Meet our sourdough starter. This 200-year old sourdough culture originated in Ischia (a volcanic island in the Gulf of Naples) and is used in Pizzanista!’s traditional hand-tossed pizza dough, which we make fresh daily. Around the late 1700’s, it became common for the poor people around Naples to add tomato to their yeast-based flat bread, and so the pizza was born. The dish gained in popularity, and soon pizza became a tourist attraction as visitors flocked to Naples to try the local specialty.
Ischia sourdough in particular tends to be more tart than other sourdough starter cultures. It contains wild yeast for leavening, and lactobacilli bacteria to create the exquisite sourdough flavor through the fermentation process. Upon activation (see our incubation unit below), a stable symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast is formed in the flour and water mixture. This living organism is fed once a day, then bubbles up, grows and ferments to create the tasty, unique flavor and texture of our pizza crust!