In Rome, a fresh pizza-selling machine arouses alarm and interest.
Photo Credit ( Greety image )
The Neapolitan from the 19th century who is credited with creating Italy’s most well-known pizza, Raffaele Esposito, might be turning in his grave. A new vending machine in Rome can produce freshly made pizzas in three minutes.
Using the fiery red “Mr. Go Pizza” machine, customers can select from four distinct pizza varieties that range in price from 4.50 to 6 euros ($5.2-7.2). Customers can see the pizza cook through a tiny glass window while the machine kneads and tops the dough.
The machine, one of the first in Rome, received reviews ranging from “acceptable if you’re in a hurry” to pure fear on Thursday.
“It looks good, but it’s much smaller than in a restaurant, and there is less topping,” remarked elderly Claudio Zampiga.
Pizza is commonly believed to have been perfected in Naples, where it was a street snack for the impoverished, although people have been eating variations of flat bread with toppings for millennia.
According to tradition, on June 11, 1889, Esposito made the famous “Pizza Margherita” in honor of Queen Consort Margherita of Savoy while she was in Naples with King Umberto I.
He represented the red, white, and green of the flag of a justly unified Italy with tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil leaves. In Naples, there is a plaque that reads, “Pizza Margherita was born here.”
Naples native and Rome university student Fabrizia Pugliese tried the machine-made pizza and gave it a thumbs down, stating that it tasted more like a “piadina,” a soft, ultra-thin bread wrap that is popular in northern Italy.
Her conclusion was, “It’s okay, but it’s not pizza.”
Gina, a retiree who chose not to reveal her last name, flatly rejected the idea.
“Awful. Pizza should be consumed hot right away. I don’t think this works,” she remarked.
The traditional pizza experience for many Italians really involves watching a “pizzaiolo,” or pizza maker, prepare the dough and cook it in a brick oven that burns wood right in front of your table.
The “Mr. Go Pizza” machine will have fierce competition for a piece of the market, at least where it is now.
The brick oven-using Napolitano restaurant is located nearby.
Giovanni Campana nibbled into a pizza and remarked, “I wouldn’t even think of eating a pizza made by a machine.”
Esposito, who 132 years ago produced a pizza fit for a queen, would probably concur.
