Peter's Blog

I just returned from a project working on creating new gluten-free breads and I must say, gluten-free is the big buzz these days. A few years ago, when I tried to convince a large product company to produce gluten-free products they told me the market wasn’t big enough. Then, a few years later, they called me back and said “Guess what–the market is there and we’re ready to produce those…Read More…

Hi Again,If you are a regular here then it’s probable that you all have your own list of favorite pizzerias. So here’s a little fuel for the forno, a link to a recent Huffington Post posting of Food and Wine.com’s Top 25 pizzerias. Bear in mind, this list represents what they call “New Guard” pizzerias, not the venerable oldie but goodies like Frank Pepe’s or DiFara’s. After you read about…Read More…

Hi Everyone,We had a great demo today at Johnson & Wales University (JWU –JayWoo as we call it) by Chef Ben Roche, the Executive Pastry Chef at Moto Restaurant in Chicago. For those who don’t know about Moto, it is one of the few molecular gastronomy restaurants in the United States, featuring a 20 course tasting menu (also a 10 course version for the less adventurous) consisting of wildly imaginative…Read More…

Hi Everyone, We had a great demo today at Johnson & Wales University (JWU –JayWoo as we call it) by Chef Ben Roche, the Executive Pastry Chef at Moto Restaurant in Chicago. For those who don’t know about Moto, it is one of the few molecular gastronomy restaurants in the United States, featuring a 20 course tasting menu (also a 10 course version for the less adventurous) consisting of wildly…Read More…

  This past week has seen an historic change in the world. Aside from all the newsworthy drama related to the transfer of power and revolution in Egypt, a country I visited just three months ago, one thought kept coming to my mind about it: this is the first time in, perhaps, 7,000 years that the people of Egypt have not had a “Pharaoh” ruling them. Maybe the word Pharaoh…Read More…

  We’ve received a nice thread of comments on Michael Hanson’s Guest Column, To Be a Sacred Baker, so I think he may have touched a nerve. One thing I realized after reading the article is that we’ve been using the word “artisan” very liberally here at Pizza Quest to help define what our website is all about, which we characterize as, “A celebration of artisans and artisanship.” Frankly, though,…Read More…

  Hi Again, On Friday of this week we will be posting a new Guest Column by Michael Hanson, a wood-fired baker, living and working in the UK. In his column, he tells of his transition from a career as a serious, professional, third generation baker to becoming an artisan, committed to cooking with fire as a way of reconnecting with the sacredness of it all. It’s a fascinating piece….Read More…

Hi Everyone, Ever since we posted the Instructional videos from The Fire Within Conference we’ve been getting a number of requests to discuss how to make a home oven perform like one of those wood-fired brick ovens in the video. It’s tempting to say,”No way, can’t be done,” but the fact is that most of us don’t own a brick oven and even those who do still have to cook…Read More…

Hi Everyone, Things are moving fast and furious, so here are a couple of updates: On Wednesday I’ll post a new recipe, this time for one of my favorite toppings, balsamic onion marmalade. This is one of the most popular recipes I’ve ever developed and has appeared in at least three of my books. I have a new trick or two to add this time around and will give you…Read More…

This week on PizzaQuest we introduce you to the Sweet Water Gypsies, two pizzaiolas from southern Utah. Look in the Instructionals section, posting on Thursday, for the video we made together featuring a wonderful arugula topped pizza with fresh mozzarella, grana padana cheese, bacon and crushed tomato sauce (the recipe for the sauce was posted last week). Also on Thursday, in our ongoing series of fundamental culinary building blocks, I’ll post a…Read More…