Banana and Crocodile Meat Pizza Too
Italian Agricultural Group "Damaging Culinary Excellence"
An agricultural organization from Italy, the birthplace of pizza, criticized foreign pizzas topped with snakes and crickets, saying they "damage the excellence of gastronomy."
According to the British daily The Telegraph on the 9th (local time), Coldiretti, an Italian agricultural organization, recently opened a "Gallery of Horror" featuring pizzas with unusual toppings at a food expo held in Naples. The media reported that Coldiretti gathered pizzas from around the world into one collection to show the insults made to Italian pizza.
Some pizzas featured Australian kangaroo and crocodile meat, South African zebra meat and bananas, and Indian tandoori yogurt chicken. The association selected the most "shocking" pizza as the "snake meat topping pizza" that appeared in Hong Kong.
In Vietnam and Thailand, pizzas topped with crickets and cannabis were offered, while Portugal topped theirs with the cod dish Bacalhau. The Netherlands presented a dish combining pizza and kebab. In some countries, tomato ketchup and cheddar cheese were added to enhance the flavor of the pizza.
Coldiretti stated, "You can find such a wide variety of variations worldwide that make Italians shudder," and said this is a widespread problem like imitation Italian food.
According to Coldiretti, the market for fake or imitation Italian food reaches 120 billion euros annually (approximately 170.5 trillion KRW), which is twice the export value of Italian food and beverages.
Ettore Prandini, president of Coldiretti, said, "The authenticity of pizza recipes and the art of preparation mean protecting cooking, an essential part of our tradition." He added, "Fake food threatens Italian jobs and damages the excellence of gastronomy."
Meanwhile, pizza is so popular among Italians that it is called the "food of the soul." It is known that the annual pizza consumption in Italy, including both dining in restaurants and takeout, reaches 1.6 billion pies.
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