The pizza is ready
The link between quality and quantity
The UN cultural body’s world heritage committee, reunited in the South Korean island of Jeju, decided to award a spot in the intangible heritage list to the art of the Neapolitan Pizzaiuolo (Pizzaiuolo means the pizza-maker).
What does this entail? It means that now every time somebody puts even the smallest slice of pineapple on a pizza, a UN peace-keeper will drop down from the ceiling, confiscate the incriminated food and dispose of it in the nearest radioactive waste management facility.
Jokes aside, this news is certainly curious and colorful. The city of Naples is rightfully celebrating this decision, which recognizes the importance of this piece of Neapolitan culture which has spread not only in Italy, but in the whole world.
Legend wants the dish was created in 1889 by Raffaele Esposito who, summoned by Queen Margherita of Savoy in the Royal Palace of Capodimonte, in order to prepare for her Majesty one of his famous “pizza”. The pizzaiuolo then created a special pizza, called Margherita in honor of the queen, and representing with the white of the dough, the green of the basil and the red of the tomato the newly unified Italian kingdom and thus inventing the most famous dish in the world.
This passion has taken the world by storm since then. The US retains the title of most annual per capita consumption of pizza with 13 kg while in Europe, Italy leads the way with 7,6 kg each, followed by Spain, France, Germany and the UK with around 4 kg each every year. Only in Italy, the business accounts for over 12 billion euro, 100 thousand employees plus another 50 thousand for the weekends. It comes to no surprise then that this decision was being closely monitored by the Italian civil societies.
The art of twirling the pizza including its cooking process, entertainment and tradition has now joined the other 57 Italian heritage assets. Europe in this regard has a wide margin over the rest of the world, which should be used to help a fundamental sector of our economies: Tourism.
On December 7th I attended an event organized by EurActiv titled “One Belt, One Road (OBOR) Initiative: Beyond trade and investment”. As the title suggests the focus of the debate was China’s development strategy and its cooperation with all the Eurasian countries involved in the OBOR project and with the EU as well. A substantial part of the debate was dedicated to the tourism industry and how Europe can attract more visitors from China. There are talks for making our facilities more “Chinese ready” much like it was done in the ‘60s for the Americans as well as a more liberal visa policy, in the wake of the approach adopted by the US and Australia towards Beijing. One of the proposals I found most interesting though, talked about a cooperation with UNESCO to develop trans-European journeys to discover the continent’s hidden gems.
The strategy was to convince the Chinese tourists to rely less on tour operators and to explore more the countries they are visiting, outside the major tourists’ attractions. The plan is to use a few “gateway” cities, such as Paris, Barcelona or Venice and from there guide a few travelers towards a close by UNESCO attraction and ignite, from there, a virtuous cycle that leads to further exploration and discovery of places that are “outside the radar”. These places can, furthermore, be known for some intangible heritage, such as the Neapolitan pizza or some local tradition or festival, thus bringing the visitor closer to the culture of the country he’s visiting. The Chinese speakers at the debate agreed that an increasing number of citizens in China are demanding a more unique experience while traveling abroad, something they can share with neighbors and friends that hasn’t been heard before.
I have found this to be a very smart approach to a sector that is essential for the European economy and, with the rise of a global middle class, means an ever-expanding customer base that must be met with certified quality and a good organization. Furthermore, this could alleviate some of the pressure that several of the biggest tourists attractions are experiencing. Barcelona, Venice and Amsterdam are some of the examples of tourism fatigue where the local residents feel more part of a “theme park” then their own city and are starting to demand a less invasive industry there.
So, in my opinion, this could turn into a win-win situation for Europe and so I would like to see more countries apply for the UNESCO heritage recognition in order to, once again, ride the wave of globalization instead of succumbing under it.