Pizza makers in Naples on
Thursday baked the first Neapolitan 'controlled designation of
origin' pizza that is to be the symbol of the upcoming Expo
world fair in Milan.
The pizza was made on the initiative of farmers'
association Coldiretti using local traditional specialities
including buffalo mozzarella from Campania, Sorrento extra
virgin olive oil, San Marzano tomatoes and Vesuvio cherry
tomatoes, all protected under the EU's system of geographical
indications.
It came on the day the Italian UNESCO commission was
expected to green-light a proposal to include the art of the
traditional Neapolitan pizza maker in the UN cultural
organization's Representative List of Intangible Cultural
Heritage.
"Inclusion of pizza in the UNESCO list protects a business
that generates 10 billion euros in Italy alone, in the roughly
63,000 pizzerias and take-away joints, outlets serving pizza by
the slice and providing home delivery," Coldiretti said.
The Neapolitan 'DOC' pizza for Expo was made in the Antica
Pizzeria Brandi where legend has it that Italy's iconic
margherita pizza topped with tomato, mozzarella and basil was
first created for Margherita of Savoy, Queen consort of the
Kingdom of Italy, in June 1889.
The colours of the ingredients - red, white and green -
were allegedly intended to represent the colours of the Italian
flag.
"The pizza symbolising Expo aims to valorise national
identity in a situation in which almost two in three pizzas (63
per cent) are obtained from a mix of flour, tomato, mozzarella
and oil coming from thousands of kilometres away without any
indication for consumers," Coldiretti said.
"All too often the item served has been made using
mozzarella obtained not from milk but from stored curd deriving
from Eastern Europe, American or Chinese tomatoes, Tunisian or
Spanish olive oil or even seed oil instead of Italian extra
virgin and French, German or Ukrainian flour instead of flour
obtained from Italian wheat," the association continued.
"A river of raw materials that has unfortunately seriously
compromised the Italian authenticity of the product served but
also the formidable employment opportunities that can arise
within the national food and agriculture sector," said
Coldiretti president Roberto Moncalvo.
Also on Thursday, Coldiretti reported that around four in
10 pizza makers in Italy are non-Italian and that there are some
6,000 vacant pizza-making jobs across the sector.
At least 100,000 people are employed in the pizza sector on
a regular basis with an additional 50,000 people hired at
weekends to meet the rise in demand, the farmers' association
said.
Of the total, 65,000 are Italian while of the foreigners,
most come from Egypt (approximately 20,000) and Morocco (over
10,000).
In Italy five million pizzas are baked each day to a total
of 1.5 billion a year, with an average consumption of 7.6 kg per
person.
This is second only to the Unites States where on average
13 kg of pizza are consumed per person per year.
The campaign to have the art of the traditional Neapolitan
pizza maker included on the UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural
Heritage began in March 20011 with the backing of Coldiretti and
former agriculture and environment minister Alfonso Pecoraro
Scanio.
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