Pizza and the Long Lunch

Chiara closed the lab for the long Italian lunch. "Come with me," she said.

Chiara stengte laboratoriet for den lange italienske lunsjen. "Bli med meg," sa hun.

Polly perched on her shoulder. They walked into the park.

Polly satt på skulderen hennes. De gikk inn i parken.

Naples at lunch was busy. People were going to espresso bars. The streets smelled of garlic and tomato.

Napoli var travelt ved lunsjtider. Folk gikk til espressobarene. Gatene luktet av hvitløk og tomat.

Chiara took her to a small pizzeria. Inside was a big wood-burning oven. The fire was very hot.

Chiara tok henne med til en liten pizzeria. Inne var det en stor vedfyrt ovn. Ilden var veldig varm.

Neapolitan pizza is special. The city has rules for it from two hundred years ago. The dough is flour, water, salt, and yeast. The tomatoes are from the slopes of Vesuvius. The basil is fresh. The oven cooks the pizza in ninety seconds.

Napolitansk pizza er spesiell. Byen har regler for den fra for to hundre år siden. Deigen er laget av mel, vann, salt og gjær. Tomatene kommer fra skråningene av Vesuv. Basilikumen er fersk. Ovnen steker pizzaen på nitti sekunder.

The pizza maker put a pizza in the oven. Ninety seconds later he pulled it out. The crust had dark spots. The cheese was melted.

Pizzabakeren la en pizza i ovnen. Nitti sekunder senere tok han den ut. Skorpen hadde mørke flekker. Osten var smeltet.

Chiara gave Polly a small piece of crust. It was salty and charred and very light. Polly understood why Naples had protected this pizza for two centuries.

Chiara ga Polly et lite stykke skorpe. Det var salt, lett brent og veldig lett. Polly forsto hvorfor Napoli hadde beskyttet denne pizzaen i to århundrer.

"Octopuses are smart because they only live a few years," Chiara said. "They have to learn fast. We can learn slowly. Pasta will learn everything she knows in two more years."

"Blekkspruter er smarte fordi de bare lever noen få år," sa Chiara. "De må lære raskt. Vi kan lære sakte. Pasta vil lære alt hun vet om to år til."

They walked back slowly. The afternoon was warm.

De gikk sakte tilbake. Ettermiddagen var varm.