Food Tours · Tour

Margherita or Marinara, Plus One Dish They Won't Name

The operator does not tell you where the class happens. You meet outside a pizzeria on Via San Paolo from Monday to Friday, or in front of another one on Piazza Dante at the weekend, and your host takes you from there. Nearly two hours, twelve people at most. You choose your pizza before you start, and the choice is the real one: Margherita or Marinara. Marinara came first, has no cheese at all, and is garlic, oregano, tomato and oil on dough. Margherita arrived later with the mozzarella and the basil. Naples has been arguing about which is better since long before either was famous elsewhere. A local chef takes you through the dough by hand, then the shaping, which in Naples means pushing air out to the rim and never touching the cornicione, then the topping with San Marzano tomatoes, then the oven, which does its work in the time it takes to say so. You eat what you made, with a glass of wine, a beer or a soft drink. Somewhere in the two hours a second dish arrives that the operator will not describe in advance. That is the format, and the reason people book this one over a class that publishes its menu. Hosted in English and Italian. The itinerary and the menu can change with availability and weather. Tell them about dietary requirements before the day, not on it. Not recommended for travellers with poor cardiovascular health.