marinara

One of the three types of classic Neapolitan pizza that are now a protected traditional speciality of the EU, pizza marinara is the simplest of all pizzas: topped with tomato, garlic, oregano and extra virgin olive oil, topped perhaps with fresh basil leave. It's also the name of the basic sauce.

Its sailor name has nothing to do with seafood, but dates back to the 18th century, when the Neapolitans realized that tomatoes, introduced long before from the New World, were not poison, but actually quite tasty spread on the flat breads traditionally sold from carts in the poorer parts of town. One of these was the port, where sailors bought them to eat before hoisting their sails, and gave them their name.