The History of Pizza Scissors: How Scissors Found Their Way into the Pizzeria
When people think of pizza, they think of the wood-fired oven, tomato, mozzarella and basil. Very few think of scissors. Yet in many places in Italy, they're a completely natural part of the job.
Pizza al taglio: pizza by weight
In Rome and many other Italian cities you'll find pizza al taglio – literally “pizza by the cut”. It's baked in large rectangular trays and displayed at the counter. The customer shows how big they want their piece, and the pizzaiolo cuts it to exactly that size – very often with scissors. The piece is then weighed and paid for by weight.
The scissors are there for a simple reason: they cut exactly where the customer wants, without pressing down on the toppings. A knife or wheel has to be pushed down through cheese and vegetables from above – scissors cut through the crust from below.
From knife to wheel
For a long time, pizza was simply cut with a knife. As round pizza spread around the world, the pizza wheel took over: fast, simple, cheap. Anyone who uses one at home knows its drawback: the toppings slide, the cheese stretches, and with a thicker crust one pass often isn't enough.
Why scissors are making a comeback
More and more people make pizza at home – with their own dough, their own pizza stones and even their own pizza ovens. When you put that much effort into a pizza, you don't want to ruin it when cutting. Scissors offer clear advantages:
- Toppings stay in place: you cut from below, not from above.
- No board needed: you can cut directly on the tray or the plate.
- Any shape you like: large slices, bite-size pieces or strips – whatever you prefer.
- Thick crusts too: focaccia, sheet-pan pizza or flatbread can be divided just as cleanly.
A small tribute
That's exactly the idea behind the Cilitti pizza scissors: a tool that cuts as cleanly as in a pizzeria, in the colors of Italy, as a nod to the country pizza comes from.
For more tips on cutting pizza, see our article Pizza Scissors or Pizza Wheel – Which Is Better?