Scott's Pizza Journal

Tomato Update: They're Turning RED!!!

Mon, 19 Jul 2010 14:00:00 -0400

I know I know - they are supposed to turn red, but this has been a long and tedious process so I am entitled to celebrate. People freak their baby’s first haircut or the funny position in which they found their dog sleeping, but I have no baby and I have no dog. Instead, I have nine tomato plants growing in an improvised plot behind my Brooklyn apartment. What started as a handful of seeds is now taking up significant space in my backyard. Some of the plants remain barren but others are starting to show me they mean business and I’m ready to cash their lycopene-filled checks at the bank of my belly.

I still have a few weeks to go before these suckers are ready to eat, but I’m really excited that they are starting to ripen. I see more baby tomatoes popping up every day and I think things are going to really kick in as we approach August. Some helpful YouTube videos showed me how to prune the plants and I have been paying careful attention to extraneous branches that grow off the main vine. The idea is to pinch off the unwanted bits so that all sugar is diverted to the tomato-bearing arms. It’s my first time growing tomatoes so I’m trying to do everything I can to learn the ropes in preparation for next year’s garden.

The photo on the left shows a couple San Marzanos just hangin’ around and turning red, much to my delight. A mysterious variety ripens in the other photo — on of my neighbors must have forgotten that she left this plant in the backyard so I assumed responsibility and it is now producing the loveliest fruit of the bunch. I’m pretty amazed because the bulk of growth happened when I was out of town for a couple of days, thus unable to obsess over watering and pruning.

Perhaps patience is the secret ingredient for a successful tomato crop, but my built-in recipe includes heaping helpings of nervousness and torment. I’ve just heard too many horror stories of unwanted backyard guests enjoying tomato season more than the humans who made it possible and I’m getting more afraid of the inevitable tomato thief with every day that passes. Because as the tomatoes ripen and turn red, they become even more appealing to The Enemy. I’ve read a few tips about keeping rats away, from cayenne pepper spray to Irish Spring soap. You can see the chicken wire cage I built in the photo above, but I’m not convinced it’s going to do much. If I disappear for a couple weeks, it just means I’m sleeping with the tomatoes.

If you have any tips for keeping The Enemy out, I’m all ears.

Say Cheese!

Sat, 17 Jul 2010 10:00:00 -0400

So I’ve noticed a pattern with myself lately. After reading a couple books about tomatoes, I ordered some seeds online and planted a tomato garden in my backyard. Then I read some books about oven construction and thermodynamics only to readjust the heat strategy in my home oven (I’ll explain that in a future post). Well last week I was trying to figure out what book to read (just finished Jane Ziegelman’s 97 Orchard: An Edible History of Five Immigrant Families) when something magical happened. Immortal Milk by Eric LeMay arrived in my mailbox to answer my pizza-related reading needs.

Eric was on a pizza tour last month but he kept silent during all of our discussions about cheese. He’s an incredibly smart guy to keep his true identity a secret because I would have assaulted him with questions for the bulk of the tour had I known. Instead, he waited until the conclusion of the tour before he casually mentioned “I had a really great time. Oh, and I just wrote a book about cheese. I’ll have to send it to you.” And send it he did.

I have a few cheese guides and books about cheese history but Immortal Milk falls into an entirely different category. It’s a memoir of personal discovery through cheese. Eric begins the book with a comparison of the words “expert” and “enthusiast.” I was sold from the start because, like Eric, I am lulled to sleep by experts who merely site facts and figures without mention of context or personal involvement. His book chronicles trips to cheese shops around the globe in search of significant cheeses.

The book weaves travel stories with in-depth research about all things cheese - including a terrific chapter about why we call things “cheesy.” Eric’s humor is right up my alley, so I had a lot of fun reading his milky musings. He also brings in the experiences of his travel partner and wife “Chuck,” whose final chapter recommends pairings that compliment particular types of cheese discussed throughout the book.

