Secret to the Perfect pizza?

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Englisc cuk

Assistant Cook
Joined
May 9, 2007
Messages
5
Hi, i am an italian guy but i live in England from 2 weeks. I work in an italian Restaurant, "Pastarito&Pizzarito", and i want to know the secret to make a perfect pizza. I know that i'm italian and i could know the pizza, but i am so inexpert, and if i want to become a famous cook, i must have your pareers. Thank you very much.
p.s. sorry for my english...
p.p.s sprry for my nick
:pastapizza&mandolino: :i'm sfonning U:
:chef: Hi!:chef:
 
Al contrario, mio amica, the secrect to great pizza is a flavorful sauce!
Many pizza joints have come and gone because, althought their crust was just the right thickness, with just the right crustiness, and just the right internal texture, the sauce was troppo mezzo mezzo, which will not appeal to the true pizza aficionado.

That is why you will never find a Dominos or Pizza Hut in a predominantly Italian neighborhood, especially in the Norteastern United States, where the Italians have lived there, sometimes in the same house, for 3 or 4 generations. The sauce they put on their pizzas is totally tastless, figuratively as well as literally.
 
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Caine said:
Al contrario, mio amica, the secrect to great pizza is a flavorful sauce!
Many pizza joints have come and gone because, althought their crust was just the right thickness, with just the right crustiness, and just the right internal texture, the sauce was troppo mezzo mezzo, which will not appeal to the true pizza aficionado.

That is why you will never find a Dominos or Pizza Hut in a predominantly Italian neighborhood, especially in the Norteastern United States, where the Italians have lived there, sometimes in the same house, for 3 or 4 generations. The sauce they put on their pizzas is totally tastless, figuratively as well as literally.
Thank yuo very much...but i can put in my pizza some ingredients like pepperoni, cappers, cheeese, and so on?
:pastapizza&mandolino: :misfonnomanonmollo: :sietescemiacredermisfonnati:
p.s FLAVORFUL SAUCE??? OMG
 
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You can top it with pepperoni, salami, capacolla, proscuito, mortadella, anchovies, chicken, turkey, ham, balogna (never tried this, just heard it in a Honda commercial!), bacon or pancetta, bell peppers (any color), hot peppers, pepperoncini, tomatoes, asparagus, celery, spinach, or bietola da coste, and although mozzerella is the traditional cheese, you can also use provolone, parmagiano, gorgonzola, Monterey Jack, Swiss, meunster, or any other cheese that you think would melt and taste good.

Just one thing, please? NO %!@$#%@ PINEAPPLE! If God wanted pineapple on pizza, he would have put Italy in the South Pacific!
 
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Caine said:
You can top it with pepperoni, salami, capacolla, proscuito, mortadella, anchovies, chicken, turkey, ham, balogna (never tried this, just heard it in a Honda commercial!), bacon or pancetta, bell peppers (any color), hot peppers, pepperoncini, tomatoes, asparagus, and although mozzerella is traditional, you can use provolone, parmagiano, gorgonzola, Monterey Jack, Swiss, meunster, or any other cheese that you think would melt and taste good.

Just one thing, please? NO %!@$#%@ PINEAPPLE! If God wanted pineapple on pizza, he would have put Italy in the South Pacific!
NO the pineapple no! In Italy we haven't got any plant of pineaplle....i hate punapple....what a skif....is too sugar..do you understand? thank you very much....:tesfonno!!:
 
sì, capisco completamente!

Don't get me wrong, I love pineapple in things like, say, sweet and sour sauce, chutney, upside down cake, or as a garnish for ham or pork dishes. I just do NOT want to see it on a pizza.
 
Caine said:
sì, capisco completamente!

Don't get me wrong, I love pineapple in things like, say, sweet and sour sauce, chutney, upside down cake, or as a garnish for ham or pork dishes. I just do NOT want to see it on a pizza.
yes, it's what i'm saying, the pineapple it's sweet, the pizza it's salad.....often i like some strange dishes with sweet/salad, but the pineapple put in a pizza is so american....
are your origins italian? you speak italian better than i speak english!
:italianopizzapasta&mandolino: :materazzirulez:
:grimhaiunbelavatar:
 
It is obvious in just a few short responses that PIZZA has a large variety of toppings and opinions.

