PIZZA LOVERS
Stefano Renzetti
History - 4
Summary 04...............................................HISTORY 06
The ancestors of Pizza
10
When Pizza became Pizza
14
Pizza in America
24
And now?
30..................................pizza 30 pizza lovers lovers 32
Ajet, Di Meo Restaurant and Pizzeria
36
Jessie, Pizza Provencale
40
Emrah, Pizza Palace
46.........................Homemade pizza 48
Ingredients
52
Kneading
56
Topping
60
Cooking
5 - History
History
1
7 - History
THE ANCESTORS OF PIZZA
From the beginning to the discovery of america
F
The oven
oods similar to pizza have been prepared since the Neolithic age. Records of people adding other ingredients to bread to make it more tasty can be found throughout ancient history. Thousands years ago man became a farmer and he started to grind the wheat. He discovered that he could knead the finely ground wheat with water and bake that mixture on hot stones. The first men to do this paved the way for bread, pizza, and pasta. In Sardinia, French and Italian archeologists have found a kind of bread baked over 3,000 years ago. In one of its many forms, pizza has been a basic part of the Italian diet since the Stone Age. This earliest form of pizza was a crude flat bread that was baked beneath the stones of the fire. After cooking, it was seasoned with a variety of different toppings, above all haromatic herbs, and used instead of plates and utensils to sop up broth or gravies. It is said that the idea of using bread as a plate came from the Greeks. This flat bread was eaten by the working man and his family because it was a thrifty and convenient food. The next big step was the discovery of yeast, and the invention of the first oven. This happened about six thousand years ago in Egypt. We have proof that the Egyptians invented the oven, and it was coneshaped. The fire was inside, and the uncooked breads were literally stuck on the outside: when they fell off, it meant that they were cooked one on side, and then they were stuck on again on the other side to finish cooking. Later on, the oven was improved and divided in two inside, with the fire underneath and the dough made of flour, water and yeast above. As you can read below the ancient Greeks
9 - History
had a flat bread called plakous (πλακοῦς, gen. πλακοῦντος - plakountos) which was flavored with toppings like herbs, onion, and garlic and used as a plate. In the 1st century BC, the Latin poet Virgil refers to the ancient idea of bread as an edible plate or trencher for other foods in this extract from his Latin epic poem, the Aeneid (Book VII, 112-116 ): When the poor fare drove them to set their teeth into the thin discs, the rest being eaten, and to break the fateful circles of bread boldly with hands and jaws, not sparing the quartered cakes, Iulus, jokingly, said no more than: ‘Ha! Are we eating the tables too?’ These flat breads, like pizza, are from the Mediterranean area and other examples of flat breads that survive to this day from the ancient Mediterranean world are: focaccia in Italy (which may date back as far as the Ancient Etruscans); coca (which has sweet and savory varieties) from Catalonia, Valencia and the Balearic Islands; the Greek pita or pide in Turkish; lepinja or somun in the Balkans; piadina in EmiliaRomagna, in central-northern Italy.
History - 10
Kneader, painted limestone, Old Kingdom, V dynasty, Egypt; offered bread to Gods, orange terracotta, Middle Kingdom, Egypt; a model of domestic ambient in Nuragic civilization, Sardinia; loaf of bread preserved in ash found in Pompeii, 79 AD (near Naples).
