What popular Italian dish did Carlo Collodi, creator of Pinocchio, have in mind when he expressed his aversion for "a focaccia made from leavened bread, toasted in the oven and topped with a little bit of everything"?

zbeckabee

One person who manifestly hated pizza was Carlo Collodi, the cook's son from Florence who finished writing The Adventures of Pinocchio six years before the queen's visit to Naples. In his next book, which did not meet with quite the same galloping success, he writes about a young Tuscan boy's journey around Italy. On reaching Naples, the boy discovers pizza: "Do you want to know what pizza is? It is a focaccia made from leavened bread dough which is toasted in the oven. On top of it they put a sauce with a little bit of everything. When its colours are combined -- the black of the toasted bread, the sickly white of the garlic and anchovy, the greeny-yellow of the oil and fried greens, and the bits of red here and there from the tomato -- they make pizza look like a patchwork of greasy filth that harmonises perfectly with the appearance of the person selling it." http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22532386-5002031,00.html Jul 10 08, 1:15 PM