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?
Share on Facebook
Save to del.icio.us
Stumble It
Twit This!
Get Free RSS Updates
