Searching for the Perfect Pizza in the Birthplace of Pizza

A cook went about his business steadily, kneading the dough, spreading the sauce, and portioning out the cheese, methodical and meticulous, a magician performing a trick.
Searching for the Perfect Pizza in the Birthplace of Pizza
Neapolitan pizza-makers pose with a pizza celebrating the UNESCO decision to make the art of Neapolitan "Pizzaiuolo" an "intangible heritage," outside Pizzeria Brandi in Naples, Italy, on Dec. 7, 2017. Tiziana Fabi/AFP via Getty Images
Updated:
0:00

Is there a dish more beloved the world over than pizza? Whether you’re pulling up your chair to a checkerboard tablecloth in a small Cambodian village or popping off the train for a quick snack at a Trans-Siberian railway station, you'll find it everywhere. That savory combination of meat, cheese, and dough is ubiquitous—and, usually, pretty delicious.

Like many famous dishes, you can trace its provenance back to one place: Naples, the largest city in southern Italy. And on a recent trip there, dodging mopeds in the narrow laneways and walking along the sultry waterfront, I learned some of its secrets.

Tim Johnson
Tim Johnson
Author
Toronto-based writer Tim Johnson is always traveling in search of the next great story. Having visited 140 countries across all seven continents, he’s tracked lions on foot in Botswana, dug for dinosaur bones in Mongolia, and walked among a half-million penguins on South Georgia Island. He contributes to some of North America’s largest publications, including CNN Travel, Bloomberg, and The Globe and Mail.
Related Topics