I make my own dough and I also make my own sauce from home grown San Marzano tomatoes and our garden herbs. So I guess I would say the most important part is the crust and the sauce followed by the cheese. I can be happy with those three ingredients but I use a variety of toppings depending on my mood and what is in the fridge. I don’t make pizza a garbage dump for leftovers but some things I create a large portion with the anticipation of using on a pizza later. Meatballs would be a good example.
 
Englisc cuk said:
are your origins italian? you speak italian better than i speak english!

Si. Mia madre è Siciliano puro!

Although I have not spoken Italian in many years, we lived in my grandparent's house until I was 3 years old, so I learned to speak Sicilian before I learned English. My grandfather was a barber, so he spoke perfect English, along with several Italian dialects, but my grandmother always spoke in Italian. I didn't even know she could speak English until I had kids of my own. To them, she spoke English!
 
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Uncle Bob said:
Savory and hot!!! I don't do cold pizza! Hot!!

Cold pizza. It's not just for breakfast any more!

Even for breakfast, I like to warm it up, but always in the toaster oven, never in a microwave. Yuck!
 
Englisc cuk said:
NO the pineapple no! In Italy we haven't got any plant of pineaplle....i hate punapple....what a skif....is too sugar..do you understand? thank you very much....:tesfonno!!:

Englisc cuk -

I love pizza in many forms. What I have issue with is how it was cooked. I'll be honest and say the worst pizza I have eaten was while I was vacationing in Italy. I will say I only had pizza in two different places in Itally. I "liked" the pizza in one place but it was not great, but the pizza in the second place was pretty bad (and very over cooked). I have since learned that I do not like a wood fired oven for pizza. I like a naked pizza like a Margarita pizza, but I REALLY do prefer an oven stone, and to have a thicker crust then what is normal in southern Italy.

Not trying to say the Italian cooking was bad at all (loved many dishes I tryed while vacationing for two weeks there). And my only pizza experience in Italy was two restaurants which limits my opinions on this topic, but did want you to think about how others in the country you are in like "their" pizza.

I will say I did get many ideas I liked while eating in Europe, and made many trips to many different countries. The pizza I liked the best to be honest (with a US background) came from Germany. I was completely surprised by how good eggs were on pizza (which is a regular topping in Germany). I was surprized because I did not see it in many other countries, but it was an excellant paring with a good tomato sauce.

As an "X" millitary guy for ten years, I will say, a good pizza should be able to stand alone. Even cold, a good pizza will still be good.

Just my personal opinion.

I hope you well here, and hope you spend future time here.

CapserImproved
 
Here's the pizza sauce I use. It's my own personal recipe that I developed. I enjoy it, but I live alone, so not too many others have tried it so I can't say if it's great or not. I make my own pizza every sunday night, and this is the sauce I always use. As I said, I like it, and the few others who have tried it seem to as well.

14 OZ of tomatoe, pureed in a cuisinart (this can be fresh or canned)
1 medium button mushroom, finely chopped
2-3 leaves (about 2 tbsp) fresh basil, finely chopped
2-3 cloves minced garlic
1/10 tsp cayenne pepper (this is about a pinch)
1 TBSP granulated sugar

* I am just estimating with these amounts; I actually do it by instinct, so I can't say fore sure if the quantities are 100% right.

1. Saute the garlic in the olive oil on high heat for about 30 seconds. Then add the mushroom and saute for about 10 seconds. Then add the tomato. Stir in the sugar and simmer until thick and pasty, about 30 minutes.

2. When the sauce is the right consistency, turn off the heat and let cool for a minute or two. Stir in the basil and ceyenne pepper, then salt and pepper to taste.