Two amazing things happened after I read Immortal Milk. First, I found myself in Choice Greene, an incredible specialty food shop in my neighborhood in Brooklyn. They have a great selection of cured meats and quality cheeses, so I poked around and found a couple cheeses I had never tried before but were mentioned throughout the book. I finally tasted Comte, a French cow’s milk cheese that carries AOC protection (same thing as Italy’s DOP certification). It’s so creamy and mild, I’m surprised I haven’t tasted this on a pizza. Comte has an extremely versatile flavor, although not incredibly exciting on its own. I bet it would be nice on a pie with pear and walnuts! Choice Greene also has Parmigiano Reggiano and fresh mozzarella if you’re looking for standard pizza fare.

The second incredible cheese discovery happened at Pizza A Casa, the Lower East Side’s incredible pizza school. Owner Mark Bello had recently returned from the Fancy Food Show at the Javits Center and he was showing me some mozzarella making kits he found at one of the booths. This is exactly what I was looking for, as Eric’s book made my brain-gears spin into motion about how cheeses all start out as milk but end up as any one of thousands of flavors. So I took the mozz kit home and went to work.

The kit has everything you need to make fresh mozzarella except for a gallon of milk and the entire process takes only 45 minutes. I learned a lot by making a batch of cheese but it made me think about how many simple homemade foods have become gourmet rarities. Mozzarella is a cheese intended for home preparation and home consumption, so it only shows how the tables have turned when this simple process becomes a novelty.

Visit Pizza A Casa for your own mozzarella making kit or for classes on home pizza making.

Thanks to @pauliegee for the heads-up about the TSA’s...

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 13:39:54 -0400

Thanks to @pauliegee for the heads-up about the TSA’s pizza box top recruiting campaign. I really need one of these for my pizza box collection. Read more about the TSA’s recruiting campaign and send me a box if you find one.

FREE Tour with Creator of 30-Day Pizza Diet

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 12:33:00 -0400

Pizza often gets pegged as a fattening fast food but one pizzeria owner from Florida is turning that assumption on its head. Matt McClellan, owner of Tour de Pizza in St Petersburg, FL, created a diet that pairs pizza with a brief daily workout and the results have been staggering. Over the course of 30 days, Matt lost 24 pounds and shaved 86 points off his cholesterol.

Matt’s currently biking up the East Coast, stopping at pizzerias along the way to share his story. The journey ends in New York City on July 4, where he’ll be capping off his tour with a Scott’s Pizza Tour! Here are the details:

Matt and Scott’s HEALTHY Pizza Tour
Monday, July 5
3:30 - 5 PM
FREE!!!
Meet us at the corner of Bleecker and 7th Ave South. We’ll hit a couple pizzerias along Bleecker Street and talk about Matt’s diet.

*Follow Matt on Twitter @tourdepizza

Pizza Margherita Turns 121 TODAY

Fri, 11 Jun 2010 10:00:00 -0400

On June 11, 1889, Queen Margherita of Italy had a letter composed to thank Raffaele Esposito for making her a pizza with mozzarella, tomato and basil. This photo of the letter is posted in Esposito’s restaurant in Naples, Pizzeria Brandi.

It’s tough to see, but the date in the upper right corner is June 11, 1889. I found the phrases “Raffaele Esposito” and “tomate buonissime” but the rest is a mystery. Please contact me if you can translate it. I can send you some close-up shots.

Queen Margherita was the second queen of a newly unified Italy. By eating a dish so associated with the peasants of Southern Italy, she made an incredible, and probably accidental, political move and earned the support of her country. As word of her taste test spread, so did the dish itself. But recipes changed to suit local customs and ingredient availability, so pizza developed into several localized varieties. This is why the thin and crunchy pizza of Rome is so different from the soft and chewy pizza of Naples.

So eat a pizza with fresh mozzarella, crushed plum tomato and basil to celebrate this historic day!

