O’ mast: This generally refers to the owner of a pizzeria who would usually also be a pizzaiolo

Pizzajuolo: Over the course of the centuries this word has been modified into its modern form, ‘pizzaiolo’. He is in charge of preparing dough and making pizzas. He is also responsible for junior staff, such as the kitchen boy and the oven workers.

Furnar: In charge of preparing the ingredients for pizza toppings and for baking the pizzas.

Zeppolajola: A woman’s role, she is in charge of preparing the dough to be used for making ‘zeppole’, a type of fried dough ball. This is a skilled worker adept at handling and frying this very moist kind of dough in boiling oil.

Friggitore: In charge of the deep fryer, which historically would have been coal burning and later fuelled by gas. This worker is skilled at managing all the various cooking times and temperatures for each of the different Neapolitan fried foods.

Panzaruttaro: In charge of preparing potato croquettes (various kinds), rice balls, arancini, ‘scagliuozzi’ (fried triangles of polenta) and courgette flowers etc….

Bancarellaro: He is entrusted with selling food on the streets outside the pizzeria using a mobile stall. He oftens shouts to draw the attention of passers-by.

Legnajuolo: Delivers wood fuel for burning in the oven to the pizzeria using a little cart.

A matrona: Of Latin origins, this word refers to a well-built lady who visits the pizzeria with her voluptuous daughter. The pizzeria staff must endeavour not to allow their admiration to be noticed by the mother.

O pazzinè: A young man visiting the pizzeria with his beautiful girlfriend.

Skatà con la 34: A person with mental instabilities.

Aspero: From the Greek word ‘Aspro’ meaning coin, this term was used by the pizzeria owner to check with the pizzaiolo if a customer had paid for their pizza or not.

Puteca: A typical Neapolitan pizzeria restaurant.

Meschina o meschino: Customer or visitor.

O furn: Typical Neapolitan wood burning oven with specific measurements.

A legn: Various types of wood fuel for burning (beech, oak, turkey oak, hornbeam).

Chianchiarelle: Wooden twigs used to help light the larger logs on fire.

Pampuglia: Wooden shavings to feed the oven flames.

Fucone: Base for a kitchen hob consisting of a stand on which to place a large pan of 50cm in diameter. It may be either coal or gas fuelled.

Tiella: Large pan of 50cm in diameter used for frying typical Neapolitan foods in hot oil.

Caccavella: Copper or aluminium pan used for boiling potatoes, rice or other things…

Votapesce: Also called ‘ragno’, this is a wide spoon with holes in it used to remove fried foods from the boiling oil. In Italian it is called a ‘schiumarola’.

E pal: Tools used to place food into the oven, bake it or move the burning wood fuel around. Traditionally they would be made of wood for placing food in the oven, steel or iron for baking pizza, and exclusively in sturdy iron for moving wood fuel.

Spillo: Utensil used for removing round fried pizzas from the pan.

Vacante o cappello del prete: A round container with holes in the base. Fried foods are placed in here after being removed from the pan to allow excess oil to drain off.

Scafarea: Aluminium bowl containing the moist dough which the zeppolajuolo fries in small amounts.

Ruoto: Circular aluminium container which historically customers would bring from home to pick up their takeaway pizzas.

Martola o martorella: Wooden dough box with a work surface on top used for making dough.

Tramezza: Wooden pole used to compress the dough inside the dough box.

Treppede: Stand on which the frying pan sits.

Stufa: Container used for keeping pizzas warm to sell on the streets.

O’ pizz e l’uogl: Oil cruet used for drizzling oil on the pizzas.

Tavutella: Rectangular wooden box used for storing the dough balls while they rise.

Stecca o spatola: Utensil which the pizzaiolo uses to remove the risen dough balls from the container.

Types of wood fuel used for making Neapolitan pizza

mezza luna: Wooden log split in half longways.

Tunnarielli: Slim cylindrical wooden logs

Chiancarell: Thin dry pieces of wood.

Il 50: Refers to the dough

Paniell: Dough balls

Batocchi: Small dough balls made by roughly dividing up the original dough

Pastella: Liquid batter made with flour, water, salt and yeast used fo making fried ‘zeppole’.

Criscitiello: Small dough balls for preparing ‘pizza a portafoglio’ (a large thin pizza served folded over on itself) to be sold at the counter.

Ciore: Flour

Nzogna: This was made from subcutaneous fat taken from pigs. After being chopped into small pieces, it was slowly heated until it became liquid, then any impurities were filtered out and it was left to solidify.

Bianco: Fior di latte cheese.

O russ: Tomato.

O verd: Basil.

O puorc: This generally refers to cured meats.

A segatura: Grated cheese.

Cecinielli: Small white fish

Punto di pasta: This is the perfect consistency which the pizzaiolo looks for in his dough. During the dough making process the dough is subject to daily variations in air humidity which can influence its consistency, flour being a hygroscopic substance and therefore tending to absorb moisture.

Staglio: Measurement of the weight of the dough once divided into balls.

Stagliare: The action of dividing the dough up into balls.

Impasto di riporto: Dough left over from the previous day which is incorporated into the fresh dough during the production process.

Appretto: The time period between dividing the dough into balls and rolling it out.

Puntata: The time period between finishing making the dough and dividing it up into balls.

Ammaccare: Tossing the dough to make the pizza base.

Schiaffo: When the pizzaiolo makes a show of tossing the dough to attract the attention of his customers.

Fin e past: A type of pizza where the dough has been stretched very thin to make a thin pizza, typical of some neighbourhoods in Naples.

Rot e carretta: A type of pizza where the dough has been stretched very thin to make an enormous thin pizza the size of a cartwheel, as the name indicates.