Anyway, please let me know if you like it. I use a basic Williams Sonoma pizza crust (6.25 OZ breach flour, 3/4 tsp sea salt, 140 ml water, 1 tsp AD yeast, using only about 2/3 of the dough, and discarding the rest) with a mix of 1.5 oz farmhouse cheddar, 4 oz vaccum packed mozzarella (fresh has way too much moisture, and will make your pizza a runny mess). For spices, I use about a 1/4 tsp of finely chopped fresh rosemary, about twice that amount of finely chopped fresh oregano, with salt and pepper to taste, and a tbsp of extra virgin olive oil drizzled on top.

I bake with just the dough and sauce for 4 minutes, then add the cheese and spices and oil and bake an additional 2 minutes, just until the cheese has melted.

Of course, you must use a baking stone, and semolina flour for your pizza peel. Baking pans for pizzas are blasphemous.
 
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Actually, after reviewing everyone's comments, one point hasn't been addressed. Regardless of the type of pizza you like, I think the key to a really delicous pizza is to make sure the ingredients are the freshest possible. You can make your sauce any way you want and you can make your own dough, but unless the ingredients are fresh, don't think you'll be assured of a great outcome. Just my take on the subject.:)
 
Actually, after reviewing everyone's comments, one point hasn't been addressed. Regardless of the type of pizza you like, I think the key to a really delicous pizza is to make sure the ingredients are the freshest possible. You can make your sauce any way you want and you can make your own dough, but unless the ingredients are fresh, don't think you'll be assured of a great outcome. Just my take on the subject.:)
I agree with two exceptions: tomatos and mozzarella.

I love buffalo mozzarella and boccaccini, but to use either of them in a pizza is a disaster; it turns into a runny mess due to the excess moisture. (I have heard that there exists a type of fresh low-moisture mozzarella made exactly for pizzas, but no store in my area, from Whole Foods to the high end Italian grocer carries it) The best mozzarella is a vaccum packed cheese like Silani or Tre Stelle.

With tomatos, I have tried using the freshest, most beautiful heirloom tomatos in my sauce, and frankly, it didn't make any difference compared with the canned Italian tomatos (alebeit a high end brand). Tomatos are canned at their freshest, so I don't see it as being a big sin to use canned in a sauce.
 
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Well, jason, I rarely use commercially canned tomato sauce. I depend on my oven-roasted Roma tomato sauce that is, judged by quite a few, as about the best. My Roma plants are beginning to flower and I can't wait to start making sauce.

As for the cheese, I've not had a problem with runny cheese. Guess I've been lucky. In any case, so many different kinds of pizza, so little time.
 
Well, jason, I rarely use commercially canned tomato sauce. I depend on my oven-roasted Roma tomato sauce that is, judged by quite a few, as about the best. My Roma plants are beginning to flower and I can't wait to start making sauce.

Uggh. Canned sauce is revolting. I'm not talking about canned sauce, I'm talking about canned tomatos to go IN the sauce.

As for fresh cheese, I've tried boccoccini, buffalo mozzarella and every fresh cheese I can get my hands on. I always go back to vaccum packed because the fresh is just impractical. Half the time the cheese turns to liquid and just runs right off the pizza.
 
jasonr said:
Uggh. Canned sauce is revolting. I'm not talking about canned sauce, I'm talking about canned tomatos to go IN the sauce.

As for fresh cheese, I've tried boccoccini, buffalo mozzarella and every fresh cheese I can get my hands on. I always go back to vaccum packed because the fresh is just impractical. Half the time the cheese turns to liquid and just runs right off the pizza.
Jasonr - I wouldn't have posted except I'm still on today ;-)

I will agree with Katie on the fresh ingrediet post. If available, the freshest items are usually the best (in my opinion).

As to your comment on fresh tomatoes, I personnally prefer a tomato paste as the base, but enjoy thin slices of "fresh" tomatoes as one of the toppings, and would also echo the thought that Roma for fresh tomatoes are usually the tastiest for a "standard".

Of course, just my opinions, and subject to lots of scrutiny ;-)

Casper
 
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