Tomato Update - GROUNDED!

Wed, 09 Jun 2010 08:38:45 -0400

Sometime in mid-March I planted a bunch of seeds I purchased from Tomatofest in California. Seedlings of several varieties sprouted: San Marzano, Super San Marzano, San Marzano Redorta and Roma. I spent weeks keeping their Styrofoam cup homes in direct sunlight and out of harsh temperatures. There were several times I thought the plants had stopped growing, only to find major developments the next day. This week, I took a big step and transplanted my little darlings into the Earth.

My neighborhood in Brooklyn has an industrial past, so I don’t trust the soil in our yard. I brought in some soil through some friends who are doing a massive gardening project in NJ and let it warm up in the sun for a few days. The next challenge was finding something to put the soil into, so I kept my eyes peeled and found a bookshelf on the streets of Soho right outside Lombardi’s! I dug up a hole in the yard in an area that gets the most sunlight and nested the bookshelf/raised bed into its new home. I’m only using the frame of the unit, so there is no back and only one shelf in the center for support.

These tomatoes are supposed to have lots of room, so I kept the plants super spaced out. I’m probably giving them too much space but I really want them to have a shot at survival. I covered the soil with black plastic to keep weeds out and moisture in. It will also help to keep the soil warm, which will make the tomatoes happy!

I’ll be modifying the setup a bit over the next few weeks, adding bamboo support posts for the plants and some chicken wire around the outside of the raised bed.These things have survived longer than I thought they would so I’m pretty optimistic that we’ll make it to harvest in late August.

Slice Out Hunger Raises $1600 in Two Hours!

Tue, 01 Jun 2010 10:34:48 -0400

On Thursday, May 27, SPT and GAP Adventures joined forces to raise money for the homeless and hungry by harnessing the powers of pizza. We collected pies from some of the city’s top spots and offered slices for $1 each. Donations came in from Lombardi’s, NY Pizza Suprema, Arturo’s, Luzzo’s, Joe’s, John’s of Bleecker and Lazzara’s.

Since we had lined up about 45 pies, our main concern was finding enough people to eat all of them. So we were a bit overwhelmed when the event began at 6:30 and huge line formed out the door. All of the pizza was gone by 7 PM and reinforcements were called in from Joe’s, Ben’s, Lombardi’s and NY Pizza Suprema. We ended up eating all 65 pies, raising $1600 for City Harvest. Because of our love of pizza, we are putting 7,272 pounds of food on the tables of people who need it.

Our exhibit of international pizza boxes (and menus) was also a huge hit. We had submissions coming in right up to the last minute and more are on the way for next year’s event. Please contact me if you have a box you’d like to submit.

We also raised money by selling $1 raffle tickets. Prizes ranged from SPT tickets and shirts to GAP Adventures travel coupons to pizza books to passes to the Vendy Awards! We even had some great prized donated by PMQ’s Pizza Magazine.

Huge thanks to everyone who attended, especially our pals in the pizza blogosphere. You can read their accounts of the evening at Passion4Pizza and Me Myself and Pie. And just in case you’re curious, this is what the aftermath of a huge pizza party looks like.

MORE INTERNATIONAL PIZZA BOXES! Tonight’s the night for...

Thu, 27 May 2010 15:51:28 -0400

MORE INTERNATIONAL PIZZA BOXES!

Tonight’s the night for our $1 slice fundraiser for City Harvest, featuring Pizza Boxes of the World. We’ll have so much pizza it’s insane. Please come and eat it. Pizza will be provided by Arturo’s, Lombardi’s, Joe’s, John’s, Pizza Suprema, Luzzo’s amd Lazzara’s. Most of those places don’t even sell pizza by the slice so this event is your big opportunity to try them all in one place!

This video features boxes from the Netherlands, which will be on display tonight. See you there!

