From Turin to Naples: How Italy's North and South Disagree About Dinner
You do not need to know the difference before you order. Here it is anyway, in short sentences.
Why people type torino pizza
Turin has a pizza of its own. It is called pizza al padellino, or al tegamino. It is baked in a small round pan with oil in the bottom. The base comes out taller and softer than a Neapolitan one, the edge is crisp where it met the metal, and one pan is one portion for one person.
So when someone searches for torino pizza, they are often looking for that pan, not for a city. It is worth saying plainly: we do not make it. What we do is the other end of the country, and the rest of this page is about why the two ends disagree.
Butter in the north, oil in the south
Piedmont built its kitchen on what grows and keeps in a cold, wet, mountain fed plain. Rice, maize for polenta, butter, cheese from cows. Campania built its kitchen on heat and sea air. Wheat, olive oil, tomatoes, buffalo and cow milk cheeses eaten young.
That is most of the argument, and it is older than any restaurant. A pan with oil in it and a long, slow bake makes sense in a place where dinner has to be solid. A soft, wet dough slapped straight onto a blazing floor makes sense where the flour and the tomatoes are already strong enough on their own.
Aperitivo first, pizza later
Turin also disagrees about when dinner starts. The city is the home of vermouth, and the habit of a small fortified drink before eating grew up there. The evening gets a prologue. In Naples the prologue is shorter and the pizza arrives sooner.
We land somewhere in between, for practical reasons. We are open Tuesday to Sunday, from 18:00 to 22:00, and closed on Monday. Early for Naples, normal for Larnaca. If you come at six you will have the oven at its freshest. If you come at nine you will have the room at its loudest.
What we do, and what we do not
Our pizzaiolo is Daniele, born in Naples in 1989. The dough is a biga, fermented for 48 hours at 77% hydration. The tomatoes are San Marzano and the mozzarella is fior di latte, both from Italy. The oven is copper, gas fired, and runs at 400 degrees.
None of that works in a pan. A wet dough at that heat needs open floor and a short bake. So there is no padellino here, no thick base, no second style hiding on the back of the list. One country, one of its two arguments, carried out properly.
If you want to try the Naples side of it
We are at 1 Aristotelous in Larnaca, open Tuesday to Sunday from 18:00 to 22:00. The natural wine list changes, and every bottle or grape on it has its own page here, so you can read before you ask. Nobody at the table is expected to recognise a label. Ask us, and we will talk it through.
Turin, Naples and the pan
Q.What is torino pizza?
In Turin, pizza al padellino, also called al tegamino, is baked in a small oiled pan. The base is thicker and softer than a Neapolitan base, and one pan is one person's portion.
Q.Do you make pan pizza at Filomena?
No. We make Neapolitan pizza, stretched by hand and baked in a gas fired copper oven at 400 degrees. A pan pizza needs a different dough and a much longer bake.
Q.Is northern Italian pizza worse than Neapolitan?
No, it is a different dish with different rules. Thicker base, oil in the pan, slower oven. We only cook the southern version, because that is the one our pizzaiolo grew up with.
Q.Why does your dough take 48 hours?
It is a biga, a stiff starter left to ferment before the final mix, and the whole thing runs 48 hours at 77% hydration. That is the slow route, not the fast yeast route.
Q.Can I ask for help with the wine list?
Yes, and most people do. The list changes week to week, so we never assume you know it. Tell us what you are eating and what you usually like, and we will go from there.