Pizza According to Argentines

By Mariano Sena

translated from www.guiaoleo.com.ar

Some like it thin, others greasy with mozzarella over-flowing the crust, baked directly on the oven floor or grilled over coals or from a wood-fired oven.  Never turned-down, hot or cold, our palate always welcomes it.

I´m talking about pizza, a food that although it comes from another continent, some feel it is our own.  Especially when tasted it on the banks of the restless Corrientes Street, navegating by the Obelisco in the background.

Sometimes you might hear that there´s nothing more similar to an Argentine than a Neapolitan.  Just ask Maradona, himself, revered by Naples even over their own patron saint (San Genero) simply for giving that city´s football club more glory than it ever had before in its long history.

You ask what has that to do with this exquisite food?  Well, those who modernized pizza back in the 18th century were those citizens of that Southern Italian city.  They took its preparation seriously.  Maybe that´s why we sometimes feel that pizza is our own.

They say that the ancient Greeks covered flat bread with oil, herbs and cheese, and that it was very common for Roman soldiers to eat focaccia. But the first authentic pizzeria opened in Naples in 1830, in Port'Alba, where it is still serving today and with the same old recipe.

The creators say that real pizza is baked only in a wood-burning oven and there are only two types: the marinara and margherita.

The first is made with olive oil, San Marzano tomatoes (Salerno), oregano, and garlic; and the second type with grated fresh tomato, mozzarella, basil and olive oil.

The Margherita pizza is dedicated in honor of Margarita Teresa of Savoy, Queen of Italy, as it was made especially for her (with the ingredients reproducing the colors of the Italian flag) by the baker Raffaele Esposito in 1889.

Thanks to Raffaele, cheese made its first appearance on a Pizza, according to legend.

Coming out of noisy Naples and transporting us to the lights of our ever more dirty Corrientes Street, we Argentines look with pride on our grand classic pizzerias.

If you have never jaywalked across Corrientes from the Gran Rex theater to Las Cuartetas after seeing Sabina or whatever favorite musician in order to savor a succulent slice of "the muse", you´ve gotta do it.

"It tastes different standing at the bar with it right out of the oven", experts say.

When you look at the first page of their menu, you read that in the 30's here dined the poet of the tango, Alberto Vaccarezza, friend and collaborator of Gardel, oftentimes while composing his quatrains, hence the origin of the pizzeria's name.

You could say that the pizza at Güerrin is not as powerful as the ones they make next door to the Opera Theater, but the sauce that is hidden under the melted, perfectly grated mozzarella provokes a sensation of pleasure that lingers.  In this sense, Güerrin has the advantage. Here, as well and for the same reasons, you should eat it standing, but the wait even at the bar can sometimes be annoying.

On this tour, you can´t fail to mention "The Greasies" such as the pizza from Banchero. Here it is "a must" to try the fugazza with cheese, created by the Genoese Agustín Banchero in a La Boca neighborhood bakery back in 1893.  His son would eventually transform the traditional pizzeria.

Another member of this "cholesterol fighting" gang, but delicious too, is Kentucky. What teenager did not try to ward-off a future hangover with this legendary pizza? Here you breathe tango and football, because the walls are clad with framed exemplars of these Argentine passions. If you look at the napkins, a racehorse stands as part of the logo.  It is in this state of the Southwestern US that great horses are bred.

After the movies or maybe a great stageshow, you go to the incredibly buenosairesan El Cuartito.  The stuffed fugazzeta is a kiss on the lips of the Virgin Mary. Words fail when you taste the Neapolitan. In its environs it is normal to imagine Goyeneche or Troilo sitting at a table.

Another place where the waiters don´t look like rock stars but rather the classic footmen of old, and the one with the best marketing strategy toward tourists is Los Inmortales.  The sight of Carlos Gardel welcoming them dispels any foreigner´s doubts.

It should be clarified that not all is rosy in these Pizzarias; the common denominator is the wait.  Calling the attention of your waiter works if you use a purple megaphone.

You may be asking, "When does this guy say something about the fainá, the muscatel, and draft beer?!"  I wonder if someone has already noted the pizzerias not mentioned.

Some are fans of pizza a caballo with fainá and they are no fools. This dish made with chickpea flour, water, olive oil, salt and pepper, was invented by the Genoese. Then, our forefathers brought with them this pizza topping to the Rio de la Plata.

For anxious types like me, it´s the the waiting for the pizza that kills us.  So the question is: how do you deal with this state of anxiety when you order one? Answer: with an empanada and a draft beer.

When the city government makes its inspections of the great pizza palaces, heavy fines should be assessed against any that do not sell draft beer. It is the best accompaniment to this delicious dish.

Perhaps I´ve committed the sin of machismo in this commentary but I´ve met few women who have tried the magic formula of muscatel, pizza, and fainá; a sensory pleasure devoutly to be wished.  It must be one of the few dishes that have their own song. Memphis La Blusera took care of that in their heyday.

Nothing is more simple and enjoyable than to go out with friends, alone, or with your partner, to cap a great night in one of these pizzerias.

Although you might not believe it, I am at this moment finishing my second draft beer in Las Cuartetas with my stomach eager for my favorite pizza.  As I knock-back the rest of my mug, I guard my computer, and I stop and ask the Lord of the White Apron to bring me a slice of the "muse."

Until next time,

Mariano Sena