Slice Out Hunger
Thursday, May 27
6:30 - 9 PM
GAP Adventures
364 Avenue of the Americas
www.gapadventures.com/store/newyork
www.cityharvest.org
www.scottspizzatours.com

Slice Out Hunger This Thursday feat. $1 slices!

Mon, 24 May 2010 08:57:22 -0400

This Thursday night we’ll be holding our annual fundraiser for City Harvest. The event features pizza from some of NYC’s top pizzerias (Lombardi’s, John’s of Bleecker, Joe’s, Pizza Suprema, etc) and we’ll have raffle prizes too! Admission is FREE but slices, soft drinks and raffle tickets are $1 each.

Last year was amazing and this year’s going to be even better because we’re getting MORE PIZZA! We’re also exhibiting a collection of international pizza boxes sent in by pizza enthusiasts all over the planet.

Slice Out Hunger
Thursday, May 27
6:30 - 9 PM
GAP Adventures
364 Avenue of the Americas
www.gapadventures.com/store/newyork
www.cityharvest.org
www.scottspizzatours.com

GOODIES FROM THE SPT MAILBAG! Mail is fun. Sometimes I get pizza...

Sun, 16 May 2010 09:36:28 -0400

GOODIES FROM THE SPT MAILBAG!

Mail is fun. Sometimes I get pizza magazines. Sometimes I get pizza menus from other countries. Sometimes I get gigantic pizza boxes. Sometimes I get things to give away at events. Sometimes I get all of them at the same time.

Some of the items in this video will be on display or available as prizes at SLICE OUT HUNGER, a fund raiser for City Harvest being held at GAP Adventures, 364 Avenue of the Americas on Thursday, May 27 from 6:30 PM to 9 PM. Slices sodas, raffle tickets for $1 each and all money goes to feed the hungry.

Scott’s Pizza Tours will be holding a “Slice Out Hunger” fund raiser for City Harvest on May 27 at GAP Adventures in NYC from 6:30 to 9 PM. We’ll have pizza from New York’s finest pizzerias available for $1 per slice. Most of these places don’t even sell pizza by the slice, so this is going to be a real treat. Our goal is to raise a billion dollars.

We’ll also be hosting an exhibit called “Pizza Boxes of the World,” which features several international pizza boxes. So far, we have boxes from Hungary, China, Czech Republic and more on the way! They are all beautiful and they will most certainly blow your mind.

Event Information:
Slice Out Hunger
Thursday, May 27
6:30 - 9 PM
GAP Adventures
364 Avenue of the Americas
www.gapadventures.com/store/newyork
www.cityharvest.org
www.scottspizzatours.com

San Francisco Pizza Safari Part 4

Fri, 14 May 2010 10:00:00 -0400

The time has come for the final installment of my San Francisco Pizza Safari. Between February 19 and 24 of 2010 I visited over twenty-five pizzerias and lived to tell the tale. I’m leaving some out of this four-part series because they’re either not exciting enough to mention or better suited for future posts. This final piece will tackle four pizzerias of note in the San Francisco Bay Area.

First up is one of the most anticipated stops of my entire trip: Cheese Board Collective, an offshoot of the renown cheese shop/bakery of the same name. The Cheese Board is a co-op, so it is owned completely by its members. They produce one type of vegetarian pizza daily and they rotate pies from day to day. This makes ordering a breeze because you just say how many you want and whether or not you’ll be staying to eat. Easy as pie!

The slices are great because they cut a single slice into two, so you’re getting a lot of bang for your buck! There were a bunch of cooked and par-baked pies sitting around in piles and that got me a little down, but the pizza is pretty delicious. The crust left something to be desired, but I didn’t expect it to be revolutionary. This may be the most “California” slice I had on the entire trip because it embodies the west coast pizza virtues of topping experimentation and crust anonymity. You know what I mean. Overall, a great experience and something you need to check out when in food-crazy Berkeley.

