A Slice of Local Wisdom (and Other Very Important Research)

Living in Italy means you eventually find yourself having very serious conversations about very serious topics. Recently, one such conversation involved pizza--specifically, the differences between the pizzas at our local restaurants here in Massa Marittima.

A native Massatana explained it to me this way: while she has a personal soft spot for Tre Archi, she freely admitted that Vanni has the better quality food and the better pizza. She described Vanni's as Napolitano style--a tall, airy crust with a thin, moist center.

Naturally, once Vanni reopened after vacation, we had to conduct our own "research." Below is their tartufata pizza, in all its glory. 

Tartufata pizza at Vanni

Now compare that to Le Mura, which our local expert described as Romana style. In her words, that means a drier, crispier crust. (Andrea, feel free to voice your Roman opinion here). Here's my most recent pizza at Le Mura, from dinner with Tim (Izabella's husband). 

Le Mura pizza

And finally, to complete the pizza trifecta, here's Pizzeria da Carlo. According to my Massatana friend, this one lands squarely "in the middle"--not quite Vanni, not quite Le Mura.

Pizzeria da Carlo

So that's the local opinion. Here's mine--from someone who is definitely not a native. 

For me, the difference  comes down to how you eat a slice. Pizza here doesn't arrive pre-cut, which means you can curate your slice exactly as you like. Lately, I've been cutting mine into quarters and folding them--which turns out to be very revealing.

• Vanni (Napolitana): You can't fold the slice into a neat triangle--the center is too moist. Instead, I fold the tip back toward the crust, then fold again, creating what I lovingly call a pizza burrito.
• Le Mura (Romana): This slice folds cleanly in half and actually holds its shape. The crust is much crunchier--though, according to Ira, not quite as flavorful.
• Da Carlo (Hybrid): You can fold it in half, but the very tip needs fork support for the first bite. After that, you're good to go--senza forchetta. Bonus: if it's 6:00 p.m. and you suddenly need pizza, this is where you go. 

But really...isn't the best pizza always the one right in front of you? Mamma mia! Did I ever think I'd write an entire blog post about pizza? Absolutely not. 

Since I've now thoroughly exhausted the pizza topic, it feels like a good moment to circle back to panettone (of course). I asked our friend Giulia to send me the video of the gelato-filled panettone she mentioned. Turns out it's in Siena--only an hour away. For research purposes, we may need to make a trip before the season ends. We'll see. 

On a related note, Ira's cousin David and his family will be in Italy this month, so we're finally taking that long-planned train trip to Florence to meet them for lunch. Now we just need to decide where--always the hardest part.

Gelato-filled panettone

Food aside (mostly), we finally made it to the movie theater in Massa. We'd been meaning to go for ages, and the new Avatar movie seemed like a good excuse. How hard could it be to follow the plot in Italian? Spoiler: not very...but also not very easy.

The theater itself surprised us--big screen, great sound, and an intermission that landed exactly at what we assume was the halfway point (unfortunately during a very intense scene, but the bathroom break was appreciated). Snacks are all pre-packaged--even the popcorn--but tasty and nicely portion-controlled, which is probably for the best. 

We understood very little dialogue, though both of us distinctly heard "ragazzo scimmie" (Monkey Boys). Our favorite native Massatana, Alice later confirmed it was actually singular--proof that we still can't fully trust our ears. Still, it was good practice and a fun night.

Massa Marittima Cinema

Apartment Update

It's been a couple of weeks, so here's a quick update. We now have a fully opened window, and most of the plaster has been removed--definite progress. It also looks like the front half of the roof is finished, with the back half hopefully close behind.

Window opened, plaster removed in the Front Room

A few weeks ago

Plaster removed in the master bedroom and bath

From a few weeks ago

That brings us up to date. From Ira and me, we wish you all have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We're deeply grateful for all of you and for following along with us on this adventure--pizza research and all.

I leave you with a recent photo of the Mouse. Happy Holidays!