Pizza a salvietta o fazzoletto: A pizza with a pronounced crust made with a dough ball weighing less than usual.

Il sei: When drizzling oil on the pizza before cooking, the pizzaiolo should trace a number six with the oil on the base, starting in the middle.

Mezzo giro: An action where the pizzaiolo uses both hands to slide a pizza from the preparation counter onto the wooden pizza peel with a 90° movement.

Vai ca a pal: The pizzaiolo shouts this to the oven worker when he needs the wooden pizza peel so that he can transfer a pizza ready to be baked from the counter.

U stacc: A practiced flick of the wrist which the oven worker uses to make the pizza slide off the peel and into the oven.

Sbrasare: A task which falls to the oven worker, to clean the oven of ash and charcoal.

A vocc e furn: The pizzaiolo gives this instruction to the oven worker when handing him a pizza heavy on ingredients, indicating that it should be placed to cook near the edges of the oven where the temperature is lower than in the centre. A calzone pizza for example, which is a pizza folded over on itself with all the toppings inside, must be cooked near the edge of the oven.

U furn sta nderr: This means that the oven temperature is not adequate.

U furn nu coc a sott: This means that the cooking surface where the pizza has been placed is not baking the underside of the pizza in a sufficiently uniform way.

U furn è forte: This means that the oven temperature is too high.

U furn è nir: This means that the brick dome of the pizza oven is not at an adequate temperature for cooking the pizzas.

S’avvampa: This means that inside the oven there is too much heat coming directly from flames, causing the pizzas to come out undercooked and liquid.

Kalò: Top quality pizza dough. From the Greek word ‘kalos’ which means precisely that, good.

Skatà: Another word of Greek origin, this one could be translated as ‘shit’. A Neapolitan pizzaiolo uses it to describe dough or other ingredients which are low quality.

Il 50 è arrivato: The pizzaiolo exclaims this when he sees that the dough has reached the perfect point of leavening.

Il 50 è fresco: The pizzaiolo says this when he notes that the dough still needs more time to rise.

Il 50 è kalò: The pizzaiolo might say this when checking the dough if he sees that is top quality.

Il 50 è skatà: If the pizzaiolo realises that the dough is of low quality, he would say this. Nowadays, we tend to use the word ‘skatà’ when referring to dough and ingredients left over from yesterday too. Yesterday’s dough has already gone through the leavening and maturing process.

Il 50 è fridd: The pizzaiolo might say this if, when checking the dough, he realises that it is too cold to be properly rolled out and to cook well.

Il 50 è scoppiato: The pizzaiolo says this if, when checking the dough, he sees that it has collapsed.

Il 50 è espresso o rapido: The pizzaiolo might say this if he notes that the dough was prepared and has risen in record time.

Il 50 nun ten a cord: You might hear the pizzaiolo say this if, when checking the dough, he notices that it hasn’t developed sufficient levels of gluten which allow it to be stretched and tossed easily.

Il 50 a morbillo: When checking the dough, the pizzaiolo may say this if he notices small dark bubbles on the crust of the leavening dough.

U 50 si è assettato: This means that due to various reasons the dough is not as resistant or elastic as it should be and seems flabby.

A fiammifero: Literally meaning ‘matchstick’, this refers to a method of slicing ingredients by hand into long thin sticks – for example fior di latte cheese or salami.

Ndurate e fritt: This refers to aubergines and courgettes thinly sliced to be deep fried.

24: Pizza

7: Fried pizza

Pasta briosche: Originally a light spongy dessert inspired by a sweet version of the ‘zeppole’, pizzaiolos use this to refer to the type of batter used to make fried ‘zeppole’.

Supponta: Small piece of pizza stuffed with escarole (a leafy vegetable) which you would snack on to ward off hunger while waiting for Christmas or New Year’s dinner.

Scagliuozzo: Triangular pieces of deep-fried polenta

Nu sacchett e robba ammischiata: A small paper bag of mini fried goods which was sold over the counter outside the ‘friggitoria’, a takeaway place for fried foods.

Cappello e pulcinell: Long fried pizza with a pronounced point which looks like the puppet Pulcinella’s hat.

Battilocchio: Long fried pizza with a little point at the end

A padella: A huge round fried pizza featuring two layers of dough. Its name comes from the fact that its circular shape fills the whole pan (padella).

Mezzaluna: Fried calzone folded over on itself which looks like a crescent moon.

Pisctiello: Fried calzone folded over on itself which is particularly small.

Panzarotto napoletano: A small cylindrical potato patty seasoned with parsley, pepper, fior di latte cheese and breadcrumbs, and then fried.

Pall e ris: Small round balls of boiled rice stuffed with pecorino cheese and pepper, rolled in breadcrumbs and fried. This is different from the typical Sicilian arancino.

Zeppola: This dish dates way back to 1320, in Norman times. At the time it was known as ‘crespella’. The word refers to a small piece of leavened and very moist dough. Historically it would have been covered with honey (beginnings of the famous ‘zeppole di San Giuseppe’, a typical Neapolitan dessert). Later it began to be served with a pinch of salt. In old Neapolitan dialect it was also called ‘Pasta Crisciuta’.

Ciurilli: Courgette flowers covered in breadcrumbs and fried.

Vuzzarielli: This fried dish takes its name from its hollowed-out shape, rather like a little boat floating on a sea of oil.

Taccarella: A pizza which has been cooked in an oven which is not at the correct temperature, resulting in a dry and hard base.

Cottura al bacio: This refers to the perfect way of cooking a pizza, resulting in a finished product which is golden and uniformly baked.