Searching for the Authenic in Italy

Pizza maker in Naples, Italy

Last week I posed the question on this blog "What is authentic?" And, my answer was that here in Hawaii, authentic is elusive at best, and, most likely, vanished.

The reason I started asking this question in the first place is because of the pizza. I know it sounds strange, so let me explain.

When Italians visit the United States, they have very strong reactions to American pizza. On the one hand, many are disgusted by what they see as a bastardization of their nation dish. All the toppings, the globs and globs of cheese, the slipshod baking methods make for something that doesn't resemble pizza in their eyes.

On the other hand, some Italians love this American creation. So much variety, so many choices! And that big, bold American flavor!

In fact, I have a good friend who was born in Italy and married an Italian woman. They absolutely love the Olive Garden chain. Of course, Olive Garden has very little to do with the Italian food you will get in Italy. But, unlimited salad and breadsticks, free refills on soda, doggie bags to take home leftovers, they go there all the time!

But, many Italians would cry heresy! This is not traditional, it is not authentic. 

To lots of Italians, there are only two acceptable ways to make pizza. Marinara has tomato sauce spread on the crust with a little olive oil. Margarita adds fresh mozzarella cheese and, maybe, a couple basil leaves. That's it. Nothing else. No sausage, no pepperoni, and certainly no ham and pineapple!

Anything besides these two pizzas, they will tell you, is an attempt to destroy Italian culture.

But, let's take a look at the ingredients on this pizza, starting with the tomato sauce. Tomatoes aren't indigenous to Italy or Europe, they're from the new world. Europeans brought them back and the Spanish taught the Italians to cook with them. Then, there's the salt, which probably came to Italy from the Balkans. And garlic originated in Iran and central Asia.

Although cheese making was known to the Romans, it didn't originate there. Egyptians made cheese as did people in Poland 7,500 years ago.

Wheat was first cultivated in Turkey.

And what about basil? It seems as Italian as the vespa or an Armani suit. It's served in every Italian restaurant worldwide as the famous sauce called pesto. But, the basil used in Italian cooking originated in central Africa.

So, without the food cultures of the new world, Asia, the Middle East, Egypt, Turkey and Africa, there would be no pizza.

Sure, pizza itself is an Italian invention, but it was created by using the time-honored tradition of borrowing the best from other cultures to create something new and exciting. Fusion cuisine, 19th century style.

In other words, while Italy (and other countries) debate immigration policy and whether to close their borders, people from other countries bringing their ideas and cultures to new lands surely influence that new country for the better.
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