It makes the best pizza outside of Italy.

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Green, white, red. The tricolor round waffle comes straight out of the oven. Raffaele Tromiro (46) puts the plate on the table and sits down. At first glance and greedily, he cuts the pizza, which seems very small, into three pieces with a pair of scissors. “Try it!” to the journalist and photographer. he commands.

Raffaele Tromiro is a pizzeria. They say he makes the best pizza. This is evidenced by numerous awards such as “Pizza World Champion”. Latest highlight: Gambero Rosso, Italy’s gourmet bible, named its pizzeria the best pizzeria outside of Italy. If you still can’t digest it: the best pizza outside of Italy is here in Switzerland.

This pizza has rules

The edge is raised, fluffy, quite dark in some places. Medium thin and soft. Villains say: lame. But: that’s exactly how it should be on a Neapolitan pizza. Therefore, it is not easy to eat them. Tromiro shows us how: He folds the piece end to end and bites the end. It’s gone in two or three bites. Fingers don’t really stay clean.

Tromiro could be more specific with thick edge and thin center. There are rules to be followed while making this type of pizza. Its diameter should be a maximum of 32 cm (at first glance you may find the pizzas really small!), the height of the sides should be between 1 and 3 cm, the base should be at least 0.3 mm. Called a “gherkin” in Italy, the color of the rim should be reminiscent of the leopard (yes, the black areas are deliberate!). Top with fior di latte (cow’s milk mozzarella), San Marzano tomatoes and basil. Thyme is sprinkled on most pizzas. This is where basil comes into play. Three leaves.” Why three? “Fortuna,” says Tromiro, “for luck.”

Pizza comes from the cosmopolitan city

And olive oil in the dough? Tromiro touches your heart. Simulates chest pain. Fat has no place in the dough of a Neapolitan pizza. But as soon as it comes out of the oven, a little olive oil comes out in the middle and around the edges. For the shine in the leopard.

For a 46-year-old, making pizza is not a job, it’s his life. He studied chemistry but has cooked pizza all his life. Tromiro’s great-grandfather was a pizzeria in Italy. Family home: Naples. The cosmopolitan city of pizza. “We grew up in a pretty criminal area of ​​the city, so my dad always gave me and my brother jobs at the restaurant so we wouldn’t have any stupid ideas.” So he started making pizza. Back then, only men made pizza.

heart is part of it

Tromiro eats pizza every day, so it’s important to him that his creations are healthy. “My pizza is healthy,” she says. He developed his own flour with a mill in Thurgau. She uses a well-tolerated flour, as well as Fior di Latte from Dietikon ZH. The tomatoes are from the region of Campania, which also includes Naples. “These are the only canned tomatoes I’ve ever spooned,” Tromiro says, bringing a plate of tomato sauce and three spoons. “To try!”

Tromiro says there are two types of pizza bakers. Those who want to save money, soft tomatoes and the cheapest ham, those who work from the heart and with good ingredients. It’s not a question that counts itself. According to the pro, you can tell how good a pizza is with Margherita. You can taste the dough, tomatoes, mozzarella. She knows how fresh and quality the ingredients are. Mushrooms and salami cannot hide anything. Let’s not even start with shrimp and pineapple.

“I’m addicted”

In 2015, Tromiro started working as a pizzeria in a restaurant in Meilen ZH. Six months later he takes over the restaurant and opens Napulé. Good luck and with a good mentor. He thinks he can bring his kids to Switzerland with his own restaurant. They stayed in Naples, the distance was terrible. “I raised him alone, being both a father and a mother to him. I was very happy when they came to Switzerland too.” Today her daughter (20) is training to teach young children and her son (18) works at her company. This includes more than 80 employees, four pizzeria and two takeaways. From April It will expand its product range by opening a pizza counter in the Monardo restaurant in Hasenberg AG.

What else, Mr. Tromiro? “I want more restaurants. I want the Swiss to think of Napulé when they say pizza,” he says, laughing. By the way, Napulé in his own dialect means Naples. Doesn’t pizza ever get on his nerves? “Never. I’m addicted to it.” He also makes pizza at home when his children’s friends come. And during the holidays in Naples, when the family sits together in the big garden.

Neapolitan pizza trend

Nowadays, those who want to eat pizza feel as if there is only pizza from Naples. Where does this trend come from? Tromiro says traditions are becoming more important again. Pizzaiolo has a different status today than it did in the past. “The pizza baker today is like a star chef.” In those days six years ago, Neapolitan pizza was even included in the World Heritage List by Unesco. But two years before its historic recognition, Tromiro was already serving Neapolitan pizza in Switzerland. He came first in 2015. “A lot of people thought I was crazy. Nobody here likes this pizza. And now? They’re available all over Switzerland now.”

And he has a huge following. But there are those who prefer a “regular” pizza, a crispy pizza with a less flamboyant crust – “scusi, cornicione”. But the garland makes the pizza from Naples. Isn’t it strange, Mr. Tromiro, that the pizza leaves the crust?

The pizzeria touches his heart once again and says, “If people leave the sidelines, I need to take painkillers.” Then the Neapolitan laughs and wipes an imaginary tear from his face.

Source : Blick