11 - History
Pizza, tomatoes and naples
Food for poor people
T
he innovation that gave us the flat bread we call pizza was the use of tomato as a topping. For some time after the tomato was brought to Europe from the Americas in the 16 th century, it was believed by many Europeans to be poisonous (as are some other fruits of the nightshade family). However, by the late 18 th century, it was common for the poor of the area around Naples (Napoli in italian)to add tomato to their yeast-based flat bread, and so the pizza was born. The most traditional and ancient pizza, from the 19 th century, was made with garlic, oil, tomato and origan (aglio, uoglio, pummarola e arecheta). The pizza maker (Pizzaiuolo) would roam the streets with the portable oven on his head, full of pizzas. In that state the pizza would get quite soft and could be folded into four. The dish gained in popularity, and soon pizza became a tourist attraction as visitors to Naples ventured into the poorer areas of the city to try the local specialty. Until about 1830, pizza was sold from open-air stands and out of pizza bakeries. When some pizza makers started to put tables around the ovend, the pizzerias were born. In Naples pizzerias keep this old tradition alive today, it is possible to enjoy pizza wrapped in paper and a drink sold from open-air stands around the city. Antica Pizzeria Port’Alba in Naples is widely regarded as the city’s first pizzeria. It started producing pizzas for peddlers in 1738 but expanded to a pizza restaurant with chairs and tables in 1830 and it still serves pizza from the same premises today. A description of pizza in Naples around 1830 is given by the French writer and food expert Alexandre Dumas, in his work “Le Corricolo”, Chapter VIII. He writes that pizza
13 - History
Queen Margherita of Savoy (1851-1926); “View of Napoli”, 1835; open-air stand pizza in Naples
was the only food of the humble people in Naples during winter and that “in Naples pizza is flavored with oil, lard, tallow, cheese, tomato, or anchovies.” The two most old pizzas are Marinara and Margherita. The older of the two is the Marinara it is called like this because, the “pizzaiuolo” of the Port’ Alba of Napoles, over time, was tired of hearing the sailors asking him to add some taste to this simple pizza. So he decided to find a new ingredient to make it tastier without making it more expensive and he added garlic. The sailors were enthusiastic, and the word got out: since this new flavour didn’t cost any more than normal pizza, it became normal for customers to ask for a pizza the way sailors like it: from there the term “Marinara”.
History - 14
Marinara and...
...Margherita
The Margherita, topped with modest amounts of tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese and fresh basil is widely attributed to baker Raffaele Esposito. He worked at the pizzeria Pietro... e basta which was founded in 1880 and is still open today under the name Pizzeria Brandi. In 1889, he baked three different pizzas for the visit of King Umberto I and Queen Margherita of Savoy. One was pork fat, chees and basil; other had tomatoes, garlic and olive oil but the Queen’s favorite was a pizza evoking the colors of the Italian flag: tomatoes (red), mozzarella (white) and basil leaves (green). This combination was named Pizza Margherita in her honor. Esposito has also another record, he is the first delivery in the history. It must be said that already in 1830 a certain person named Riccio in the book “Napoli contorni e dintorni�, wrote about a pizza made with tomato, mozzarella and basil.
15 - History
History - 16
america loves pizza
P
Lombardi’ s first american pizzeria
izza first made its appearance in the United States with the arrival of Italian immigrants in the late 19 th century. This was certainly the case in cities with large Italian populations, such as Chicago, New York City, and Philadelphia where pizza was first sold on the streets of Italian neighborhoods. At the end of the 19 th century over 4 million Italian immigrants arrived in the USA, most of them in New York. People bring what they know and what they knew was also their local food and so pizza arrived in America. In Chicago, for example, pizza was introduced by a peddler who walked up and down Taylor Street with a metal washtub of pizzas on his head, a copper cylindrical drums with false bottoms that were packed with charcoal from the oven to keep the pizzas hot selling his wares at two cents a chew, this was the way pizza used to be sold in Naples. It was not long until small cafes and groceries began offering pizzas to their Italian - American communities. A young baker named Gennaro Lombardi came from Naples, Italy, and founded the first pizzeria licensed in America in Little Italy, Manhattan. He opened a grocery store in 1897 which was later established as the first pizzeria in America in 1905 in 53 ½ Spring Street. He got the first license with New York’s issuance of the mercantile license. The price for a pizza was five cents. In 1924, Totonno, a “pizzaiuolo” that had worked with him and learned from him, left Lombardi’ s to open his own pizzeria on Coney Island called Totonno’ s. While the original Lombardi’s closed its doors in 1984, it was reopened in 1994 just down the street and is run by Lombardi’s grandson.
