Page 15 - HISTORY ANGKOR

CHANGING

CUISINES

QUEEN MARGHERITA may never
have eaten her namesake pizza
in Naples, as attitudes toward
the dish were somewhat neg-
ative. Journalist Matilde Ser-
ao’s late 19th-century book
The Belly of Naples described
pizza at that time as extremely
cheap fare that “turns yellow
in the sun, eaten by the flies.”
The centrality of tomatoes to
pizza also explains why many
Europeans initially found pizza
unpalatable: A member of the
nightshade family of plants,
the fruit was associated with
poison. In the course of the
1900s, Europeans overcame
their prejudices, clearing the
way for Neapolitan cuisine to
conquer the world.

MARGHERITA OF SAVOY (1851-1926),
CONSORT OF UMBERTO I, KING OF ITALY,
PHOTOGRAPHED LATE 19TH CENTURY
PRINT COLLECTOR/ALBUM

way. According to recent research, how- have been compared to the signature of hoax. Having renamed the establishment
ever, the story is not only just that, a sto- the letter sent to Esposito; they do not the Pizzeria Brandi in 1932, the letter they
ry, but one based on forgery. match. So if Galli did not write the letter allegedly forged had to have a reference
Food historians have found several key on behalf of the queen, who did? A pos- to the Brandi name. Tales of the royals
holes in the account. Probably the most sible clue lies in the name of the letter’s eating street food were widespread in
damning is that the dish existed at least recipient: Raffaele Esposito Brandi. The Italy. In 1880, a decade before the pizza
three decades before any royal visit to Na- inclusion of this second surname is odd. letter was allegedly sent, a similar story
ples. In an 1853 collection of essays about Raffaele Esposito’s wife, Maria Giovanna, appeared in the newspaper Il Bersagliere,
Neapolitan customs, author Emanuele had the maiden name of Brandi. Tradi- in which Queen Margherita praised a
Rocco describes a pizza topped with “ba- tionally, European men do not take their pizza-maker’s wares.
silico, muzzarella, e pomodoro”: basil, moz- wives’ last names, so Esposito would not Esposito’s pizzeria is still in busi-
zarella, and tomatoes. have used Brandi. There were, however, ness today and is still called Pizzeria
Local records reveal no contemporary two people linked to the pizzeria who Brandi. The veracity of the pizza Mar-
reference to the Esposito pizzeria inci- would have: Giovanni and Pasquale Bran- gherita story is still in question, but in
dent. The Gazette of the Kingdom of Italy, di, Maria’s nephews who took over the 1989, to mark the 100th anniversary of

which published royal news, has no men- pizzeria in 1932. the pizza’s naming, a commemorative
tion of the queen’s visit or Galli’s letter to One theory is that the Brandi brothers, plaque was placed on the wall outside.
Esposito. Samples of Galli’s handwriting trying to drum up business, crafted the —Braden Phillips

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 13