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Pizza and beer? Just answer: “E Daje!”. This is how a Roman would respond to an invitation for pizza and beer in the eternal city. The expression simply stands for ‘OK, come on!’ and is widely used in Rome, the city with the largest number of pizzerias in Italy and with a quality level extremely high, nothing to envy Naples.
Like all Italians, I love beer with my pizza. Romans have a beer before the pizza is served because it kills the waiting time. We have a beer while we eat the pizza because the combination is just perfect. And we drink another one after the pizza because we started the first sip of the third beer glass with the last bite of pizza and are now enjoying the rest. Isn’t this love?
While Coke and pizza is the second very popular choice among younger people, who are not yet old enough to drink beer, it is a common opinion in Italy that wine and pizza do not go well together. Beer is simply unbeatable with pizza . And wine loses its battle against beer in this combination.
Pizza and beer are both fermented and derived from cereals. Beer gives a refreshing sensation, especially when the pizza has a rich and tasty topping. The beer’s bubbles rid the mouth of any oily ingredient on the pizza, and its malt flavour has the right continuation of the wheat flavour of the pizza dough.
The flavours and aromas of a good craft beer go wonderfully with pizza toppings, if the two are combined correctly. And therein lies the art of pairing a good beer with pizza. I smile when I read someone advertising their beer with the slogan “this beer goes well with pizza“. Yes, but which pizza are you talking about?
I decided to choose Roman pizza for our exploration of pizza and beer pairing because Roman pizza is among the healthiest and most delicious pizza you can find. Moreover, Roman pizza offers a multitude of toppings. Three or four slices of Roman pizza, each with a different topping, are equivalent in quantity and cost to eating a round pizza. I personally like this way of eating because I can drink a different beer with each slice of pizza!
What makes Roman pizza so special?
First of all, the atmosphere in the pizzeria is amazing People are busy, but there is always room for a chat. It is the place to meet friends or make new ones. In this sense, pizzerias in Italy are like pubs for the English. And just like in pubs, in pizzeria, beer (together with pizza of course) serves to bring people together.
Roman pizza is very light and crispy, especially the one served in the baking tray (teglia), in the “Pizzeria al taglio”. Depending on the pizzeria, the pizza is served in rectangular slices, usually sold by weight or in pre-cut pieces. When holding the slice, it remains firm and holds the topping well, the frame being as high as the pizza topping.
Roman pizza is very easy to eat using only your hands. You don’t need fork and knife. And it is very healthy. In fact, the pizza is fermented for long hours (min 24h) and is made with low-gluten flours and a high amount of water (about 75%) . The result is an extraordinary pizza, very light to digest: soft on the inside and crispy on the outside.
I visited Roscioli, a 50-year-old traditional pizzeria in Rome, to taste their classic red and white pizzas. In Reinach, near Basel, I enjoyed the Roman pizza with creative toppings. Here, two extraordinary Roman pizza makers (Pizzaioli) prepare a delicious Roman pizza. I believe this is the best pizza al taglio I have ever had outside Rome!
I have matched 5 beers with Roman pizza, choosing both traditional and creative pizza slices Here is my recommendation for the best pizza and beer combination. E Daje!
Pilsner for the traditional Romanpizza and beer combination
I stick to the classic Italian combination: Pilsner ist THE choice for the traditional Roman Pizza, either without topping (pizza bianca), with only tomato sauce (Pizza rossa) or with tomato and mozzarella (pizza Margherita). I went to enjoy Pizzeria Roscioli in Rome at Trastevere district and found the crispiest roman traditional pizza of the Eternal city. So crispy that to avoid breaking it into pieces, they cut it in one go with a sharp machete.
Blonde beers are light and refreshing, with delicate malts and hops. The malts go perfectly with the taste of the pizza dough and I find that the delicate hops combine well with the tomato sauce. As we have found with cheese makers in the Swiss and French area, Pilsner and mozzarella have both a delicate taste that goes very well together. It is not just tradition: drinking blond beers with classic Roman pizza is just the best you can do.
Pizza bianca is the base for all kinds of filled pizzas. It is easy to cut it crosswise because it is soft, allowing the ingredients to be added. The classic filled pizza is the one with Mortadella (Mortazza in Roman), which also goes well with blond beer or amber beer if the mortadella has black pepper.
Pizza makers can be very creative in stuffing white pizza with vegetables, cheese and cold cuts. And they can be very creative too with pizza toppings.
Craft beers for the most creative Romanpizza and beer pairings
Amber ale is a style of beer I recommend for all those savoury pizza with cured meat toppings. Fermento Amber Ale is a modern craft beer whose hoppy, non-bitter taste is exactly what the well-aromatic meat toppings need. I have paired this beer with a wide range of pizzas from Pizza Daig and found it delicious with all savoury meats: sausage and potatoes, Parma ham, shoulder of ham, chicken and truffles. The hops of the amber also marry the spiciness of ‘Marinara arrabbiata’ and N’duja, a fantastic extra chili salami paste from southern Italy . Mushrooms are also very aromatic and therefore I recommend the amber ale also with the Pizza with mushrooms.
Honey beer is also a great craft beer for pizza, as long as it is not too sweet. I like the style of honey beer that has just a hint of honey without being sweet and overpowering. I drunk Ventuno Fermento’s honey beer with a pizza topped with four selected cheeses This is the king beer for cheese. Ventuno is also great with potatoes and onions because both have a delicate sweetness.
Last but not least, wheat beer is the best for all pizzas with fish toppings. In particular, I recommend the wheat beer Fermento Mistral with burrata cheese and anchovies, a trendy Roman topping that you will love. This beer has an exotic Mango flavour, that blends with this special cheese and mitigates the slightly sour taste of the anchovies, preserved in vinegar.
Stout for the most innovative beerpairing: Nutella Pizza!
Stout is a beer that has only one combination with pizza and that is Nutella. This is a unique combination that might seem very unusual, because we are all accustomed to eating only salty pizza. However, in Rome one often sees children and adults with chocolate moustaches biting into this Roman delicacy.
The white pizza is not salty and is filled with the delicious chocolate and nut cream that all Italians are proud of. The preparation also requires some iced sugar to sprinkle on top. To refrain sneezing, avoid breathing on top of the Nutella pizza!
For this unmissable pizza and beer pairing, I use Liberica stout. This craft beer is dry and therefore avoids adding extra sweetness, but the chocolate and coffee aromas enhance the Nutella flavours. The beer’s bubbles and alcohol will delight your palate, refreshing it after every bite of pizza and Nutella.
Pizza and beer, go beyond and drink the right beer. E daje!
To date, I have not found anyone who does not like pizza. Moreover, most people like to accompany it with a beer. It only takes a little effort to choose the right beer for the right pizza and fortunately, with the wide variety of flavours and aromas in craft beer, choosing the right beer is very possible.
Now you know a little more about how best to experience pizza and beer. And I hope that, like me, when you hear someone advertising their beer saying ‘this beer goes well with pizza’, you will also whisper: ‘Yes, but which pizza are you talking about?
Of course, I would love to know how you enjoy it and what you think of my best pizza and beer pairings.