Maybe not everyone knows that just over 10 years ago the Neapolitan pizza tradition was almost unknown in the Agro Nocerino Sarnese area, in the Province of Salerno. The only news that you could heard about came directly from Naples. This situation ended with the birth of Pizzeria ‘O Sarracino, which brought to Nocera Inferiore the first example of pizza patterned after the lessons of the Neapolitan school. The credit of “spreading the good word” goes all to the Tramontano brothers, owners of the pizzeria, and that will be at the Napoli Pizza Village 2017.
Pizzeria ‘O Sarracino is very young, but encompasses centuries of tradition. What is its secret?
‘O Sarracino was born in 2007, from an idea of me, Angelo Tramontano, and of my brother Giuseppe. At that time, the true Neapolitan pizza was not known in the Agro Nocerino Sarnese area as it is today. ‘O Sarracino had the instinct of studying it and bringing it to Nocera, bearing in mind what I think is the perfect model, that of Michele ai Tribunali.
What parameters did you follow?
We specialized ourselves in the classic pizzas. Bearing in mind Michele’s model, we tried to reproduce the Magherita and the Marinara pizzas – the two great classics which are the pizzas par excellence – according to the rules prescribed by the TGS specifications. Until then, pizzas in Nocera were made with a long cooking – longer than a minute and a half – and had a diameter of 35 cm, while our Margherita and Marinara pizzas follow the lesson of the great masters, with a leavening of at least 8 hours, and a 60-second baking in oven. Following this method we brought the true Neapolitan pizza to our area.
You teach us that making pizzas is a pure science, but what is the secret to make this science an artwork? How will you dress your doughs?
You are absolutely right! The pizza maker can never let his guard down and must keep himself constantly up to date. For my pizzas I always choose a classic: the peeled tomatoes from Ciao Pomodori. For ten years I’ve been using this brand, a choice that I confirm for the Pizza Village, too.
And about the Pizza Village, what vibrations do you have for this edition?
This is the fifth time that I take part to the Pizza Village. I remember when we were only 20 pizzerias at the Mostra d’Oltremare exhibition center. Now this number has more than doubled and we are about 50, creating a rich contest that offers a great opportunity to compete. And numbers over the years are an indication of how these events have become of exponential importance. Each edition has been difficult for us, because we “foreigners” had to prove to be up to the level of the great Neapolitan masters. And each year, it has always been an unexpected success, and I really hope to succeed again this year, too.
Which great novelties ‘O Sarracino’ has set aside for NPV?
This year we propose a new pizza: we looked for to capture the summer flavor. I called it ‘Sorrento in your mouth’. Its characteristic is that it is seasoned with tomatoes of Sorrento that I personally make in pulp, to which we add buffalo ricotta and the very special mozzarella cheese ‘zizzona di Battipaglia’.