Table of Contents

Foreword Editor's Introduction Author’s Preface 1. The Origins of Pizza and the Pizzeria 2. Censuses and Statistics: Pizzaioli in Their Social Context 3. Licenses and the Law 4. Inside the Pizzeria and Behind the Counter 5. Uncertainty and Continuity in Hard Times 6. The Distribution of Pizzerias Across the City 7. Historic Pizzerias 8. A Family Affair Conclusion: Yesterday’s Pizza, Today’s Pizza Appendix A, B and C Index

Promotional Information

Translated into English, this is a unique social and cultural history of the pizza business in Naples.

About the Author

Antonio Mattozzi is an independent scholar who has collaborated with the history department at the University of Naples 'Federico II', Italy, as well as the Didactic Committee for the Institute of Campania for the Resistance, Italy. He is a former high school literature teacher whose family has made pizza in Naples for over 160 years. Zachary Nowak (translator and editor) is pursuing his doctorate in American Studies at Harvard University, USA. He is also the Associate Director for the Food Studies Program at the Umbra Institute, in Perugia, Italy.

Reviews

This fascinating and erudite history explores the origins of pizza in 18th-century Naples, the families who made and sold it, its key ingredients and techniques, and the growth of pizzerias along with the city. It points to pizza’s global contemporary popularity and makes an important contribution to food history and Italian studies.
*Carole Counihan, Millersville University, USA*

In this delightful and well-researched book, Antonio Mattozzi traces the history of pizza and pizzerie, their origins in Naples and their particular developments there, first as street food and later in small eateries which developed out of bakers’ shops. So much of what we know about pizza lies in myth and urban legend; using archival research, and with the city of Naples as his backdrop, Mattozzi is able to correct this. Inventing the Pizzeria makes a significant contribution to a range of fields, most especially food history, but also social and urban history.
*David Gentilcore, University of Leicester, UK*