While San Francisco, it was my responsibility to check out some sourdough. Rumor has it that the Bay Area is a feeding ground for some delicious bacteria, which is why you can’t duplicate the robust flavor of local bread anywhere else. I heard about a pizzeria that uses a sourdough base of their pizzas, so I had to check it out. The Godfather and I went to Goat Hill Pizza for a taste of something different. The only sourdough crust I’ve ever had (or as bakers call it, “natural leaven”) was at New York’s Una Pizza Napoletana, which just so happens to be moving to San Francisco’s SoMa district this month!

The Goat Hill menu claims that the pizza is baked in a “traditional brick oven,” but all I saw was a conventional gas-fueled deck oven. BUSTED! But as we all know, the oven doesn’t matter as long as the pizza is great. Unfortunately the pizza wasn’t anything special. We each had a cheese slice and a specialty slice, which was actually just a cheese slice with some diced tomatoes and cheese on top. Oh well. It was worth a try.

That experiment out of the way, I headed out for a real treat. Jeff “PizzaHacker” Krupman joined me for a stop at a pizzeria neither of us had ever visited. When Boot and Shoe Service opened last year on Grand Avenue in Oakland, locals thought it was just another foot ware repair shop. It’s actually the Bay Area’s latest NEOpolitan pizzera.

One problem plaguing so many of these new pizzerias is their use of extremely low lighting at the tables. I love eating in dimly lit restaurants but it’s no good for those of us who like to document our food and write about it months later. I can’t publish the photos I took of my Margherita, potato-pancetta-fontina-rosemary, or green onion-guanciale-egg pizzas because they’re so dark. You’ll just have to trust me that they look lovely. At least the most important part of the restaurant is lit:

These San Francisco pizzerias all have a long wait but B&S was kind enough to feed us delicious olives as we marked time before being seated. The deliciousness continued with our pizza selections. All pies arrive at the table cut, but I was most impressed at the decision to cut our green onion-guanciale-egg pizza in such a way that the yolk was left intact. I enjoyed every pie but once again the toppings ruled the flavor party, leaving crust as a mere placeholder.

The final notch in my Bay Area pizza belt was marked at Beretta in San Francisco’s mission district. Once again, the menu had all the buzz words (“locally sourced,” “sustainable,” “seasonal”) and the wait was long. Thankfully, we made a reservation earlier in the day and managed to snag a spot with minimal trouble.

** For all you pizza tourists, don’t forget to call ahead to make sure you can get into a pizzeria. It can really ruin a pizza safari when pizzerias are closed or have a long wait you could have avoided by calling in advance. Planning ahead saves time in the end!

The pies are baked in a gas-fueled Wood Stone oven, which has a brick hearth and ceiling but a door wide enough to drive a Hummer through. With an oven mouth like this, you end up losing a lot of heat. This particular oven has a sliding glass door that keeps heat sealed in while still allowing you to see both the pizza and the flame. But as you can see from the thermometer below the oven mouth, the temperature is still in the 550 F range, far below what wood- or coal-fired ovens can produce.

Regardless of oven technology, the proof is in the pizza! Darkness once again prevents me from posting pizza pics, but trust me when I tell you they are just as pretty as other Bay Area spots like Gialina, Flour + Water, Boot and Shoe, etc. When you’re at Beretta, you absolutely must get the burrata. This cheese is a simple combination of mozzarella and cream in which the mozzarella acts as a shell for creamy center. Get it as an appetizer or get it on your pizza — JUST GET IT!

The Bay Area truly is a pizza wonderland and things are just starting to heat up with the impending opening of Anthony Mangieri’s SoMa resurrection of Una Pizza Napoletana. If you live in the area, get your pizza shoes shined up and ready for some dancing. If you don’t, book your flight now and plan your pizza itinerary. Trust me, you’ll be busy.

