Of course it was a completely different kind of pizza from the kind with a leavened base and delicious topping enjoyed all around the world today, and was perhaps more like what we now know as focaccia.

If we think about leavened products generally, there have been some considerable changes over the years and now all those who specialise in the sector – whether they bake pizzas or bread – agree that when customers sit down at a table in a pizzeria, they do not just want pizza: they are looking for a product that is carefully prepared and baked to perfection, one that uses less refined flour, and is ideally made with mother yeast and leavened in an unhurried way for all the time that that process takes. Two leading figures who represent the sector are Simone Padoan and Renato Bosco, of the I Tigli pizzeria in San Bonifacio and Saporè in San Martino Buon Albergo (both near Verona) respectively.
“The world of leavening is a fascinating one,” says Renato Bosco. “New studies and research projects are being carried out all the time, with a special focus on the ingredients that need to be used. We should remember that pizza is one of the most widely-eaten street foods, it is quick, and everyone loves it especially at the current time.”

Simone Padoan agrees, and adds: “The pizza of the future will be a real team effort, with the focus on the catering service that is being offered with it. A pizza maker will need to have the expertise of a chef as well as being an experts in baking, and will need to pay attention to nutritional aspects, combinations and seasonality.”

Of course no one is going to taking kindly to a pizza that is hard to digest, or made with ingredients that have just been thrown together. During the long weeks of lockdown, Italians turned to baking bread and pizza as a way of relaxing and keeping busy and it is more important than ever now that we are able to offer a high-quality product.”
“The greatest satisfaction we got when we re-opened was hearing customers say things like ‘It’s so long since I ate a really good pizza!’,” Bosco goes on. “If customers feel safe in your pizzeria it’s because you have focused on certain values. Digestibility is a really important aspect, and anyone who has tried to make a pizza at home in this period has discovered how hard it is to get the dough exactly right.”

And there is plenty to say about the actual baking process, too. A pizza made at home will never be the same as one baked in a professional oven.
That is something of which Mario Giacomini, sole director of Tecnoinox, is well aware: “Today more than ever, care, attention and efficiency make all the difference, and you need flexible equipment that ensures consistency and precision. In addition, Tecnoinox is giving caterers a chance to replace or upgrade their professional ovens, because the purchase of our digital ovens with touch screens (in the savoury baking and pastry versions) come under the innovative machinery investments that qualify for a 40% tax credit as provided for by the National Action Plan for Industry 4.0.”
So investing during the recession makes sense. That is something a lot of people have been saying in what is going to be a big economic downturn across all sectors, but especially in catering, tourism and hospitality.

So how do you choose the right products?
“Selecting a professional oven might seem difficult, especially if you are just starting up with a new activity,” say Italforni of Pesaro. “There are lots of different types of model on the market that can turn out a whole range of products in a short time and in a single batch. The main factors to consider are: simplicity of use, low energy consumption and the achievement of perfect results.”