The event Tu Vuò fa’ il Napoletano – Facce da Pizza landed in the USA. The first of the three gatherings in support to the candidature of the Neapolitan pizza making art to UNESCO’s Intangible World Heritage, took place in Los Angeles on the 13th of October. Two million signatures were collected for the cause, and the final decision will be made public in Seoul, South Korea, in the next few months. A positive outcome would make of the Neapolitan way to make pizza the seventh Italian intangible treasure recognized by UNESCO, along with the Mediterranean diet, the Sicilian “Pupi” tradition, the Sardinian “Canto a Tenore,” the “vite ad alberello” culture in Pantelleria, Cremona’s violin making craftsmanship and the celebrations of big shoulder-borne processional structures.
The event took place in the spectacular home of Martha De Laurentiis, wife of the late cinema producer Dino De Laurentiis, who passed in 2010. Before becoming a producer, Dino worked for a long time for the promotion of Italian excellences, and those of Campania in particular, in the world. Martha is also an ambassador of Italian cinema and culture in the USA. Her magnificent mansion on the hills of Beverly Hills, once owned by Gloria Swanson, the protagonist of Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard, was perfect to entertain the many guests of the evening.
The gathering was created to rise awareness in Hollywood about the Neapolitan pizza making art’s UNESCO candidature. Many the celebrities who got caught “hands-in-the-dough,” supervised by expert “pizzaioli:” from John Savage to Blanca Blanco, from Sofia Milos to Francesca Inaudi, from Dawn Lynn Burger – protagonist of Queen Sugar – to Richard and Francesca Harrison. More were present: Diana Alvarez, producer of Ocean Eight, Dina Morrone and her husband Stephen Rivkin, famous for his editing work on Avatar and Pirates of the Caribbean, members of the Academy Gary Shapiro and Jane Goren, actress Laura Bilgeri, pianist Oksana Kolesnikova, who often accompanied Andrea Bocelli in concert, Patricia Riggen, director or La Misma Luna and Miracles from Heaven, actor and director Eugenio Derbez and producers Richard Kahn and Ben Carver. Also present Italy’s General Consul in Los Angeles Antonio Verde, who comes from Naples, the director of the Italian Trade Agency, Florindo Blandolino and the director of the Italian Institute of Culture in LA, Valeria Rumori.
An exquisite dinner was prepared by Gigi Ferraioli, home chef for the De Laurentiis family. Dino De Laurentiis had taken Gigi with him to California 38 years ago. Along with him in the kitchen, Massimiliano Esposito, president of the Italian Chef Federation in Beijing. This is the menu of the evening: Neapolitan ragout according to the ancient recipe, parmigiana di melanzane, zucchini alla scapece.
Endorsing the event was also the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana, boasting delegations in 34 countries and 620 pizzerias around the world: USA, Japan, Europe, Singapore, Philippines, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and Kuwait. The Associazione’s president Antonio Pace came from Naples to attend, along with two “pizzaioli,” Paolo Surace and Marco Leone. Pasquale Cozzolino, chef of one of New York’s most popular pizzerias, Ribalta, and creator of the “pizza diet,” represented the East Coast, while Los Angeles was supported by the Associazione’s Californian delegate, Peppe Miele (who taught how to make pizza to Brad Pitt and his older son) and two other Beverly Hills’ famous Neapolitan “pizzaioli,” Vito and Mario.
The event was organized by the Dress and Dream, run by Elisabetta Cantone and Francesca Sivestri, an Italian non-for-profit organization that aims at promoting the Italian lifestyle – from cinema to fashion, from arts to food – around the world. Well known sponsors of the candidature are Cirio, Le Cinque Stagioni, Pasta Paone, Ati Sassi Experience, Ati Irpinia Excellence, Ferrarelle, Angelo e Franco Mozzarella and Parmigiano Reggiano.
The lively two days of Californian events was also introduced by a pizza making masterclass for American journalists, who were invited to become “pizzaioli” for one afternoon at the VPN America’s California headquarters in Inglewood. Here, we had the occasion to interview Peppe Miele, the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana’s delegate for California.
Journalists today had the opportunity to learn how to make pizza. What are the basic rules to make a real Neapolitan pizza?
Rules are simple and faithfully reported in our Official Regulations. There aren’t any exceptions or variations, neither in the method nor in the ingredients. While we respect all those who strive to propose healthy, genuine products, we remain the only association protecting the originality and uniqueness of a product that has remained unaltered for more than 300 years.
What would becoming part of UNESCO Intangible World Heritage mean?
It would mean Neapolitan pizza will be known for generations to come and that its essential historical and cultural role will be recognized internationally.
Do you think the perception of Neapolitan pizza in America, a country used to a much different type of pizza, has changed throughout the decades, and how?
It’s been a hard, yet fulfilling and always improving work. At the beginning, I am talking about 20 years ago or so, Neapolitan pizza was considered a relatively humble dish, with little in common with the so called American pizza. Thanks to the work of AVPN and of Italian producers, who believed in the American market, we’ve witnessed a rise in interest in pizza Napoletana within a relatively small amount of years. This is the reason behind the ongoing growth of the amount of people choosing this simple and genuine product on an everyday basis.
In your Academy, you taught Brad Pitt how to make pizza: how was having him as a student and what does he think of pizza Napoletana?
The fact a star like him took part to our course made us very proud. For a day, he took off his “celebrity jacket” to put on t-shirt and apron and lock himself up in our school. He was very open to learn our art, with that humbleness and that friendliness so typical of him.
What type of feedback have you been getting from wannabe “pizzaioli” who take part to your courses?
We organize courses each week, with about 100 students each time. I’d say that at least 80% of those enrolling in our professional courses (we also have courses for amateur “pizzaioli,” too) have successfully opened a Neapolitan pizzeria. Our Yelp 5 Stars make us extremely proud and set us apart from other schools around, because we manage to transmit, in a way only we can achieve, the essential 5th ingredient of pizza Napoletana: passion.
Tu Vuò fa il Napoletano . Facce da Pizza’s next stops are San Francisco and New York.
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