Home of pizza smashes record with mile-long margherita

Naples: Naples has reclaimed the world record for the longest pizza after more than 200 chefs rolled out and cooked a mile-long margherita on the waterfront of the doughy delicacy's home city.

The record-breaking snack measured up at exactly 1,853.88 metres (6,082 feet), smashing the previous record of 1,595.45 metres (5,234 feet) set at last year's World Expo in Milan, Italy's food and agriculture board Coldiretti said.

Hundreds of chefs from all over the world spent most of Wednesday assembling the pizza from raw ingredients of 2,000 kilograms (4,400 pounds) of flour, 1,600kg (3527 pounds) of tomatoes, 2,000kg (4,400 pounds) of mozzarella cheese, 200 litres (53 gallons) of oil and 30kg (66 pounds) of basil.

It was then baked in line with the city's best tradition by wood-fire in five custom-made motorized ovens.

The record attempt had initially been scheduled for Sunday but had to be postponed because of bad weather in the southern Italian city.

It was organised to promote Italy's bid to have the art of Neapolitan pizza-making recognised by UNESCO as part of the world's heritage, distinguishing it from what purists consider to be inferior forms found elsewhere.