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Pizza Quest with Peter Reinhart
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Peter's Blog: Happy Thanksgiving!
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Monday, 19 November 2012 10:03
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Here it is, Thanksgiving week, which means everything will feel like one long weekend till Chanukah and Christmas. Scary how fast that time goes. But, to help you enjoy the time, we'll post a few new pieces including the next installment in our Basta webisode series, which I hope to post on Thanksgiving Day. Also, we'll soon be posting the next installment in John Arena's series on what it takes to go pizza professional. And Brad English has promised us more on his NYC pizza quest adventures as well as new variations of his latest fire roasted tomato pizza experiments. So keep checking back.
But, till then, let me address a few questions that came in after my last Peter's Blog (you can refer back to the comments section in that post, further down this page, for the actual questions):
--What about the new steel pizza plate compared to a baking stone? Yes, this is the latest rage, fueled by the modernist cuisine movement whose adherents, like us, are ever questing for the holy grail of everything culinary (I'll riff about this "Holy Grail" imagery in a future posting, but let me just say that I have a theory that every person has a deep, unconscious quest -- trying to become conscious which, when it happens we call "enlightenment" -- for the Holy Grail that exists inside us, which is why the whole concept of quest is so powerful -- but let's save that for sometime closer to Christmas). Anyway, the short answer to the question is, yes, I have heard great things about this steel plate but I haven't yet tried it. From a functional sense, anything that can serve as a thermal mass should work and, obviously, this new steel plate seems to gather and radiate heat even better, perhaps, than stone. Can we get some testimonials from those of you who have tried it? I'll chime in too as soon a I can get my hands on one, but I do have a lot of confidence in Nathan Myhrvold and his modernist friends so I'm guessing that this is going to be a winner of a tool.
--Pivetti -00- Flour vs. King Arthur bread flour: To each his own -- I'm partial to American bread flour rather than the super soft Italian Double Zero's, but that's only when I have a choice. I'm also happy when I can get a Vera Pizza Napoletana on any high quality -00- Italian flour dough when made with love and care and in a properly hot oven. I take no sides and judge no one for their choices: there are many paths up the pizza mountain and the only goal is joy. Our work here is to help identify the tools and methods that increase the odds of a joyful, memorable outcome. We're heard from die-hard proponents of every style and I honor them all, when done in a way that respects the craft. As long as the flour is unbleached and milled by a reputable miller known for consistency, I think joy can be found when proper fermentation and technique are applied.
--Antico Forno at Campo de Fiori: Yes, I love that simple pizza, made in only two styles, red (sauce only) and white (olive oil, salt, and a sprinkle of herbs). They are baked in long planks, about 7 feet long, and then you just hold your hands open to the size of the piece you want and the girl at the counter whacks off a chunk, weighs it, and charges accordingly. I wrote about this in "American Pie" and the best lesson for me in all of it was how utterly satisfying pizza is even when it's just crust, when it's made right. Again, to return to the theme above, it delivers great joy and is memorable. The hunk I bought never made it back it to my hotel room because I couldn't stop eating it as I walked (I did manage to save a small piece for my wife, but had to bring her back later for another to make up for having already eaten most of her portion). Anyone who goes to Rome should go there, and hold your hands very wide apart when you order.
--Wood-fired pizza classes on Craftsy: It was suggested that I film some videos on wood-fired baking as part of my Craftsy video instructionals. Well, there's good news and bad news regarding this. First the bad news: The number of current owners of wood-fired ovens probably precludes doing this series in the near future for Craftsy, which requires a large audience to make the costs work. However, anything is possible so I wouldn't rule it out, especially in light of the following good news: I am going to film a mini-instructional course for Craftsy on "pizza making at home," and it should be available to the general public in just a few months. And here's the best news: it's going to be free! I will have more details when I return from our filming session in a few weeks but I'm very excited about this project and am extremely grateful to the folks at Craftsy for giving me the opportunity to put some of our techniques and recipes on video where everyone can access them. Who knows, if the response is strong, maybe they will consider doing another one on wood-fired baking. But don't forget, we also have a number of videos right here at Pizza Quest on baking in a wood-fired oven, so just click into the Instructionals section for those. And don't forget to check out the Forno Bravo website for lots of useful wood-fired cooking information and videos.