17 - History
The “New York Triune”,6-12-1903, the first American newspaper article which mentions pizza
Patsy’s Pizzeria was founded in East Harlem in 1933 by Pasquale (Patsy) Lanceri, when it opened it was one of New York’ s early pizzerias along with Lombardi’s and John’s Pizzeria. He came out with an idea. He started to sell pizza slices: you make more selling a part than the whole pizza and he realized that the best possible marketing for pizza was some guy walking down the street eating a slice of it, so the people walking in the other direction see this guy eating a slice and it looked so good, they would want a slice of pizza too. Not everyone reacted to the change with enthusiasm and a lot of pizzerias decided not to sell slices and that the only way to serve pizza was whole. Pizza was brought to the Trenton area of New Jersey very early as well, with Joe’s Tomato Pies opening in 1910, followed soon by Papa’s Tomato Pies in 1912.
History - 18
Frank Pepe and New Haven
19 - History
Frank Pepe Pizzeria. Napoletana in New Haven, Connecticut, was another early pizzeria which opened in 1925 (after the owner served pies from local carts and bakeries for 20–25 years) and is famous for its New Haven style Clam Pie. The irony of Pepe’s story is he was allergic to mozzarella and tomato and since he was allergic to the two main ingredients, he started experimenting with other ways of seasoning pizza, using toppings such as clams; thanks to this he achieved a fair amount of success. Frank Pepe’s nephew Sal Consiglio opened a competing store, Sally’s Pizza, on the other end of the block in 1938. Both establishments are still run by descendants of the original family. When Sal died in 1989, over 2,000 people attended his wake, and the New York Times ran a half-page
memoriam. Before the 1940s , pizza consumption was limited mostly to Italian immigrants and their descendants. The international breakthrough came after World War II. Allied troops occupying Italy, weary of their rations, were constantly on the lookout for good food. They discovered the pizzeria, and local bakers were hard-pressed to satisfy the demand from the soldiers. The American troops involved in the Italian campaign took their appreciation for the dish back home. According to an article in American Heritage Magazine, the modern pizza industry was born in the Midwestern United States. Ric Riccardo pioneered what became known as the Chicago-style deep dish pizza, for him pizza was not enough a man’s deal so he start used more ingredients to make pizza, more toppings inside (yes, inside) creating the deep pizza. In 1943, he and Ike Sewell opened Pizzeria Uno in Chicago. Initially this new kind of pizza was not appreciated, but gradually it gained success until he opened Pizzeria Due to satisfy all his customers. Others might argue that the “modern pizza industry” began with two brothers who bought a restaurant in 1958 in Wichita, Kansas, with the intention of selling pizza. They didn’t know much about restaurants or pizza, but they bought the necessary instruments and ovens. They needed a name, a short one that could fit on the small sign in front of the building: they chose for Pizza Hut. Shortly thereafter, 6 Pizza Huts were opened in Kansas. It was the first pizza franchise that sold American pizza. On the 9th of December 1960, Tom Monaghan and his brother,
History - 20
Pizzeria Uno and Due
Pizza Hut
Mulberry Street, NYC, 1900; Lombardi’s Pizzeria oven; first “Pizza Hut”, 1958 in Wichita, Kansas; Ric Riccardo and his “Pizzeria Uno” in Chicago
DomiNick’ s...
