Why is pizza in naples not cut?

Question

just wondering if anyone knows why they don't cut their pizza in naples before they serve it to you. how did this tradition start, and why has it lasted so long, despite the west and our pizza cutting ways?

i do realize that it is common to eat pizza with utensils there, but i want to know if there is a deeper, more traditionally rooted reason for this.

thank you!

Answer 1

I wondered the same thing when I was there! When I was at the entrance to the restauraunt they had two menus posted, one in English and one in Italian. I decided on the 4 cheese pizza and went inside where they handed me...a menu only in Italian! I was pretty sure which one I wanted based on its location on the menu only to be served a four meat pizza- sausage, peperoni, pork, and...tiny purple octopus arms, yum! But the oddest thing about it to me was that it was uncut.

I don't know if this is why it started, but it turns out that pizza stays hotter if it stays whole. Cutting the pie increases surface area expediting the cooling process.

That may be why the tradition started and it may not. The Italians are very serious about their pizza however. So much so that they are considering a bill to protect the meaning of a "traditional pizza!"

Hope that helped!

Answer 2

Maybe it was because I was an American, but the pizza I had in Napoli was cut, with a knife not a pizza cutter. Did you know that a to go pizza order (by the gram) is cut with scissors? Actually, I only had the to go pizza order in Firenze.