Pizza, everyone knows. A crispy, fine or a little thicker paste, ingredients of all kinds that overflow and, above all … a round shape. A circle somewhat deforme certainly, with imperfections, but all the same: we agree here to say that a pizza is round (sorry focaccias and others).
If we stop for a moment on the geometry so particular of the pizza, there is something to tear our hair. Level forms, there is something for everyone: the round pizza is slipped into a square box, before being cut into triangles. Clearly, the inventor of all this pataquès had dried the kindergarten lessons, where we learned to enter the circles in the circles and the squares in the squares. An apparent inconsistency that mainly hides a clever combination of culinary tradition, logistical pragmatism and economic efficiency.
Basically, I think the dough is round, for a single good reason
If we go back a little, the pizza was above all a peasant food, a flat and cooked paste used as a base for different ingredients. In Italy, before pizza became the modern version that we know today, it existed in various forms: flat, oval or irregular breads. The attention was not really paid on the aesthetics, but rather on the practical side, and we garnished it with everything that we could find locally.
In some regions, notably that of Naples, the pizzas ended up adopting a more oval form, above all because they were cooked directly on the wooden shovel. The very preparation of the dough quickly led to prefer this rounded structure. A ball of dough is indeed stretched naturally in a circle under the effect of the movements of the pizzaïolo, which makes it possible to distribute the thickness in a homogeneous manner.
This uniformity is also crucial for perfect cooking, especially in traditional stone ovens where heat diffuses uniformly on a circular surface. A square pizza placed in such an oven would tend to burn on certain edges.
From a practical point of view, a round pizza is also easier to share. Those who leave aside their crusts will tell you: a square pizza is hell if you don’t have the central part. Finding yourself with an angle is equivalent to eating a pharaonic quantity of unwanted crust, when your tablesters are delighted with a garnish. With round pizza, which is easily cut into equal parts, this problem does not exist: everyone is housed in the same brand.
Triangle and square
We started to talk about it. If the cuts of a round pizza are made of triangles, it is by simple measure of efficiency and equity: by tracing lines from the center towards the edges, we obtain uniform shares. Shares that respect family origin and the spirit of sharing pizza, while being ergonomic. The triangular parts allow an easy socket, with the wide base of the triangle that rests in the hand, while the fine point is easy to bite.
And the square boxes in all of this? For once, nothing to do with a particular tradition: here, it’s all about industrial logic. They have several practical and economic advantages which make it an essential choice. When the boxes are stacked in a kitchen or warehouse, the square shapes overlap perfectly, maximizing the use of space. Unlike round boxes, which would leave lost spaces, the square boxes can be aligned against a wall or in a corner without wasting space.
The square boxes, less complex (and therefore less expensive) to make than rounds, are also easier to handle and are perfectly stalled in the lockers of scooters or delivery cars, without moving in all directions during journeys. You can even slide into the corners of spicy sauce bags. Practical!
In short, the round pizza, the triangular shares and the square box illustrate a clever combination of tradition and pragmatism. An anecdote that will not fail to make you shine in society during a pizza evening.