Okay, enough for now. I have to go dry-brine my turkey. Have a joyful, memorable Thanksgiving and check back on Thursday for the next webisode installment. And keep those questions and comments coming in too! In gratitude,
Peter
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Special Webisode: The Italian-American Experience
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Wednesday, 16 November 2011 22:10
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While we were filming at Tony's Pizza Napoletana we met Marti Casey, the editor-in-chief of Salute' Magazine, a publication dedicated to celebrating the Italian-American experience. Of course, there we were, in the heart of San Francisco's Little Italy section, North Beach, eating amazing pizza at Tony's, surrounded by quintessential Italian-American focaccerias, pork shops, bakeries, and classic spaghetti and meat ball trattorias, so what better place to discuss the immigrant experience. As you will see, we got off the subject a few times (don't miss Marti's description in the first part of the video, of her first business, making beef jerky, and the slogan they came up with to sell it), but we soon realized that the Italian-American experience was, in a sense, a metaphor and microcosm of the entire American immigrant experience. What used to be called a melting pot is now often called a salad bowl, but the common thread and essential commonality is that people came to this country, and still do, because it represents the single greatest symbol of opportunity in the history of the world. The immigrant experience is all about the possibility of reinvention of one self and freedom from any preconceived boxes that held individuals back in the past. Not everybody manages to leverage that opportunity into a successful life but the odds sure are greater here, even now during these turbulent times. North Beach, and its adjacent China Town, are perfect examples of that, so it was enjoyable spending time with Marti, sharing our own stories and viewing them through the lens of the Italian-American version.
One thing we've learned over and over again while out on our pizza quest is that when you're on a quest you meet some really interesting people and it reinforces an intuition that I think many of us have: no matter where you are from, when it comes right down to it, we are not all that different from each other.
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Are You Ready to Turn Pro?
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Friday, 05 October 2012 17:44
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Part I
OK, you’ve been making pizzas at home now for years. You invested in a great oven. You source the best ingredients. You stay up all night arguing on the internet about water sources and fermentation times. You obsess over every detail. Everyone tells you that your pizza is better than what they can get in any pizzeria. Well… even if no one else says it, you know that you make the greatest pizza in the world. Certainly you can do better than those hacks at your neighborhood pizzeria (how have those guys stayed in business for so long?). Admit it, you want to turn your pizza avocation into a vocation. You want to own a pizzeria. The question is, how do you know when you are truly ready?
I speak to ambitious amateur pizza makers all the time. Many of them have amazing passion and talent. Those qualities are an important start, but there’s more to it if you want to succeed. Allow me to explain: I’m sure you can all remember the incredible satisfaction you received from baking your first pizza, cutting it, and sitting down to enjoy it with your friends and family. I envy you. My experience is quite different. 45 years ago, on September 8, 1967 to be exact, I made my first pizza. My Uncle Rocco took it out of the oven, cut it, boxed it, and collected $2.25 from a waiting customer. Out the door went my pizza, a small step for the customer, but a giant leap for me. At that moment I fell in love with the pizza business. I fell in love with the idea that someone would spend money to buy and consume something that I had made with my own two hands.
Growing up in a small family pizzeria I also understood that this was hard work, with small profit. I learned from childhood that making a great pizza was only part of it. If you want to stay in business you have to be able to make pizzas that people are willing to buy at a price that covers your expenses and makes you a little bit more. Most importantly, you have to remember that you are selling an experience. The perceived value of that experience is what will allow you to charge enough to make a profit. No matter how high or low your price points the customer must always feel that the experience was worth more than they paid for it.
That’s the key. How your customer feels after they pay the bill will determine whether or not they come back. That is the pizza business. It doesn’t matter if you trained with Raffaelo Esposito’s great grandson or that you hand-feed hazelnuts to the pigs that become your sausage. In the end you will have to be able to sell enough of your great pizzas at a profit year after year to keep yourself in business.
Note: In Part 2 we will explore the skills you will need to make pizzas at a professional level and how you can prepare yourself for the transition from dedicated amateur to successful pro.
