Fugazza and its variations are believed to have been invented by a Genoese-Argentine pizza maker named Juan Banchero sometime between 1893 and 1932, who served it out of a pizza shop bearing his name. Banchero's pizza shop continues to sell fugazza to this day in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of La Boca, which historically served as a home to Genovese immigrants to Argentina.[2]
Characteristics and varieties
Fugazza is typically prepared with the following ingredients:[3]
Argentine pizza dough ("masa" – meaning at least three focaccia-like centimetres when served, or the more moderate "half-dough" – "media masa"), characterized by a spongy consistency, and far more water and leavening than a Neapolitan pizza crust
Fugazzetta is a variation on fugazza in which the cheese is baked in between two pizza crusts (usually media masa), and the onions are placed on top.[4]
Figazza is a version of fugazzetta from Uruguay, where the main difference is the lack of cheese or any middle filling, also the portions are cut to the style of Uruguayan pizza, which is in rectangular pieces and it can have additional topping of olives and bell peppers, a less common version of Uruguayan figazza is figazza con muzzarella, where mozzarella cheese is put on top of the onions, almost same ingredients of Argentinian fugazza but backwards order.[5][6]