... and Domino’ s
James, purchased a small pizza store in Ypsilanti, Michigan near Eastern Michigan University. The deal was secured by a $ 75 down payment and the brothers borrowed $ 900 to pay for the store and set up a pizza business with just one oven and two tables: DomiNick’s Pizza. Eight months later, James traded his half of the business to Tom for buy a used Volkswagen Beetle. DomiNick’s pizza fortune came from the nearby Eastern Michigan University. The college students didn’t usually cook or have cars and so they had pizza delivered to them: the delivery system and nearby hungry college students were the lucky formula that made Dominick’s pizza a fortune. As sole owner of the company, Monaghan renamed the business Domino’s Pizza, Inc.,in 1965. In 1967, the first Domino’s Pizza franchise store opened in Ypsilanti. The company logo was originally planned to add a new dot with the addition of every new store, but this idea quickly faded as Domino’s experienced rapid growth. The three dots represent the stores that were open at the time (1969). By 1978, the franchise opened its 200 th store. The pizza business soon spread across all of the United States: and so there was a need to make all the pizzas in the exact same way, across the country and the same taste everytime and everything needed to be faster. All Domino’s pizzas had to have the same ingredients, the same dough and the cooked in same ovens. The ovens themselves were changed. Instead of the traditional wood burning oven, a new system was introduce to cook the pizza evenly and very fast. Thus, the trade and talent of the “pizzaiuolo” effectively vanished. Naturally, some were against this new way of making pizza,
21 - History
as with the slices. The art of cooking pizza had become a science. The ingredients and dough arrived from a central commissary system known as Domino’s Supply Chain Service where they toppings and dough are produced. Domino’s success is also due to the delivery system. They were the first to deliver pizzas to peoples’ homes and this made Americans love pizza. Starting in 1973, Domino’s had a guarantee that customers would receive their pizzas within 30 minutes of placing an order, or they would receive the pizzas free. The guarantee was reduced to $3 off in the mid 1980s. In 1992, the company settled a lawsuit brought by the family of an Indiana woman who had been killed by a Domino’s delivery driver, paying the family $2.8 million. In another 1993 lawsuit, brought by a woman who was injured when a Domino’s delivery driver ran a red light and collided with her vehicle, the woman was awarded nearly $80 million, but accepted a payout of $15 million. The guarantee was dropped that same year because of the “public perception of reckless driving and irresponsibility”, according to Monaghan. The company continues to offer “30 minute or Free” guarantee for orders placed in its stores situated in India. For delivery was important that pizza arrived hot to the costumers so a special large, flat cardboard box was invented in 1983 by Ingrid Kosar to deliver pizza intact and warm and one year later she signed the first major contract with Domino’s Pizza, this box is still used for delivery today. Even special insulated bags were invented to maintain heat and taste of the pizzas. Domino’s was the first to implement all of these new inventions.
1969
Today History - 22
Domino’ s logo evolution; “The Noid”, an advertising character for Domino’s Pizza created in the 1980s; Domino’ s advertising on “Ann Arbor Sun” newspaper, September 1975
23 - History
Frozen pizza “Ristorante”; Caioti Pizza Cafe in Hollywood
The next step was frozen pizza. Science came into play. The first frozen pizza was perfected in 1945 for an army air mission. During WWII, Francis Ferrari, an Italian-american living in Newark, received a letter from his brother who was a marine in Iwo-Jima. “If only I could have a pizza,” read the letter, “like the ones Mom made at home, i would hold up better in all this suffering.” Francis, after much trial and error, successfully created a pizza that could withstand the flight and reach the marines fighting against the Japanese. Fred, after returning from the war, started together with his brother a company based on their new invention, the frozen pizza. In the 1970s, the technology had contrived to make frozen pizza ever more similar to the real thing. It was the right dish at the right time: women had less free time to cook and pizza was fast and nutritious. This new method of production was now being mass-produced in a factory, without human interaction. Clearly, there were those who wanted to go back to the roots and pizza became a gourmet food. This was mainly thanks to Ed LaDou (“the prince of pizza”) who started putting anything imaginable on pizzas, experimenting with different tastes, and quickly reached fame. Asparagus, pineapple, paté and anything that was in the kitchen became a topping. He
History - 24
Frozen pizza
Gourmet Pizza/ California style
worked in Caioti Pizza Cafe in Hollywood and soon his pizzas were in demand by celebrities. What he had actually done was to export the california-style pizza to the rest of the world. California pizza is a style of singleserving pizza that combines New York and Italian thin crust with rich toppings from the California cuisine cooking style, such as chicken and barbecue sauce. He paved the way for much experimentation. Pizza was born in Italy, then it was adopted by the Americans, then it was grown and exported all over the world. Pizza became the American Pie.
