Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (AVPN)
If you love pizza but not so much the nitty-gritty details, don’t worry – each post will have a condensed version in the first couple paragraphs. But if you’re like me and want to know why things work the way they do, we provide that information as well! We’ll share the Wurst way to make pizza; and if you’re not already, we’ll turn you into a true Wurstaholic™!
In the beginning……..So where did pizza come from anyway? It’s almost impossible to prove when the first person decided to add water to flour to make dough, roll it out, and then bake it. But history does show that Neapolitan pizza had its origins in Naples, Italy around 1660. It wasn’t made popular until the 1770’s, when the King of Naples went to the first-ever pizzeria to sample the new food craze beloved by his people.
In the beginning, there were just two basic pizzas: the Mastunicole (the original from 1660, comprised of lard, cheese, and basil), and the Marinara (tomato, garlic, oregano, and oil). Interestingly enough, the name “Marinara” came to be because it was given to sailors (or “mariners”) as a cheap food. So, the sauce as we know it today was named after the pizza, rather than the other way around.
The next classic pizza was born in 1850, in honor of Umberto I of Savoia’s wife, Queen Margherita. On a visit to Naples, they asked a pizzaiolo from a pizzeria in the heart of Naples to prepare pizzas for their entire court. “Pizzaiolo” is an Italian word for someone who makes traditional Neapolitan pizza. Aside from the two classics listed above – Mastunicole and Marinara – the pizzaiolo’s wife decided to make a special pizza for the Queen, which included cheese and tomato. It was an immediate hit. Then in 1889, this recipe was adapted to add fresh basil (to honor the Italian flag’s colors) and thus was born what we know today as the “Margherita”.
The AVPN Was Born
As you can imagine, the popularity of pizza grew and grew, and so did the many myths, stories, and recipes behind the pie. To make such a pizza, the strict guidelines I learned while in Italy need to be followed. Concerned with safeguarding the integrity of the true Neapolitan pizza, the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (AVPN, or literally the True Neapolitan Pizza Association) was born – the keepers of tradition and guardians of true Neapolitan pizza (and also where I trained in Naples, Italy).
This organization trains, certifies, and monitors the standards, recipes, and techniques utilized to ensure a traditional product. In 2004, the Pizza Napoletana protocol was protected by a European act to ensure pizzas are made and processed in this acceptable manner. These are the techniques and standards The Wurst Pizzaiolo uses to both bake and train.