We went to Naples to discover what makes the best Neapolitan Pizza

Our first stop takes us out of the historic city to tomato farm Gustarosso, known for its San Marzano tomatoes, a DOP product grown only in the Agro Sarnese Nocerino area of Campania. Its canned tomatoes, which grace Pizza Duo’s expertly-made dough, are grown, tended to, and hand-picked by a cooperative of passionate farmers using traditional cultivation methods.

“We call them grandfather, because some are 94 years old, still working at this age,” Paolo Ruggiero, the fourth generation of his family who have been overseeing the production process and supporting the farmers, says. The Ruggieros have a history of growing San Marzano tomatoes since 1910, dedicating their lives to its preservation.

The three aspects that make San Marzano tomatoes a prime product lie in the terroir—the weather, volcanic soil filled with minerals, and water that comes from the mountains. Red and long, the flavour-packed tomatoes also contain lycopene, an antioxidant associated with health benefits. Each can has a number allowing it to be traced back to the field it was grown in, as well as the farmer who tenderly cultivated the tomatoes, allowing full traceability. 

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“You can always guarantee dough consistency when it comes to Caputo Flour,” Lee says, as we enter Caputo Flour, our next producer on the list. Its unassuming entrance is easily missed, but once inside, there is no doubt we stand within a flour mill, with jumbo packets of flour being transported and stacked by cranes.

Founded in 1924, Caputo built up its reputation for the past century for high quality flour. The family-run business spans three generations, and is renowned both locally and internationally by artisans, most of all Neapolitan pizzaioli.

We begin the tour in the lab, where each wheat variety (Canadian, French, Italian, and German) is selected and blended before the dough is tested and analysed. Within the mill, no chemicals are used, and the flour boutique uses a traditional technique of slow-milling, which retains the grain by processing it through a higher number of mills. This gentle process avoids damage, allowing the final flour to retain water, resulting in a dough with good elasticity, while the original taste of each grain is retained.

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Walk into Pizza Duo and the first thing that catches the eye is the large Stefano Ferrara Forni oven, the biggest in Malaysia to date. The first time I met the husband-and-wife duo, one of the first photos they showed me was of how they had to bring the oven in through the roof, after shipping it over in a large container. “People break down their storefronts to get one of these ovens in,” Lee had laughed.

Coming to the factory, our third supplier of the trip, I can see why. A family business for nearly a century, the third-generation oven maker meets us with his son. “The classic domed shape of the oven retains the heat, while the cooking stone is made from Biscotto di Sorrento, a giant clay brick that retains heat efficiently, providing an evenly hot surface, allowing the base of the pizza to cook during the 60 to 90 seconds in the oven without burning,” the older Ferrara explains. Such ovens can withstand temperatures of over 900 degrees Celsius.

While in the factory, Aina and Lee spot two metallic-tiled ovens, and rush over excitedly—they are the new ovens for their new outlet, which will be opening at The Campus, Ampang. The factory churns out 200 handmade ovens every year, shipping them across the world, with all raw materials being sourced from Naples and its surrounding areas.

A pizza is incomplete without cheese, and where better than our final stop, Latteria Sorrentina, providing Italian-made cheese in Naples since 1880, a craft passed down over four generations. Made using traditional techniques originating from the Campania region, its fior di latte is widely regarded as the best for authentic Neapolitan pizza. 

Entering the factory, we are welcomed by vats of milk, harvested from pastures of Campania, which are heated to the prime temperature to be stretched. Moving on to the production plant, its prime product, fior di latte mozzarella, are being shaped and packaged—some are even smoked in a room.

Of course, the people behind the craft, or pizzaiolos as they are commonly referred to, are what bring everything together. During the trip, we have the good fortune to meet 50 Kalo’s Ciro Salvo and I Masanielli’s Francesco Martucci. As Ghani and Lee speak to Martucci, he answers questions without skipping a beat as he expertly shapes pizza dough, not taking his eye off the couple as he moulds the dough as if an extension of his hands.

The three pizza spots we visit—50 Kalo (#7 on World Best Pizza), I Masanielli, and Diego Vitagliano Pizzeria (tied #1 on World Best Pizza), all have their take on Neapolitan pizza. I Masanielli, for instance, presents a signature pizza that is cooked at three temperatures—steamed, baked, and fried—before being topped with onions in seven different forms (onion gel, crispy onion, fermented onion, onion mayonnaise, and more). 

Ghani and Lee are nothing if not passionate about what they do, bringing a slice of Naples to the heart of Kuala Lumpur. With their second outlet opening, they hope to spread their love for Neapolitan pizza to even more Malaysians. 

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