When it comes to Italian national cuisine to mind first and foremost comes the Italian pizza - hot, flavorful, crunchy. This dish is loved around the world, but know how to cook this pizza is not everywhere. Italian chefs have their secrets of cooking: they use some sort of flour, cheese and tomatoes, to get the right result.

History of pizza

There are many theories about the origin of pizza. Some historians argue that this is not an Italian dish pizza is just a modification of the Greek pita, tortillas and cheese. It is likely that the Italians actually borrowed the recipe from their Greek neighbors, but international fame in any case, it has acquired Italian pizza. And it happened not once, but only after Columbus' discovery of America and the European countries visiting tomatoes.

It is now impossible to say who guessed complement cake with cheese slices of tomatoes or tomato sauce, but the idea proved to be very successful. The combination of bread, cheese and tomatoes were available to all, it is perfectly satisfied, and not boring. Pizza was the food of the poor peasants.

Legend has it that in the XVIII century, King Ferdinand I was walking incognito in Naples. Hungry, the monarch went to the pizzeria, where was delighted with his first unfamiliar dishes. Pizza King was so pleased that he was trying to introduce it into your diet on a regular basis, but could not overcome the resistance of his wife, who believed that such a primitive food has no place at the royal table. King Ferdinand II also had a passion for pizza and did not want to abandon it. On his orders, cooks do "ennobling" pizza commoners. Royal pizza dough kneaded no legs, for the common people and a special bronze instruments. Yes, and there is a pizza had no hands, and forks.

On the day of the birth of Margaret of Savoy in honor of the Queen has been a huge baked pizza, named in her honor. Since then, Neapolitan pizza "Margarita" was continuously fed to the royal table.

Other variations

To date, only in Italy there are more than two thousand varieties of pizza. A chef pizza maker in other countries do not get tired to invent new recipes according to the culinary traditions of different peoples.

Pizza Cooking pizza   using yeast, fresh, cottage cheese, sour cream, and even flaky shortbread dough. The dough is put on the sauce. Generally used varieties of tomato sauce, but there are different options: Some varieties of pizza sauce or creamy need barbecue sauce. The next layer - cheese. Ideally preparing a pizza with mozzarella Mozzarella: an authentic Italian taste   - Gentle drawling Italian cheese made from cow or buffalo milk. But mozzarella is often replaced by other varieties of semi-hard cheese, and sometimes even use pickled cheeses.

The next layer - filling. It can be very modest, as, for example, have pizza "Margarita" - fresh tomatoes and basil leaves (fresh or dried). And there may be very complex, multi-component, which includes a variety of meats, seafood, mushrooms and vegetables.

Conventionally, a pizza can be divided into meat, pizza with seafood and vegetarian. Meat pizza can include all kinds of sausages, smoked pork, boiled or grilled meat, chicken, sausages, fried minced meat or meatballs. Sauce for these pizzas are usually used in tomato-based. Pizza with seafood often prepared not with the traditional tomato sauce and sour cream or with cream. The delicate flavor of the sauce perfectly underlines the fresh scent of sea gifts: fish, squid, shrimp, mussels, scallops. Vegetarian pizza does not contain meat or fish - only vegetables and mushrooms. In this cheese in their composition is still present because the pizza without cheese - this is not pizza.

Sometimes chefs invent something completely unexpected - such as sweet pizza stuffed with cheese, fruit, nuts, chocolate and jam. These pizzas are tasty, but perhaps, after all, the main thing in them - not the taste, and the original form of presentation.

This pizza

Many recipes for pizza in its own tasty, but they do have little in common with the original. How to cook a real Italian pizza? The preparation of this dish has a lot of secrets.

• Secret one: the right products. Yeast pizza should be fresh. Oil should be used olive. Tomatoes - ground, fragrant. Cheese - mozzarella or other, depending on the recipe. Flour is also advisable to use a special - labeled "00". Unfortunately, the use of authentic products makes "food poor" in an expensive meal. However, often, meal replacement products do not spoil.
• Secret two: preparation of dough. The dough is ready oparnym method, that is, first yeast (fifteen grams) mixed with a small amount of warm water (one hundred milliliters) and fifty grams of flour. Twenty minutes later, Opara will increase in volume. For two hundred grams of flour should be added to salt in the flour to make the deepening and pour it brew. The dough should be knead very vigorously. After that it should be divided into two parts and give them a go. Coming up with a rolling pin to roll the dough can not: it should be thrown in the air and stretch. Since the dough is well aerated and baked through. Now we have to expand the dough into a greased with olive oil Olive oil: useful properties   shape formed by ledges width of two centimeters. The surface of the dough is greased with oil.
• Secret three: the filling. Traditionally, it should contain no more than four components. The dough smeared sauce, then put the cheese and then sausage, mushrooms, vegetables and other foods. Top pizza also can sprinkle with cheese, but mostly the cheese must be between the dough and filling. Classic seasonings pizza: basil, oregano, thyme.
• Secret Four: baking. The oven pizza should only wood-burning oven. Of course, such a possibility is not at all, so most have to use an oven. Preheat the oven to be two hundred or two hundred and thirty degrees, then the baking process takes only ten to twenty minutes and get a pizza, as it should - crisp, browned, but soft and supple.

Maria Bykov

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