Sardenara

Sardenaira is a pizza dish, without cheese, from the Liguria region of Italy.[1] It is very similar to the pissaladière.[1][2][3][4] Although termed a pizza, some consider it more akin to a focaccia.[4]

Sardenaira

In the city of Sanremo in western Liguria, it is garnished with salted anchovies, local olives, garlic cloves, and capers.[2]

It is known as sardenaira or pizza all'Andrea, after admiral Andrea Doria (1466-1560), whose favorite food was the dish: a slice of bread with olive oil, garlic, and salted anchovy.[3][4]

The dish predates the better-known Neapolitan pizza.[3] Since the dish was created before the Columbian Exchange, traditionalists do not add tomatoes.[3]

Notes

1. Elizabeth David, Italian Food (Penguin, 1987), p. 126-28.
2. Elizabeth David, A Book of Mediterranean Food (2002), p. 39.
3. Anna Del Conte, Gastronomy of Italy (Pavilion, 2013) (revised ed.).
4. Laura Giannatempo, A Ligurian Kitchen: Recipes and Tales from the Italian Riviera (Hippocrene: 2006).