continues his Nonna’s legacy with satisfaction, bringing the identical ardour to each dough ball and each bake
What Makes Their Pizza Distinctive
What makes Carmnella so fascinating is the way in which custom is preserved in each element. Vincenzo rolls his bases utilizing an previous one-hand approach, a gesture handed down from his grandmother that few cooks nonetheless observe. Even the way in which he parts dough is exclusive. As an alternative of spherical balls, he shapes them into rectangles, permitting twice as many to slot in a tray and giving him extra management when it’s time to stretch. The dough itself is rarely refrigerated. It ferments slowly at room temperature for a minimum of eight hours, growing perfume and elasticity. With regards to baking, the pizzaiolo lets gravity assist with the stretch and all the time returns the pizza to the very same spot within the oven after rotating. This little ritual prevents scorching and provides the crust its signature puff and char.
Why Each Chew Feels Like a Masterpiece
The primary pizza we tried was the “Filetto”, a brilliant creation topped with cherry tomatoes from the slopes of Vesuvius, fior di latte, contemporary basil and completed with sprinkle of Pecorino. There is no such thing as a tomato sauce base, solely the contemporary elements layered straight onto the dough. The result’s delicate, aromatic and nearly dream-like. One other pizza we tried was the Elena Ferrante, impressed by the well-known Neapolitan author. Think about silky fior di latte and juicy mini-meatballs, completed with ricotta on prime, black pepper and olive oil. The consequence feels decadent but balanced, with toppings positioned with care and dough that stays delicate but robust sufficient to carry all of it. Carmnella’s pizzas bake in below 60 seconds at round 500°C, leaving the cornicione gentle and ethereal, the underside blistered with leopard spots, and it leaves you craving the subsequent slice earlier than you end the primary.
The Greatest Pizza within the World #2: Pepe In Grani
A Pizza Pilgrimage within the Center of Nowhere
One hour exterior Naples, within the quiet city of Caiazzo, stands Pepe in Grani, the pizzeria that turned a sleepy village right into a vacation spot for meals lovers throughout the globe. Franco Pepe is the person behind all of it, a grasp who respects native farmers, collaborates with prime cooks, and invents daring new mixtures of toppings, typically cold and warm collectively. He doesn’t name his pizza Neapolitan. It’s his personal model, his personal dough, his personal guidelines. Consuming right here is greater than a meal. From the starters to dessert, it looks like an immersion into Franco’s creativeness, the place each plate circles again to pizza. And sure, he even makes a pineapple pizza that even gained me over!
The Secret to Nice Pizza Begins with the Dough
Ask Franco Pepe what makes his pizzas particular and he’ll let you know it begins with the dough. Every ball is rigorously weighed relying on the pizza model, 200 grams for fried pizzas and 250 grams for the classics, as a result of steadiness issues. Carbs, proteins and lipids should all be thought-about so that each slice feels gentle and digestible. The flour mix is his secret. Referred to as “O Pepe,” this dough blends three Italian grains and is reworked a number of occasions a yr relying on the harvest. For Franco, the flour offers identification to the pizza, whereas the toppings are merely supporting actors.
He believes in not relying an excessive amount of on know-how, all the time searching for a steadiness between trendy strategies and custom. The dough is kneaded by hand, as a result of skipping this step would strip away the senses of contact, sight, and scent that information a pizzaiolo. He screens temperature and fermentation carefully, hardly ever refrigerating the dough. He treats chilly and warmth like devices, adjusting them in keeping with the day. Each batch is alive, and Franco insists {that a} pizzaiolo should “pay attention with contact” to interpret it appropriately.
When Creativity Meets the Oven
The pizzas themselves are the place custom and creativeness collide. Take the Incorrect Margherita, which flips conference by layering mozzarella first after which topping it with a tomato sauce comprised of native curly tomatoes, completed with a vivid basil and olive oil purée. Or the Coastal Sensation, a fried pizza that defies expectations with anchovy, parsley, lemon zest and chili-tomato within the middle, gentle, contemporary, and unattainable to place down. One other standout, La Scarpetta, reimagines the enjoyment of wiping your plate clear after pasta with bread. The pizza arrives layered with mozzarella and cheese fondue, then topped with a compote of three chilly tomatoes that ship a robust distinction.
After which there may be the shock: Franco’s hidden pineapple creation, Ananascosta. Franco tucks pineapple inside a fried scone-like pizza with prosciutto and a contact of licorice. It’s daring, playful, and utterly addictive. The sort of dish that makes even anti pineapple folks like me smile.
Pepe in Grani’s pizzas communicate by their dough, each a narrative of its personal. Crisp on the skin, cloud-soft inside, balanced to perfection, and completed with toppings that shock the senses. It’s no surprise that celebrities, cooks, and pizza pilgrims alike journey to Caiazzo only for a seat at Franco Pepe’s desk.
The Greatest Pizza within the World #3: Pizza Fritta in Naples
A Custom Proudly Carried by Ladies
Fried pizza has its roots within the poorer areas of Naples, the place ladies ready it at residence whereas their husbands labored. Again then, pizzaiolas had been largely feminine, and the custom lives on by cooks like Teresa Iorio. Teresa has been making pizza since she was twelve years previous, and her expertise have earned her worldwide recognition. She broke boundaries as the primary lady to win the World Pizza Championship, taking the crown twice and incomes worldwide legend standing.
How Teresa Creates Her Masterpiece
At her pizzeria, Teresa affectionately calls her dough balls “stunning infants.” She rolls them in semolina, stretches them with practiced arms, and folds them round a beneficiant quantity of provola cheese. Then she seals every parcel tightly to maintain the filling inside, then drops it into sizzling oil. She flips it solely as soon as, spooning oil excessive till it puffs up, golden and crisp.
What follows is artistry. She crowns the fried pizza with a fragile unfold of sheep ricotta, folds mortadella into rose shapes, scatters baked pistachios, and provides lemon juice, cracked pepper, and contemporary basil. The perfume alone is intoxicating, however the first chew seals it. Crisp on the skin, molten cheese inside, and layers of taste that talk of Naples itself.
A Fried Pizza Like No Different
Neglect the heavy fried meals you could know. Teresa’s pizza fritta is gentle, balanced, and layered with care. The ricotta is fluffy, the mortadella silky, and the lemon brightens every chew, cleaning the palate so you’re prepared for extra. It feels indulgent however by no means overwhelming, a dish created with ardour and love. “Do all the things with ardour and love, even your work,” she says, and each slice displays that philosophy.
Consuming Teresa Iorio’s pizza fritta is not only attempting one other model of pizza. It’s a ceremony of passage in Naples. A dish rooted in historical past, refined by ability, and lifted by the satisfaction of a pizzaiola who reveals that nice pizza has no limits.
Your Journey to the Greatest Pizza Begins Right here
If you’re a real pizza lover, you owe it to your self to journey to Naples a minimum of as soon as in your life. The pizzas listed here are greater than meals, they’re a cultural expertise you’ll not discover wherever else. These three pizzerias are locations in their very own proper, every definitely worth the journey.
So inform me, which of the three would you go to first? Which one evokes you to pack your baggage and style it for your self?
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