][1]There is an interesting piece in yesterday’s Observer about the war of words taking place between the pizza chefs of Napoli, the Italian city where the pizza started.
Essentially, many Neapolitan chefs believe that the only true pizza is the simple Margherita – topped with tomato and mozzarella. Anything else is viewed with deep suspicion but this hasn’t stopped the maverick pizza-maker Enzo Coccia from going out on a limb and producing pizza with fried mussels and pancetta.
For those on the traditional side of the argument, Signor Coccia has betrayed his city’s culinary cultural heritage.
While admiring the Italian passion for their food, it all seems a little overwrought and a bit like people being sniffy over hybrid dishes such as chicken tikka masala.
This blogger is convinced that any pizza involving pineapple is beyond the pale but if people want to eat them then get stuck in.
Scotland’s pizza chefs are no slouches when it comes to knocking up boundary-pushing pizzas. Traditionalists would be horrified but I quite like the sound of the Flaming Scotsman produced by SoHo on Glasgow’s Miller Street.
It starts conventionally enough with mozzarella, tomato and oregano before going buck wild and throwing both jalapenos and haggis into the mix.
I’m pretty certain that you won’t find Enzo Coccia’s deep-fried mussels and pancetta anywhere but you can browse all the Italian restaurants on the 5pm site from here.