Eat and drink

The history of “fried pizza” from Naples, Italy

Published

November 29th, 2020

Pizza fritta is the lesser-known cousin of Neapolitan pizza and emerged during World War II

Fried pizza is the lesser-known “cousin” of Neapolitan pizza and emerged during the Second World War

If you've never tried fried pizza, don't worry. It's common that when most people think of Neapolitan pizza, also known as Naples-style pizza, they think of thin-crust pizza baked in a wood-fired brick oven.

A fried pizza, the lesser-known cousin of Neapolitan pizza, emerged as a result of poverty during World War II, when Naples suffered around 200 Allied air raids, according to Simone Cinotto.

He (Simone is a male name in Italy) is professor of modern history at the Università di Scienze Gastronomiche in Pollenzo, Italy, and author of “The Italian American Mesa: Food, Family, and Community in New York City”.

Nonna Fernanda is considered one of the best fried pizza makers in Naples – and she was the one Jamie Oliver went to when he wanted to learn how to make the dish in 2018 (Credit: Erika Hobart)

The people's pizza

Unable to access – let alone afford – traditional pizza, residents began frying the dough and using low-quality ingredients – such as anchovies and broccoli – purchased almost spoiled or out of season to make what became known as fried pizza.

The less desirable parts of the vegetables, such as the artichoke stem, were also used. “Anything you fry becomes tasty,” says Cinotto.

According to him, the fried food market existed and was documented in Italy long before the Second World War, but that fried pizza was probably a specific result that emerged from the crisis.

Called “the people’s pizza”, street vendors sold the product to struggling customers as “a ogge a otto”, meaning they could eat that day and pay eight days later.

The phenomenon even reached Vittorio de Sica's film, L'Oro di Napoli (The Gold of Naples), from 1954, which contains six chapters set in the city. In the “Pizze a Credito” scene, young Sophia Loren played a fried pizza maker. She achieved international stardom shortly after.

Watch the then young Sophia Loren in the “Pizze a Credito” scene:

Street food

Fried pizza is for Neapolitans, what pastel is for Brazilians.

A pizzelle – as the Neapolitans call pizza fritta – you can find it in two versions. In the first, the round, fried pizza discs are stuffed on top. The most traditional resemble a calzone, and the filling is internal.