25 - History
History - 26
Pizza today
O Pizza Business
ver 5 billion pizzas are sold worldwide each year . 94 % of Americans eat it regularly. Pizza continues to be synonymous with Italy, and Italians keep migrating all over the world and opening pizzerias. Now, pizza is a global dish and it is prepared in all countries with all kinds of toppings. Some popular pizza toppings for example in Japan are squid and Mayo Jaga (mayonaise, potato and bacon) or in Italy it’s quite common to see pizzas with potatoes on them, or even kebab meat. Large chains like Pizza Hut are ever expanding; Pizza Hut has 12,583 stores in over 90 countries while Domino’s, a company worth over 1 billion dollars, is present in 60 countries of the world. In 1984 the “Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana” (True Neapolitan Pizza Association) was founded in Naples, and only recognizes the Marinara and Margherita. They have set very specific rules that must be followed for an authentic Neapolitan pizza. These include that the pizza must be baked in a wood-fired, domed oven at 485° C for no more than 60 to 90 seconds; that the base must be hand-kneaded and must not be rolled with a pin or prepared by any mechanical means (i pizzaioli — the pizza makers — make the pizza by rolling it with their fingers) and that the pizza must not exceed 35 centimetres in diameter or be more than one-third of a centimetre thick at the centre. There are many famous pizzerias in Naples where these traditional pizzas can be found like Da Michele, Port’Alba, Brandi, Di Matteo, Sorbillo, Trianon and Umberto (founded in 1916). Most of them are in the ancient historical centre of Naples. These pizzerias will go even further than the specified rules by, for example, only using
27 - History
“San Marzano” tomatoes grown on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius and only drizzling the olive oil and adding tomato topping in a clockwise direction. In Rome, it is very easy to find pizzerie al taglio meaning pizzerias that sell you pizza by the slice, offering variations for all tastes. The pizza is cooked in large rectangular dishes and topped with many different things (for example nutella, broccoli, seafood, etc) and cut according to the specifications of the customer. Moreover, in Italy many pizzerias are run by Egyptians, Syrians or Pakistanis who not only make good pizzas but also placate the hunger of many students, for whom pizza has the best price-quantity ratio out of many fast foods. Today it is the perfect meal for families with working parents who don’t have time to cook; it can be enjoyed indoors, outdoors, at home or at a restaurant, it can cost from around 1£ to more than 3000£ (“The Luigi XIII” pizza is currently the most expensive in the world). Expos, contests, culinary tours are organized around pizza: not to mention the massive number of books written about it.
History - 28
Pizza World
29 - History
? which topping do you prefer on your pizza?
History - 30
Chicken
Vegetables Bacon
Ham
Double cheese
Sausage Pepperoni
31
pizza lovers
2
History - 34
Ajet "Mario", Di Meo restaurant and pizzeria, Bristol, uk
D
i Meo Restaurant & Pizzeria in 314 B Gloucester Road is an italian restaurant run by two italians brothers who came from Lazio, in south-central Italy, to search for their fortune in England exporting the typical italian good food. Aj (called Mario for italians) is the young pizzamaker in Di Meo restaurant and has already been making pizza for 10 years. He learned in England, and like the majority of pizzaioli, he learned from other pizzamakers. He prepares the pizza dough Pizza in the morning, to cook it in the night. “The longer you let the dough rest the better, because the yeast can work properly�. He spreads the dough with his hands, adds the toppings and then cooks it in the oven for a few minutes. The most sold pizza in Di Meo is the Vesuvio and it is topped with: tomato sauce,
35 - Pizza Lovers
Vesuvio
mozzarella, chicken, red pepper and spicy salami ( salame piccante) and after trying it I can understand why it’s the best seller, it is truly delicious! When I asked Aj one piece of good advice for making homemade pizza he just told me: “If you pay me I can come and make for you” with a big smile. This is just one of the italian restaurants in this country and it’s good to see how even italian pizza makers try to deviate from the classical pizzas and try new toppings and ingredients like chicken, not really commoun in Italy. Di Meo is probably the best italian restaurant in Bristol where you can also find atmosphere, fine choice of menu and true pizza lovers.
The history of pizza is the history of all the Italians who migrated from their country in search of a better life as well.