Flashback: Scott's First Pizza Tour

Wed, 12 May 2010 10:00:00 -0400

Flashback: Scott's First Pizza Tour:

Check out this awesome article on Slice about my VERY first pizza tour! I can hardly believe it has been two years since the maiden voyage of the pizza bus. The whole thing started with a love of pizza, a bunch of awesome friends and a birthday party.

I was turning 26 and all I wanted to do was eat a ton of pizza with my buddies. My car only fits five people, and even that’s tight, so I started fishing around for buses to charter. We ended up with a school bus for five hours and hit six different pizzerias. There were almost thirty of us, so we placed orders while en route and took our pizza to go. We would finish our slice just as we rolled up to the next pizzeria. It was awesome. I even made everybody goody bags. After all, it was a birthday party!

Not much has changed since that first tour. The goody bags are fancier, we get to actually go inside the pizzerias, there is more detailed discussion of the science behind pizza, and I have a t-shirt with a logo on it. But the vibe is exactly the same. Every tour feels like a party.

If you were on that first tour, this article will crack you up. If you have taken a tour in the past two years, this article is the best explanation to the question everyone asks me: “How did you get started running pizza tours?”

PIZZA BOXES OF THE WORLD!!! Scott’s Pizza Tours will be...

Mon, 26 Apr 2010 17:19:00 -0400

PIZZA BOXES OF THE WORLD!!!

Scott’s Pizza Tours will be holding a “Slice Out Hunger” fund raiser for City Harvest on May 27 at GAP Adventures in NYC from 6:30 to 9 PM. We’ll have pizza from New York’s finest pizzerias available for $1 per slice. Most of these places don’t even sell pizza by the slice, so this is going to be a real treat. Our goal is to raise a billion dollars.

We’ll also be hosting an exhibit called “Pizza Boxes of the World,” which features several international pizza boxes. So far, we have boxes from Hungary, China, and today’s SPT mailbag contained a bunch of boxes from the Czech Republic! They are all beautiful and they will most certainly blow your mind.

Event Information:
Thursday, May 27
6:30 - 9 PM
GAP Adventures
364 Avenue of the Americas
www.gapadventures.com/store/newyork
www.cityharvest.org
www.scottspizzatours.com

Tomato Update

Thu, 22 Apr 2010 09:12:01 -0400

I started growing tomatoes about a month ago and things seem to be moving along very well. I have three varieties of San Marzano: San Marzano Redorta, Super San Marzano and just straight-up San Marzano. The seed company also sent me a bonus pack of Roma, so I tossed those into some dirt too! I planted the seeds in coffee cups with holes punched in the bottom for drainage. I read somewhere that they need warm soil, so I stuck an electric blanket under the plants and that seemed to do the trick. When the sprouts started to appear, I switched from coffee cup lid to plastic bag. These little guys need some sort of covering so they don’t dry out.

At this point, just about every seed I planted has become an adorable little plant. I’m growing these inside a Brooklyn apartment so there are a few tips and tricks I read that have been helping me through the urban gardening process. To give the seedlings a feel for the wind, I have been blowing a fan on them for about 20 minutes every morning. This is supposed to make the plants stronger.

This is my first time growing tomatoes so I’m pretty darn nervous. I hope they are getting enough sunlight, but I hope I’m not leaving them too exposed. There are two plants in every cup, could they be too crowded? Am I watering them too much? Too little? If anybody has any thoughts or tips, please share.

I’ve gotten pretty excited about these little dudes so I just planted some seeds for oregano, basil (2 varieties) and rosemary. If all goes well, this is going to be a DELICIOUS summer!

San Francisco Pizza Safari Part 3

Fri, 16 Apr 2010 00:00:00 -0400

This may have been a trip to California, but there sure was enough “New York Style” pizza to make me double check the time zone. I ran into some great slice shops, notable pie spots, and even a few gnarly piles of goo masquerading as pizza. Here are some of the highlights and lowlights.

