The Authentic Neapolitan Pizza

It all started when the Italian Ministry of Agriculture and a number of trade organizations decided to protect the name, the brand and the product: Pizza Napoletana. The Ministry of Agriculture proposed to the European Union that Pizza Napoletana be accepted as a “Specialita Traditionale Garantita” (STG). Pizzerias that follow “the rules” are allowed to make true Pizza Napoletana and display the certification logo. This logo is similar to the logos found on Chianti, Prosecco, Parmesan, Mozzarella and certain types of olive oil. Strict guidelines must be followed for authentic products, cooking methods, and size, as follows:

• The dough must be made of soft-grain flour, water, sea salt, and natural yeast
• The pizza must be a hand-thrown dough
• Cheese must be either Mozzarella di Bufala or Fior-di-latte Mozzarella
• Tomatoes must be Italian Plum Tomatoes
• Fresh basil and extra virgin olive oil must be used on the pizza
• Fresh garlic is used in the no-cheese classic Marinara
• The pizza must be baked in a wood-burning oven with a volcanic stone floor
• Temperatures must be at least 800 degrees or higher and pizzas must cook in 90 seconds

THE STORY OF THE OVEN-IL CUORE “THE HEART”

Friday, October 26, 2007 will go down in DOUGH's history as the most stressful yet also the most exciting day! “Il Cuore” as we so fondly call the oven, traveled on not one, not two; but, three ships-all the way from Naples, Italy! Once the oven arrived at the port in Houston, it had to be unloaded off the ship and re-loaded onto a semi truck and carefully driven down to San Antonio to its new home-DOUGH Pizzeria Napoletana. Once the oven finally made it to the restaurant, it had to be carefully unloaded via a fork-lift, all the front windows of the restaurant had to be removed and the oven was carefully, very carefully unloaded and wheeled into the restaurant.

Even though the oven was on wheels, it still weighs over 3½ tons, and it took six strong men to push the oven to its final resting place. Once in place, we all stood there for a good minute or two and just stared at this Italian beauty that made the long journey from its birth place of Naples, Italy to its new home thousands of miles away in San Antonio, Texas. We named the oven, Il Cuore, as it truly is the “Heart” of DOUGH Pizzeria Napoletana!