Pizza Lovers - 36
37 - History
History - 38
jessie, pizza provencale, Bristol, uk
Pizza Charcutiere
t
he name of the pizzeria where Jessie works looks like a typical Italian restaurant, but the family who owns the restaurant for 25 years is English. The restaurant is in one of the nicest parts of Bristol, 29 Regent Street in Clifton. “When the coustumers first enter our pizzeria they are surprised by the style of it, because nobody expects the french influence in here”. The restaurant is not offer Italian meals, but one can find a variety of French dishes here and really good pizza. Jessie, an English pizzamaker, said this:” I was taught how to cook by my mother when I was young; cooking is my passion. I don’t only make pizzas, I know how to prepare other meals as well. When I worked in London, I was the main chef of a popular restaurant”. While telling me this, he was busy preparing the pizzas; he put the tomato sauce on several pizzas in order to put them in the oven for a couple of minutes, before taking them out and the rest of the toppings on. After that the pizzas were put in the oven for another couple of minutes, before
39 - Pizza Lovers
Good quality pizza and an atmosphere reminiscent of a Parisian bistro.
ready to serve. This metod of preparing the pizza differs from Di Meo Pizzeria. I was told that the most popoular pizza in their restaurant is Charcutiere with tomato sauce with herbs, spicy beef, pepperoni and ham. I was pleasently surprised when i learned the owners of the pizzeria are in fact English, especially since the majority of the pizzerias are owned by Italian. They are happy that after 25 years the business is still good and are able to offer the costumers a variety of meals, especially since there aren’ t many pizzeria in that area. They proudly said: “When you’ve got a fresh doughy base and a seriously tasty topping you can be sure you’ve got a Pizza Provencale pizza.” Glutenfree pizzas are now available as well.
Pizza Lovers - 40
41 - History
History - 42
emrah, pizza palace, Bristol, uk Pizza Hawaii
A
nyone who explored Bristol even a bit, has definately passed Pizza Palace, since it is located at the heart of the city, 6 St Augustines Parade. You can not find tables inside, but what makes up for this is the fact that you can always meet another pizza lover there. Emrah is originally from Turkey, where he started working in the pizzeria while attending university. In 2002 Emrah moved to Bristol in search for better luck with his professional career; he soon opened his own pizzeria place and named it Pizza Palace. The pizzas have such a good reputation that one of the employes from the neighbouring restaurants, Pizza Hut, comes by often to have his lunch there. “The secrets of a good pizza is to prepare the pizza dough every morning and leave it rest for at least two hours and use fresh ingredients. I divide the dough into smaller portions, which are then ready to serve as the base for the 7, 9 or 13 inch pizza.� said Emrah. He enjoys his work immensly and would not want
43 - Pizza Lovers
“A lot of students said that this is where you can get the best pizza in town.�
to change his profession. The best selling pizza at the moment is the Hawaii pizza with tomato sauce, mozzarella, ham, pineapple and mushrooms. While showing me how to prepare the pizza, he told me that the majority of his costumers are students on a night out. They prefere his pizza to any other fast food in town. It takes him six minutes to prepare the whole pizza from beginning to end: 30 seconds to put the toppings on the already prepared pizza base and 5 minutes and a half in the oven.The speed works in his advantege, since people nowdays are in a hurry and don’ t like to wait for their food.
Pizza Lovers - 44
45 - History
? what do you prefer to drink with your pizza?
History - 46
Coca Cola
Others soft drinks
Water
Wine Pepsi
47
Beer
homemade pizza
3
History Lovers 49 - Pizza
3
shopping list
L
uckily for students, like me, pizza is a very cheap dish. Obviously the better the quality of the ingredients, the better the taste of the pizza. If for example you can find buffalo mozzarella, parmiggiano cheese or good olive oil you can feel the difference. For the dough, you need flour (type “00� is the best), yeast, salt and water. Many people add olive oil to the dough to give it more taste or in some recipes, a small piece of butter is added to the dough. This is just the beginning; then you can choose your favourite toppings and prepare the pizza of your liking. Many people think mozzarella is one of the basic ingredients for the pizza, but in fact you can make it without, like most of the vegetarians do. On the next page you can see the basic list of ingredients for the pizza base. I inserted the proportions that seemed right to me, but after a few tries each person sees what is best for their taste.
51 - Homemade Pizza
Dough for two medium pizzas
1 1/2 cups warm water (105° F-115° F) 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
or 1 oz (25 g) brewer’s yeast
3 1/2 cups bread flour or “00” 1 Tbsp olive oil 2 tsp salt 1 tsp sugar
Important!
