Pizza Talk

Welcome back to Pizza Quest. In this episode, we meet Meghan Murphy-Gill, aka The Reverend Meghan Murphy-Gill, an Episcopal priest who also happens to be a serious baker of bread and, most importantly, a fabulous writer who has authored a new book, The Sacred Life of Bread. The subtitle of her book is “Uncovering the Mystery of an Ordinary Loaf.”  As we continue our back and forth exploration between “pizza”…Read More…

Welcome back to Pizza Quest. In this episode we continue to expand the scope of Pizza Quest to include a focus more on the quest than on the pizza. Bread, as many of you know, is the uber-mensch in my own quest, of which pizza is a delightful sub-set. Lately, more and more authors have added their own words and thoughts to the multi-dimensional sense of meaning embodied by bread….Read More…

Welcome back to Pizza Quest where, as you will see this week, it is often more about the Quest than it is about the Pizza. Michael Goldfarb is one of my oldest and best friends, beginning back in the third grade at Belmont Hills Elementary School, located just outside of Philadelphia, over 60 years ago. We’ve stayed in touched ever since, each on our own quests for adventure and meaning….Read More…

Welcome back to Pizza Quest, As you know, we’ve been putting a lot more emphasis on the Quest aspect of Pizza Quest these days and this episode is a great example. In 1971, over 50 years ago, I was a founding member of a restaurant collective in Boston called Root One Cafe, one of the early organic food restaurants in the country. Yes, we were pressing out carrot juice way…Read More…

Welcome back to Pizza Quest, where we celebrate artisanship wherever we find it (or, as we often say, “It’s more about the Quest than it is about the Pizza”). This episode features Maurizio Leo, the author of the hottest new bread book on the market, The Perfect Loaf. Maurizio, like many bread bakers of this era (myself included), was not formally trained as an apprentice or at a culinary school before…Read More…

Welcome back to Pizza Quest.  It’s been a while since we last posted a video here, but we’ve lined up a new season of interesting interviews for you so please spread the word. For this season opener, I have a special treat for both professional and home baking pizza freaks. Allow me to introduce you to Kirk Dobihal, the creator of a Detroit Pizza/Scone hybrid called The Sconizza. Kirk and…Read More…

In this episode of Pizza Quest we return to Ann Arbor, Michigan for a visit with another member of the Zingerman’s Community of Businesses, this time with Amy Emberling. Amy is the managing partner at the world-famous Zingerman’s Bakehouse, where NY-Style rye bread meets San Francisco-style sourdough, and “Old School Apple Pie” gets reinvented using Michigan-grown apples with a crust made with the highest quality leaf lard. Amy shares with…Read More…

We welcome back Mark Todd, The Cheese Dude, to Pizza Quest. This is Mark’s third visit in what will continue as an ongoing series of master sessions (which makes him our “Cheese Yoda”) on the fathomless world of cheese. In previous episodes we explored Pasta Filata, which is the category of mozzarella and other pulled cheeses, followed by an episode on the very diverse world of cheddar. This time around,…Read More…

Leah Scurto was born to be a food star, not just a pizza star, as you will learn in this entertaining conversation with host Peter Reinhart. Half Mexican, half Italian, born into a family of food lovers who shared wonderful family meals during her early years, Leah’s current success was simply meant to be. You’ll hear all about her award winning pizzas and culinary vision for the future of Pizza…Read More…

Michael Kalanty was my faculty colleague when I taught at the California Culinary Academy back in the 1990’s. Since then, he and I have been on parallel tracks, both as educators, bread authors, and as product developers. In this episode, Michael shares his long and winding road from pastry chef, bread expert and educator, product developer for major food companies, and even how he became a “Certified Master Taster.” All…Read More…