Visit Naples Italy

Rumor has it that a full 25 percent of all restaurant in Italy are pizzerias. I am not sure of the accuracy of that statement but it would make sense as this is the country where Pizza was invented. Now Naples is the city that can claim to have invented the Pizza. The first pizzeria may very well have been Antica Pizzeria Port d’Alba which was founded in 1830.

The very first pizzas like most great foods today were the food that the poor invented. Since the poor of Venice invented this these pizzas were very simple with only garlic and olive oil as toppings made from a very hot wood fired oven. In fact the idea of a pizzeria is kind of a new concept to most natives of Italy as this food staple first started on food stands sold on street corners all throughout the city.

You would be doing yourself a great injustice if you ever find yourself in Naples and not order a Margherita pizza. This originally started from the now famous pizza maker Raffaele Esposito when he was asked to make a pizza for the then King and Queen of Italy. This pizza is very simple containing only a tomato sauce, mozzarella and basil. The reason why he used these three ingredients was that they were the three colors of the Italian flag and in its simplest form represented true Italy.

If  you want to visit the pizzeria where this pizza was invented you are in luck because it is still around and is now known as Pizzeria Brandi. At this moment you could consider that place a bit of a tourist trap but it should be worth the visit just to say that you have ate in the pizzeria where the pizza was invented. There are other well known and notable pizzerias as well such as Da Michele, Di Matteo, Trianon da Ciro as well as Cafasso.

Pizza is now a well represented dish all throughout the world but I believe that Naples truly captures what this dish is all about and does not tamper with perfection. Fortunately since this is such a popular thing to eat in Italy it should not be a problem to find some good pizza joints near your hotel. Hopefully you will be staying somewhere near the above mentioned restaurants so you will not have to travel very far.