Certified-authentic Neapolitan pizza
is taking off in the United States, according to an article by
the Wall Street Journal.
The financial daily cites a "growing wave of culinary
entrepreneurs" who have been granted the seal of approval from
the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (VPN), a nonprofit
organization, founded in Naples three decades ago, whose mission
is to "promote and protect...true Neapolitan pizza".
Justin Piazza, the 40-year-old Italian-American owner of
two pizzerias in Phoenix, Arizona, says to get his certification
he purchased about $25,000 in specialty equipment, including a
dome-shaped wood-burning oven which features bricks made from
the ashes of Mount Vesuvius.
Piazza also must abide by strict quality standards,
including using certain ingredients such as a flour the
association describes as having "an almost talcum powder-like
appearance, and proper dough-handling techniques.
Other pizza certification programs exist in addition to the
VPN program, with 76 restaurants in the US having earned the
certification, the WSJ reports.
Internationally, there are nearly 500 certified.
Italy has the most, the report adds.
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