Totò’s art in a pizza: O Cappiell. Two figures, two symbol with the same destiny: humble birth among poor people, sacrifices and struggles and then fame, success and public approval.
Pizza is the symbol of Naples, born of humble people that strove to eat and survive for one day or more. Since ancient times, women were used to get down the hill of Vomero singing songs inspired by popular poetry and bringing the famous “stufa” or “stuba” on their heads to keep those white pizzas warm and feed poor people that often ate pizza on that day and paid for them after a week.
Totò (nickname given by his mother) was of humble origin too, born in “Quartiere Sanità” on February 15,1898 and only in 1921, when his mother married his father, the Marquis Giuseppe De Curtis, he became Prince and, therefore, the “Prince of Laughter”.
That’s why I’ve chosen to create a pizza in honor of Totò giving it the name of his famous hat and remembering, at the same time, my unforgettable experience as a pizza maker in Istanbul, just like his “Neapolitan Turk” (1953 Comedy).
A masterpiece pizza!
INGREDIENTS
- 1 lt of water
- 1.8 kg of 00 flour
- 50 gr of salt
- 4 g of brewer’s yeast
TOPPINGS
- Ricotta di Bufala in the raised rim (called “cornicione”)
- Closure of the raised rim
- 40 g of tomatoes San Marzano
- 80 g of Fior di Latte
- Fresh basil
- Extra virgin olive oil