Pizza Margherita
Pizza Margherita, also known as Margherita pizza, is, together with the pizza marinara, the typical Neapolitan pizza. It is roundish in shape with a raised edge and seasoned with hand-crushed peeled tomatoes, mozzarella, fresh basil leaves, and extra virgin olive oil. The dough is made by mixing water, salt, and yeast with flour.
The dough is stretched by the wiktionary:pizzaiolo in a motion going outwards from the center, pressing with the fingers of both hands on the dough ball, and flipping it several times, shaping it into a disc. It is then topped and baked in an oven, which is traditionally made of brick and wood-fired. Pizza Margherita is usually served hot on a plate or folded into four and wrapped in paper.
History
The origins of pizza Margherita came from mixing similar toppings that were already present in Naples between 1796 and 1810. In 1849 Emanuele Rocco recorded different pizza toppings including basil, tomatoes, and thin slices of mozzarella; the mozzarella was thinly sliced, and added to the toppings already present.In 1866, Francesco De Bourcard, writing about the traditions of Naples, described the most commonly used pizza toppings at that time as well as the possible origin of calzone:
A popular legend holds that the archetypal pizza Margherita was invented on 10 June 1889, when the Royal Palace of Capodimonte commissioned the Neapolitan pizzaiolo Raffaele Esposito to create a pizza in honor of the visiting Queen Margherita. Of the three different pizzas he created, the queen strongly preferred a pizza swathed in the colours of the Italian flag—red, white, and green. Supposedly, this type of pizza was then named after the queen, with an official letter of recognition from the queen's "head of service" remaining to this day on display in Esposito's shop, now called Pizzeria Brandi.
Later research cast doubt on this legend, undermining the authenticity of the letter of recognition, pointing out that no media of the period reported the supposed visit and that both the story and name Margherita were first promoted in the 1930s–1940s.