pizza quattro stagioni — Italy

Pizza quattro stagioni, the four seasons pizza, is a pizza from Italian cuisine built on a tomato and mozzarella base and visually divided into four sections, each carrying a different topping meant to stand for one season of the year. It is a familiar item on pizzeria menus, valued as much for its presentation as for any single flavour. It is served across Italy and is common well beyond any one region, appearing on menus in pizzerias of very different sizes and styles, from simple takeaway counters to sit-down restaurants. No particular city or region is singled out as its main source, and it tends to be treated as a standard, widely known option rather than a local speciality. To prepare it, the base is spread with tomato sauce and mozzarella as for a plain pizza, after which the round is mentally or physically divided into four quarters. Each quarter is then topped separately: artichoke hearts commonly stand for spring, fresh mushrooms for another season, cooked ham (prosciutto cotto) for a third, and tomato with black olives for the fourth, though the precise pairing of ingredient to season is not fixed. The whole pizza is then baked together at high heat until the crust is crisp and the cheese has melted. What distinguishes this pizza is the deliberate quartering itself, four separate toppings kept visually apart on one base, rather than any single distinctive ingredient. Pizzerias differ on exactly which four toppings they use and in what order around the circle, and some substitute other vegetables or cured meats while keeping the four-part structure that gives the dish its name.