Argentinian pizza: The best in the world

I’m not even going to pretend to be objective during this episode. Argentinian pizza is the best pizza in the world, I don’t care.

One of the most delicious inventions in the world, our version of pizza was deeply rooted in immigration and the economic difficulties faced by Italians in Argentina. 

What is the history of our kind of pizza, and why is it so different to more traditional Italian variety?

Welcome to Further Records, I’m Forest. Grab a slice and keep boosting your English journey with our TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram accounts!

According to historical documents, modern Italian pizza has existed since at least the early 1700s. Of course, similar foods have existed all throughout history, but the specific style of pizza was created at least 300 years ago.

Most people are aware of the great wave of Italian immigration that happened in Argentina in the late 1800s. During this time, they brought their customs and, of course, their recipes.

The difference lies in the ingredients. The Italian immigrants were mostly poor and were looking to improve their quality of life in Argentina. Here, they found an abundance of food that was not available to them in their home country. Because of this, the pizza naturally changed in composition.

The main difference is the leavening. If you’ve ever made homemade pizza you’ll understand there’s a difference between yeast and sourdough.

In Italy, pizzas were made with what we call “masa madre” in Spanish, which is why they have their characteristic shape, with large pockets of air and a very thin base.

However, in Argentina, they found a large amount of cheap flour and cheese, as well as commercial yeast, which makes it more similar to a focaccia bread. In fact, that’s the origin for our pizza de fugazza. Focaccia, fugazza.

That’s the long and short of it really.

Some types of pizza are completely argentinian inventions. The aforementioned fugazza and of course the fugazzetta were created by the Banchero family, who originated from Genoa, in Italy.

And from Genoa is where we get the custom of eating pizza with fainá. These pizzas were sold outside the football stadiums, and it was necessary to be easy to eat. This is where we get our custom of eating pizza by the portion, mostly standing.

And while we’re talking about football stadiums, we shouldn’t forget about the origin of the pizza de cancha! The famous cheeseless pizza was created by Gustavo Pintos of the pizzería Angelín. These were created in a bin, and were eaten cold by football spectators. Nowadays, it’s not necessary to eat it cold but it is a tradition to have this spicy pizza at room temperature.

Nowadays, Argentines’ tastes have expanded a lot. In recent years, there’s even been an acceptance of New York varieties, as well as traditional Italian Neapolitan pizza.

Some people are more traditional with their pizza, some others are more experimental, but if there’s one thing we all share is the love for ALL pizza. Tomato sauce is in our blood.

Ok, maybe that’s a little bit exaggerated.

¡Mozo! Te pido una porción de muzza, porfa.

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In this episode, we used certain vocabulary that you may not know!

• Aforementioned: Something that was mentioned previously in a conversation
• “All throughout history”: A phrase which means that a certain event has occurred over a long period of time.
• Leavening: An ingredient used in baking, which makes a dough rise and inflate.
• “That’s the long and short of it”: A phrase used to end a story, which means “That’s the whole story in a few words”.
• Room temperature: Refers to a comfortable temperature for most people. Typically, it’s around 18° C.
• Aware of: A collocation that explains when someone has knowledge of an event or topic
• Available to: A collocation that explains that a group has access to something

And, as a little extra, here are some examples of passive voice structures used in the episode:

• “These pizzas were sold” is a passive way of saying “people sold pizzas”
• “Pizzas were made with” is a passive way of saying “chefs made pizza with”

To keep boosting your English journey, you can listen to more of our episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also review the vocabulary on our YouTube channel, Further Corporate.

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See you next time!

MUSIC AND SFX:

Tango Romantic by PeriTune (https://peritune.com), licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

"Peppy Pepe" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

"Cumbia No Frills" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

"Dellasera" by Shane Ivers – https://www.silvermansound.com

"Savour the Moment" by Shane Ivers – https://www.silvermansound.com