Rotten City Pizza is located in a nondescript building in Emeryville, just east of the bay. I had received many tips about this place so I figured it would be worth the long rainy walk from the BART station. The rain dried off as soon as I walked inside and saw the lovely display of freshly baked pies. I saw some beauties, but this was just one stop in an eight pizzeria day so I had to stay focused. I ordered a slice of Margherita and a Funghi (tomato sauce, mozz, provolone, parmigiano, roasted cremini mushrooms, toasted garlic chips). Both slices were excellent, but the Margherita had some lovely structure from a brief reheat. These are some serious “New York Style” slices and I highly recommend stopping by next time you’re in Emeryville looking for some grub. Just check these ladies out:

I tried some other attempts at “New York Style,” which apparently gets translated simply as “pizza-by-the-slice.” Lanesplitter does a pretty grimy version, as does Nizario’s. Both are good for late-night stops but neither require photographic evidence. One the other hand, I do find the need to display a crime against pizza in the form of two college town favorites. Fat Slice and Blondie’s are of the last-resort variety of pizza. I had heard their names bandied about too much to not check them out. Don’t make the same mistake. Here’s what we’re dealing with:

Not only are these thick slabs of industrial strength cardboard completely flavorless, they’re also $3.50 each! I guess you’re paying for all that cheese, which reminded me more of the rubber soles of my shoes. Wow, I am embarrassed to even put these photos on the same page as Rotten City. Please forgive me.

You can’t talk about “New York Style” pizza in San Francisco without mentioning Escape From New York. With six locations in the Bay Area and a few more in Portland, OR, EFNY puts out some completely passable slices. I went a little stir crazy and ordered a specialty slice on top of my standard cheese slice. Why not? After all, I’m on vacation! Both were good, but the potato and garlic was exciting. The Godfather is ready to dig in!

Moving right along, let’s take a moment to discuss a New York style pie joint that’s new to the scene. Emilia’s is a one man operation where phones are answered, pies are baked and cash is taken by owner Keith Freilich. Using a conventional gas oven, Keith manages to get some nice color that truly welcomes the New York comparisons. It’s also pretty classic that he only accepts cash. Maybe the system will change with the addition of more staff, but it seemed like there was a pretty specific method to ordering pizza. You have to place your order at least an hour in advance, and you are then given a pick-up time. You have the option of sitting at one of the three tables inside, but I took mine to-go. Just take a gander at this baby and you’ll see how serious this pizza scene has become with the addition of Emilia’s.

In the past few years TONS of quality pizzerias have opened in and around San Francisco. The amazing fact is that there are so many styles to choose from! You’re not stuck with gourmet artisinal blah blah blah, which most east coasters think they’re in for when heading to the Left Coast. There’s a whole landscape happening out west and something tells me it’s just starting to heat up. That about does it for the Bay Area “New York Style” pizza wrap-up, but stay tuned for one more installment from San Francisco before we dive deep into the pits of Los Angeles.

I was fortunate enough to attend a preview class at Pizza A...

Wed, 14 Apr 2010 00:00:00 -0400

I was fortunate enough to attend a preview class at Pizza A Casa, New York’s first “Pizza Self-Sufficiency Center.” Owner Mark Bello taught us how to make pizza using simple ingredients and a standard home oven. This video captures the end of the evening, when we used our skills to make our own pies and dance like crazies.

Pizza A Casa
371 Grand Street
New York, NY 10002-3951
Info and sign-up sheet at www.pizzaacasa.com

Matzo Pizza is gross. It’s usually a piece of matzo with...

Mon, 05 Apr 2010 08:23:09 -0400

Matzo Pizza is gross. It’s usually a piece of matzo with sauce and cheese melted in a toaster oven and almost always becomes too soggy to pick up. Since I have been avoiding pizza all week in observance of Passover, I decided to experiment a bit. Armed with some all purpose flour and a dream, I set out on a voyage of culinary discovery.

