Franco Manca (Belsize Park)

The pizzas at Franco Manca are made from slow-rising sourdough and are baked in a wood burning 'tufae' brick oven made on site by specialist artisans from Naples. This oven produces a heat of about 500c (930f). The slow levitation and blast-cooking process locks in the flour's natural aroma and moisture giving a soft, easily digestible crust. As a result, the edge of the pizza (cornicione) is excellent and shouldn't be discarded. This system was originally developed by the Greek settlers who, in the 5th century BC founded Neapolis (New Town). They adapted a pre-existing baking tradition to develop this new ‘Pita’, which through experimentation, luck and linguistic distortions, became pizza.