Eating Pizza with a Knife and Fork?
A warm slice of pizza is the ultimate pleasure for us. Because, really, there’s little that beats a crispy crust with melted cheese on top. But what do you do when you’re served a whole pizza? Do you use a knife and fork or eat it with your hands?
It depends on where you are. Not all pizza is the same, and every variety deserves its own treatment. In Naples, for example, they do things very differently than in New York. We’ve listed the differences for you, so you’ll never embarrass yourself wherever you are.
Naples
The first city people mention when it comes to pizza. Neapolitan pizza is the holy grail and must even meet strict requirements to be allowed to bear that name. Are you given a knife and fork when you’re in this pizza paradise? Then use them. It may sound strange, but in Naples the intention is actually to eat pizza with cutlery. Ordering pizza on the street and not getting any cutlery? Fold your slice in half, then fold the tip all the way towards the crust for a perfect pizza envelope.
Rome
In Rome, too, you eat pizza with cutlery if you have any manners. Is the pizza already cut into slices that you’d most like to pop straight into your mouth? Confusing. In that case, look around at what the locals are doing. Did you still get it wrong? Take a deep breath; eating pizza incorrectly isn’t quite as serious a sin as, for example, cutting spaghetti.
New York
Italy may be known as the pizza capital numero uno, but with a large Italian-American population, New Yorkers know a thing or two about pizza as well. However, if you attack your pizza with a knife and fork here, the police might just be called. You eat a slice by hand here, folding it in half lengthwise.
Also read:
