Pizza is one of the most popular dishes in the world. It seems very simple to make: dough, cheese, sauce, and toppings to taste. But for some reason, in some restaurants we are ready to order pizza again and again, while in others we don't want to go back. We decided to ask a professional pizzaiolo what tips and tricks help turn this dish into a culinary masterpiece.

If you ask a specialist to make Italian pizza, he will ask you to specify which one. The fact is that each region of Italy has its own cooking techniques: Roman, Neapolitan, Ligurian, panzerotti and others. An interesting fact: in Italy, pizza is protected by law. According to the standards, the pizza cannot be more than 35 centimeters in diameter, and its thickness should not exceed 2 centimeters. In addition, no machinery or tools can be used to knead the dough, only your hands.

Let's talk a little bit about the history of the dish. How and when did it come about?

The first prototype of pizza was tortillas from ancient Egypt. About 6,000 years ago there appeared yeast, which marked the beginning of flatbread baking. In the 5th century AD, warriors in the field began to make tortillas from dough, cheese and dates. They used their shields as utensils, so the tortillas were round and thin. Some time later, the ancient Greek people adopted the recipe. It was they who made the first pizza, which resembles the modern pizza as much as possible.

Since the first prototype, the pizza recipe has undergone many changes. Today, there are cooking techniques that make it possible to create a real culinary masterpiece.

7 top secrets of the perfect Roman pizza that only professional pizzaiolo's know:

1. Use only mozzarella

Mozzarella is a soft type of cheese that spreads evenly on the pizza when melted. It makes the pizza tender and juicy, literally melts in your mouth. A huge mistake is to use hard types of cheese, although they give a nice more tart flavor, but they melt much worse and do not give juiciness. You can add them, but only together with mozzarella (read also: "How to choose good cheese: expert tips").

2. Cook pizza in the oven

Technology does not stand still: everyone has long been accustomed to electric ovens. But to cook real pizza, you should use an oven, such as a deck oven with a natural stone. That's how pizza turns out with a crisp crust and a soft middle.

3. You should use Italian flour.

The dough is the most important part of a pizza. To make it airy, use Italian soft wheat flour with a grind grade of 00. Some restaurants and delivery services make the dough more complex: use a mix of wheat, rice, and oat flour.

4. The dough should ferment for 24 hours.

The dough recipe is very simple: yeast, flour and water. But there is one secret to making the perfect base - leave the dough to mature for 24-48 hours. This way it will be moderately puffy and tender.

5. Use tomato paste.

To make real Italian pizza, you should use tomato paste, not ketchup. Ketchup is a sauce that contains preservatives and thickeners. And pasta is a natural product obtained by grinding ripe tomatoes. The secret lies in the richness of flavor.

6. The filling should be baked together with the base

Opinions about the technology of cooking pizza vary. Some people believe that you should first bake the base of the dough, and then add the toppings. But we recommend baking the entire pizza at once: the cheese is more stretchy and the toppings themselves taste better when baked. The only ingredient that should definitely be added at the end is the green.

Now you know that everyone's favorite pizza is not such a simple dish. Real pizza should be tender but with a crispy crust; thin but airy; juicy but not falling apart in your hands. Cooking the perfect Italian pizza requires skill, but the result is definitely worth it.