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The Hwy 15 Pizza
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Wednesday, 19 September 2012 20:52
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 A few months ago I went to Las Vegas for the Pizza Expo. I wrote about visiting with John Arena of Metro Pizza. While driving to Vegas I had been a little lost in thought. No, I wasn't on my phone, but I was drifting along somewhere out in there in the desert. I was thinking about the email exchange I had with John and the fact that he mentioned he'd love to make some pizzas with me. As this worked it's way around my brain, I started noticing that the desert valley I was in was reminiscent of something familiar. I was driving along in an air conditioned car, with a cool venti iced latte from a Starbucks stop a while back. I said to my father, who was riding with me, "Look at the mountains that are encircling us. Don't they look like the crust of a giant pizza?"
 He looked around and said, "No." I told him he was crazy and unimaginative! All he could see was the white sand and scrubby sage and rocks. "Can't you see how the sage brush is like little bits of herbs poking out from the desert sand (which would be the cheese)?
We then came upon a hill that appeared to be formed from a lava eruption, or burst from under the ground. To me, that was it, it sealed the deal, I was literally in the middle of a giant 10-mile wide pizza and that burnt rock hill was a bubble in the crust.
I think I brought it up to my father again in the next valley. (There are two distinct "Pizza Valleys" on Hwy 15 from LA to Las Vegas -- you heard it here first.) He just couldn't see my vision. Topics turned to the more mundane banter bouncing between laughter and arguments that we always have - especially while trapped in a small car for 4-5 hours together.
 I've written before about my experience meeting up with John Arena at the Pizza Expo, which was great. During the show, John took me by a booth that he had made dough for and I noticed that there was a huge air bubble with a burnt top. I mentioned my desert pizza "vision" to John and, being far more visionary than my father, he loved the idea. We kicked around some ideas for desert ingredients. On my way home I was all ready for the pizza valleys and admittedly, I did ask
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Peter's Blog, Nov. 1 2012
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Thursday, 01 November 2012 05:29
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Just a few quick notes this week:
--We've had some great response to John Arena's new series on what it takes to open your own pizza restaurant. A very valid question has been raised: how can he tell us to get fast while he (and Brad English, our intrepid pizza quester) also extoll the virtues of super slow pizzaiolo Dom DeMarco of Brooklyn (see Brad's recent journey, further down the page, on his visit to Pizzeria Di Fara). John, I'm sure, will address this but for those of you who have recently joined us, look back in the archives of our Guest Columns and read John's earlier pieces in which he defines three categories of pizza makers, including the "artistes" such as Dom, Anthony Mangieri, Chris Bianco, and others. Some great stuff there...
--I've been asked by many of you, "When are we going to see more video webisodes?' The answer is NEXT WEEK!! It's a slow and costly process to edit our hours of footage into coherent, quality short films (remember, we shot this originally for long format, PBS-style shows -- a dream we still hope to fulfill), but Brad, who produces these webisodes for you, just informed me that we have a few almost ready to post. This new story arc refers back to last year's hugely fun pizza/beer challenge that I wrote about in previous Peter's Blogs, culminating in the Big Reveal at last year's Great American Beer Festival in Denver. It all began at Pizzeria Basta, in Boulder, two years ago, so we have a long story to tell. The first installment should post next week, and then we'll bring out the others from time to time, as we get them edited. Anyway, check back soon -- it's really going to happen!
--We have had some response threads to your pizza and dough questions. Time to start another. Does anyone have a pressing question or want to resolve an ongoing pizza controversy? Post to the comment section on this post and I'll choose one for the next round. How about something along the lines of "What makes a pizza memorable?" Remember, we define great pizza as being memorable, so what makes it so? I'll riff on it again, as I've done in the past, but what about your riffs? I know there are some strong opinions about this out there, so now's your chance. If you decide to cite a particular place (and not one that you own), then at least give us the reasons why, what makes it memorable? As I tell my Johnson & Wales students, it's okay to have a strong opinion but you have to be prepared to defend it with valid criteria. (OR, you can also suggest a different topic or question that we could also grapple with.)
--I'll be in Chapel Hill in a few weeks, teaching at A Southern Season with my co-author Denene Wallace on Saturday, Nov. 17th on "The Joy of Gluten-Free, Sugar-Free Baking." Not sure if they're sold out yet, so contact them directly if you want to come.
--Should have some other good news to share in a week or two about, well, I can't say yet but I think you'll be happy to hear about it (this isn't a false tease, I'm really excited about this, but I have to wait till it's all confirmed before spilling the cheese). Soon, though, I promise....
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