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World
Neapolitan Pizza's Secret Ingredient: Coffin Wood?
Updated: 2 minutes ago
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Theunis Bates
Theunis Bates Contributor
AOL News
(May 18) -- Gourmands have long pondered over what makes a traditional Neapolitan pizza so lip-smackingly tasty. Is it the delicate dough, the locally made mozzarella or tomatoes picked straight from the vine? Or could it be a lesser-known ingredient, like the smashed-up coffins that are apparently fueling Naples' stone pizza ovens?
Authorities in the southern Italian city this week opened an investigation into allegations that gangs are digging up caskets from nearby cemeteries and selling the wood to cost-cutting pizzeria and bakery owners, according to the Italian daily Il Giornale. Naples prosecutor Giovandomenico Lepore, who has previously led crackdowns on the mafia, is heading the case.
Andrea Santoro, president of the city's cemetery commission, told Il Giornale that she wasn't surprised that criminals were targeting Naples' graveyards. "It's no wonder these things are happening given the state of the cemeteries," she said. "There are graves uncovered, thefts and vandalism."
A pizza bakes in an oven in Naples, Italy.
Roberto Salomone, AFP / Getty Images
A pizza bakes in an oven in Naples, Italy. Officials are investigating whether gangs are looting cemeteries and selling coffin wood to pizzerias and bakeries in the city.
Il Giornale noted that looting is commonplace in the rundown burial grounds. Statues and coats of arms are regularly ripped off tombstones, and last year some 5,000 flower vases were snatched in broad daylight.
The allegations are sure to further tarnish Naples' already shabby reputation. Two years ago, the city hit the headlines when refuse collectors went on strike, leaving tens of thousands of tons of trash piled up on its streets. And high-profile crimes committed by the local mafia, the Camorra -- like last month's arson attack on a bowling alley by shotgun-wielding masked raiders -- continue to grab international attention.
Pizzas like "the mythical Calzone" are some of the only positive products now associated with the city, said Il Giornale. Neapolitan pizza was invented between 1715 and 1725 -- it started out as a topping-free large flat bread -- and sold by street vendors to the city's poor.
The world-renowned Margherita was first baked in Naples in 1889, according to local legend, after queen Margherita of Savoy asked a chef to create a variant of the bread enjoyed by so many of her subjects. His creation -- today used as the base for most pizzas -- boasted the colors of recently unified Italy: green basil, white mozzarella and red tomatoes.
World
Neapolitan Pizza's Secret Ingredient: Coffin Wood?
Updated: 2 minutes ago
Print Text Size
EmailMore
Theunis Bates
Theunis Bates Contributor
AOL News
(May 18) -- Gourmands have long pondered over what makes a traditional Neapolitan pizza so lip-smackingly tasty. Is it the delicate dough, the locally made mozzarella or tomatoes picked straight from the vine? Or could it be a lesser-known ingredient, like the smashed-up coffins that are apparently fueling Naples' stone pizza ovens?
Authorities in the southern Italian city this week opened an investigation into allegations that gangs are digging up caskets from nearby cemeteries and selling the wood to cost-cutting pizzeria and bakery owners, according to the Italian daily Il Giornale. Naples prosecutor Giovandomenico Lepore, who has previously led crackdowns on the mafia, is heading the case.
Andrea Santoro, president of the city's cemetery commission, told Il Giornale that she wasn't surprised that criminals were targeting Naples' graveyards. "It's no wonder these things are happening given the state of the cemeteries," she said. "There are graves uncovered, thefts and vandalism."
A pizza bakes in an oven in Naples, Italy.
Roberto Salomone, AFP / Getty Images
A pizza bakes in an oven in Naples, Italy. Officials are investigating whether gangs are looting cemeteries and selling coffin wood to pizzerias and bakeries in the city.
Il Giornale noted that looting is commonplace in the rundown burial grounds. Statues and coats of arms are regularly ripped off tombstones, and last year some 5,000 flower vases were snatched in broad daylight.
The allegations are sure to further tarnish Naples' already shabby reputation. Two years ago, the city hit the headlines when refuse collectors went on strike, leaving tens of thousands of tons of trash piled up on its streets. And high-profile crimes committed by the local mafia, the Camorra -- like last month's arson attack on a bowling alley by shotgun-wielding masked raiders -- continue to grab international attention.
Pizzas like "the mythical Calzone" are some of the only positive products now associated with the city, said Il Giornale. Neapolitan pizza was invented between 1715 and 1725 -- it started out as a topping-free large flat bread -- and sold by street vendors to the city's poor.
The world-renowned Margherita was first baked in Naples in 1889, according to local legend, after queen Margherita of Savoy asked a chef to create a variant of the bread enjoyed by so many of her subjects. His creation -- today used as the base for most pizzas -- boasted the colors of recently unified Italy: green basil, white mozzarella and red tomatoes.
