The transformation of pizza in the Netherlands

You can’t have missed it: over the past decade, we have started paying more and more attention to what we eat. Good restaurants are springing up like mushrooms, chefs are celebrities, every city has its own food festival and whether there’s a snack or an eight-course dinner in front of us, we want quality.

Where can you see that clearly? In Italian cuisine in the Netherlands: ice cream is making way for gelato, mothers’ overcooked pasta for fresh al dente egg pasta, tap water for Italian mineral water from S.Pellegrino and pizza has transformed from fast food into an artisan product.

“When I moved to Amsterdam six years ago, there were still very few good pizzerias,” says Neapolitan Odin Giannatiempo. “By now, that has changed: almost all pizzerias have a wood-fired oven, a real Italian pizzaiolo—preferably with a Napoletana certification—and work only with ingredients from Italy.”

Pizza festival

This gave Odin the idea to organise the Pizza Festival, which will take place on 25 and 26 May in Amsterdam’s Rembrandtpark. “There was already a Chicken Festival, Sushi Festival and Wine Festival, but no pizza festival yet. Even though everyone loves pizza and the selection in the Netherlands is very diverse and high-quality.”

Think of the Neapolitan pizzas from Pomorosso, the Roman pizzas from Het Wilde Westen and Lo Sbrano, the Italian-American pizzas from Toni Loco and the vegan pizzas from Dope Pizzeria.

Must-try

Odin: “There really is a lot of difference between all those types of pizza. Neapolitan pizzas have a thin, fluffy crust, while Roman pizzas are somewhat thicker. One uses sparkling water as an ingredient, another uses spelt or soy flour. The dough is the foundation of every pizza and therefore the most important part. That’s also why there is so much to taste.”

His ultimate must-try tip? “Pizza frittata! A deep-fried pizza; Pomorosso and Fietseria will be selling it at the festival.”

What do you drink with it?
And what is actually best to drink at such a pizza feast? Odin: “A nice Peroni beforehand, and with the pizza a good glass of wine and a bottle of S.Pellegrino.”

Giveaway

Does such a pizza feast sound good to you? You could win 2 x 4 tickets! What do you have to do? Tag 3 friends you would most like to eat pizza with under the post on Facebook and who knows, perhaps we’ll see you soon at the Amsterdam Pizza Festival!

This giveaway was made possible in part by S.Pellegrino.