New Yorkers love pizza, and a bevy of new spots (Co., Keste Pizza e Vino, Motorino, Pizza Mezzaluna, San Marzano, Spunto, and Tonda) attest we're in the Golden Age of Pizza. However, only one--Keste Pizza e Vino--is certified-authentic Neapolitan wood-fired pizza, and if you've ever traveled to Naples or tried an authentic Neapolitan pizza, you remember the difference. Roberto Caporuscio, the American-chapter President of Associazone Pizzaiouli Napoletana, has been making thin, 10-inch pizzas at Keste since March. Recently, I visited Keste to discuss pizza, watch Roberto at work, and taste a little bit of Naples. Roberto has plans to open a pizza making school, but until then, learn from the master.
LM: You are a former farmer and onetime mozzarella-maker, what initially attracted you to start making pizzas?
RC: I wanted a change in my life, so I decided to go make pizza. The foods that I love are pizza and gelato. There's no school for making gelato, so I went to school for pizza and worked in Naples.
How old were you when you decided to start making pizzas?
37 years old.
How many years ago was that?
11.
You serve as the U.S. delegate for the Associazone Pizzaiuoli Napoletani, an organization that seeks to preserve Neapolitan pizza-making traditions and pass them down to a new generation.
More than that, what they try to do, they try to promote the pizza maker. Again, the pizza maker is the most important thing to preserve the pizza. You can't preserve the pizza without the pizza maker.
What defines an authentic Neapolitan pizza?
What defines pizza Napoletano is it's the same for over 200 years. The main ingredients, including the flour, are very unique. For this kind of pizza we use a certain kind of flour that comes from Italy. It's made from seven different types of wheat from different parts of the world, and it's ground so slowly that when the wheat is finished grinding, the flour is ready and doesn't need any additives. That's important. The way we make the dough, the way we stretch the pizza when we cook is so simple and unique at the same time. Another difference is the pizza is cooked in one minute.
It's chewier, right?
It's not crunchy. It may be crispy on outside, but on the inside it's soft. People may think it's not cooked, but it's cooked. Because of course if you have pizza that's not cooked, it's not good. Like every other food, what's not cooked, isn't good.
You import all of the crucial ingredients--from the flour to tomatoes to the buffalo mozzarella--from Italy.
Even the extra virgin olive oil.
What about salt and pepper?
Salt? No. The cheese is imported from Italy. We use parmigiano-reggiano, the caciocavallo from Ragusa, gran cru from Sardinia, and water buffalo mozzarella.
What do you have to say to locavores who would argue your pizza carries a hefty carbon footprint with so many food miles?
I use a local producer for the basil, but for the flour, and other ingredients, I cannot use a local producer.
Isn't the oven also different?
The oven's very important and it's different. Made with a wood cutting stove. It has tiles to keep the heat inside. The way it's made is very, very important. The top is very low.
Which pizza of yours is your favorite?
The original Margherita with water buffalo mozzarella.
What do you consider the best Neopolitan-style pizza in New York?
My favorite is Zero Otto Nove and Coals in the Bronx.
New York-style?
DiFara in Brooklyn.
What about favorite gelato place?
L'Arte Del Gelato.
Why is making pizza important to you?
I think that we try to bring to the table, not just pizza as food, but a piece of history from Naples. That is my feeling when I make pizza.
Do they know when the first Neopolitan style pizza was made?
There was pizza around 16th century, but that's not a perfect date. All we know is the mast'nicola. I make it at Keste with pecornio romano cheese, fresh basil, and lard. In 1756, marinara was first used. There is a pictures of Pizzeria Portalba, which opened in 1755 and is still open now. The pizzeria where I trained, Starita a Materdei, is 110 years old.
What do you hope to accomplish by opening a pizza making school?
I hope to teach and spread the way the Neapoletan pizzaiuolo [pizza maker] is supposed to be.
Keste Pizza e Vino
Get more information about Keste Pizza e Vino on Savory Cities.
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