Pizzaiola
Pizzaiola is an Italian culinary term used for dishes or sauces made in a pizza-like style, typically with tomato, olive oil, garlic, and oregano.
Pizzaiola is an Italian culinary term used for dishes or sauces made in a pizza-like style, typically with tomato, olive oil, garlic, and oregano. It is also used for a specific meat dish, often called carne alla pizzaiola, in which meat is simmered in that sauce. In some dictionaries, the same word can also refer to a female pizza maker.
Meaning in cooking
Pizzaiola is used for a tomato-based sauce or preparation associated with pizza flavours, commonly including olive oil, garlic, and oregano. It can describe both a sauce and dishes made with it. In cookery, pizzaiola refers to a sauce or dish prepared with tomato, olive oil, garlic, and seasonings associated with pizza. Some definitions emphasize oregano as a key flavoring, while others mention additional herbs or ingredients.
Carne alla pizzaiola
The best-known dish using the term is carne alla pizzaiola, a meat preparation where beef or other meat is simmered in the sauce until tender. It is widely described as a Neapolitan-style dish. Sources describing the dish often connect it with Naples and southern Italian traditions. Pizzaiola appears on Italian restaurant menus and in home cooking across Canada, especially as a steak or meat sauce dish in Italian-Canadian cuisine.
Etymology and usage
The word is related to pizza and is used in Italian to describe something made in the style of a pizza maker or pizza sauce. In some dictionaries, it can also mean a female pizza maker. Dictionary sources also give pizzaiola as the feminine form related to a pizza maker.
Key facts
- In cookery, pizzaiola refers to a sauce or dish prepared with tomato, olive oil, garlic, and seasonings associated with pizza.
- The term is used for carne alla pizzaiola, a meat dish in which meat is cooked in a tomato-based sauce.
- Dictionary sources also give pizzaiola as the feminine form related to a pizza maker.
- Sources describing the dish often connect it with Naples and southern Italian traditions.
- Some definitions emphasize oregano as a key flavoring, while others mention additional herbs or ingredients.
Pizzaiola appears on Italian restaurant menus and in home cooking across Canada, especially as a steak or meat sauce dish in Italian-Canadian cuisine.
Frequently asked questions
What does pizzaiola mean?
Is pizzaiola a sauce or a dish?
What is carne alla pizzaiola?
Where does pizzaiola come from?
Does pizzaiola only refer to food?
References
- Merriam-Webster — https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pizzaiolaSupports: Dictionary definitions of pizzaiola as a pizza maker, a tomato sauce with olive oil, garlic, and oregano, and food prepared with that sauce.
- Dictionary.com — https://www.dictionary.com/browse/pizzaiolaSupports: Definitions of pizzaiola as a pizza-related cooking term, a female pizza chef, and a seasoned tomato sauce used in pizza-style dishes.
- Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PizzaiolaSupports: Description of pizzaiola, also called carne alla pizzaiola, as a dish from Neapolitan and Apulian traditions featuring meat cooked with tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, and white wine.
- Collins English Dictionary — https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/pizzaiolaSupports: Cookery definition of pizzaiola as a sauce or dish made with tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, and other seasonings.
- Cambridge Dictionary — https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/italian-english/pizzaioloSupports: Related Italian-English dictionary entry for pizza maker/chef and culinary use with tomato sauce and garlic.
- The Philadelphia Inquirer — https://www.inquirer.com/philly/food/20161006_Pizzaiola__How_to_add_pizza_flavor_to_just_about_anything.htmlSupports: Explanation of pizzaiola as Italian pizza-style tomato sauce and its typical use with meat.