Melt the yeast in warm water (68° F - 77° F). It’s important the water isn’t hotter or colder or the yeast won’t function. Lay out all your ingredients on your work surface and we can begin to kneading! Homemade Pizza - 52
53 - History
History - 54
4 easy steps
K
neading is the most important, but also the most fun part of preparing the pizza. All you have to do is prepare all the ingredients for pizza base and follow four easy steps.
1
Arrange the flour into a pyramid shape and make a hole in the center where you will deposit the other ingredients. The flour can be spread on a wooden or marble surface or worked in a large bowl.
Add the water a little at a time and start mixing with one hand. Continue adding the water with melted yeast in it then gradually all the other ingredients. Knead it energetically until it’s neither soft or hard. Keep adding water or flour if needed to reach a state where it doesn’t stick to your fingers.
55 - Homemade Pizza
2
1
2
3
3
Put the dough in a floured bowl, cover it with a tea towel and leave it in a warm area for at least an hour. The longer you let the yeast act, the better. I usually leave it for about 4 hours.
Now grease your baking trays with a little bit of oil or butter, this is so the dough won’t burn on the bottom. Spread the dough out as thinly as possible. If you can’t make it with your hands, use a rolling pin.
Homemade Pizza - 56
4
57 - History
History - 58
do you like with...
o
nce the base is ready, all you have to do is choose the toppings of your liking. As an example of what you can make, here is a list of a few suggestions for pizza toppings that you can put together. The list is divided into two parts; red base, which always has tomato sauce, and white base, which is without the tomato sauce.
Red base pizzas Country farm
Capricciosa
Vegetables*
mozzarella cheese, chicken breast, sweetcorn, peppers
mozz., ham, pork sausage, black olive, artichoke in oil
mozz., courgettes, peppers, onions, eggplants
Brunch
Roman
Hawaii
mozz., bacon, potatos
capers, anchovies, origan
mozz., ham, pineapple
59 - Homemade Pizza
Parmiggiana*
North Italy
Slovenia
mozz., ham, eggplants, parmiggiano cheese
mozz., prasciutto parma, rocket, brie cheese
green peppers, sweet corn, cucumbers
Contadina
Sea food*
Charcutiere
mozz., italian sausage, onions, mushrooms
praws, mussels, calamar, crab origano
mozz., spicy beef, pepperoni, ham
4 Cheese
Wild wild west
The Bomb
4 cheese (gorgonzola, provolone, scamorza, emmental, fontina, ceddar, brie... )
mozz., jalape単o peppers, beans, sweet corn, onions, chili beef
mozz., fired egg, bacon, salami, frankfurther
Homemade Pizza - 60
White base pizzas Campania
Smoked
Calabria
cherry tomatoes, mozzarella, pepperoni
provola cheese, mushrooms, prosciutto
scamorza cheese, courgettes
Gentlman
Dessert
Lady
mozz., broccoli, italian sausage
nutella
mozz., mascarpone, salmon
*
For this pizzas with meet, vegetable or fish, you have to cook the topping before put on the pizza. Than put it on the pizza before to put it in the oven, for that reason not cook the ingredients at all 61 - Homemade Pizza
History - 62
let ’s get it hot!
B
efore putting the pizza with all the toppings in the oven, it’s better to put just the base with tomato sauce (if you’re making red base pizza) for 2/3 minutes, then add all the other toppings. It’s very important to preheat the oven for at least 25 minutes because it needs to be very hot to cook to pizza. If you have a fan oven, the cooking time will be very short, more or less 5 minutes at 500° F. For others kinds of ovens, like gas ovens, it will take longer, up to 20 minutes. A professional way to cook pizza in your home is to buy a pizza stone. This is a flat stone or piece of ceramic or earthenware used to evenly distribute oven heat to pizzas or other baked goods, more or less mimicking the effects of cooking a pizza in a masonry oven.
Now make your own pizza!
63 - Homemade Pizza
History - 64
65 - History
Thanks to my family and friends for their support. Also thank you to Holly for helping me with English and for making me a better person. Thanks to my housemates for their precious help and friendship, and thanks to George for driving me to University so many times.