I have said this a thousand times: I am not a pizza maker. But I’ve been reading so many books lately about dough and bread history that I just had to take a stab at this ancient flat bread. It’s really great for the impatient among us because you have to get your dough into the oven within 18 minutes of combining flour and water, after which time wild yeast may begin to feast on starch and ruin the whole setup by leavening your dough. I didn’t use kosher flour or anything, so my pizza wasn’t completely right for Passover consumption. Whatever.

First I lined my lowest oven rack with four six by six inch unglazed quarry tiles and preheated to 500 Fahrenheit, the max on my dial. After about 45 minutes, I combined a cup of flour with about a half cup of water and mixed for about five minutes. This gave me enough dough for four tiny matzos. First, I baked the cracker on one side before flipping it over and sticking it back in the oven with cheese and tomato added. The tiles lose a bit of heat so I had to rotate through different areas to stay on the hot spots. The pre-baked crust is probably the best of the bunch, but I had more experimentation ahead of me.

Next, I tried baking the whole thing together. This resulted in a slightly gummy center, but really wasn’t bad at all. Either way, the underside was nicely charred and the entire pizza held up pretty well.

I wouldn’t enjoy this kind of crust under normal circumstances, but it has been a week since my last slice and I’m starting to get the shakes. This video captures the testing phase of my final experiment, a matzo pizza baked on oven tiles with cheese and tomato layered on top.

Calling All International Pizza Box Enthusiasts

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 14:06:24 -0400

I’m collecting international pizza boxes for an upcoming event and I need YOUR help. If you live anywhere outside the US you can score some free SPT stuff just by sending me a pizza box that best represents your city/country. I’d love to get pizza boxes with all sorts of different languages or imagery, just like these pieces from my personal collection:

Here’s how to participate:
1. Find the most interesting or distinctive box that best represents your city/country
2. Email a photo or description of the box to scott[at]scottspizzatours[dot]com
3. I will send you directions for shipping
4. Include 5 boxes and 5 menus from the pizzeria (unused boxes are preferred)
5. Please send by May 1, 2010

I don’t care if the pizza is edible, as long as the box looks cool. We don’t want too many Dominos or Pizza Hut boxes but you can throw one in if you’re already sending a package. Thanks in advance, you WILL be rewarded!

Operation: Tomato

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 09:11:40 -0400

I’ve been reading a lot about tomatoes lately and I am amazed at the fruit’s speedy rise to power. In the early 16th century, nobody in Europe had ever heard about the tomato. It took almost 200 years before Europeans were even eating the darn things, since public opinion held that they were filled with poison. Tomato fever took hold fast and, before long, it was thought to be the healthiest fruit available. Several American entrepreneurs were even making “life-saving” pills out of the darn things!

My personal tomato history lesson started with a book called The Tomato in America, which gives a great history of modern tomato use. It’s a fascinating story, but I wanted a deeper discussion of the ‘golden apple.’ I got what I needed from Arthur Allen’s new book Ripe: The Search for the Perfect Tomato. It covers history, farming politics and genetics.

Now I’ve got tomato fever. I did some research and ordered seeds from one of the most reputable seed sources mentioned in these books, TomatoFest. By the end of this week, I will be planting three varieties of San Marzano. This is all new to me, so it will truly be an adventure. I’ll be posting about my progress and hopefully I’ll end up with something that’s edible. Right now, all I have are six packs of seeds. But you know what they say. You can’t do awesome experiments with urban farming and end up with a sweet bunch of tomatoes without a pack of seeds.

San Francisco Pizza Safari Part 2

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 10:00:00 -0400

They say the best cure for a pizza hangover is more pizza, so Day 3 of my San Francisco pizza bonanza started right where Day 2 left off. The Godfather made a delicious breakfast of leftover focaccia topped with an egg! The most impressive part of the process was when he donned his cheese grating glove, which he has been using ever since “The Incident.” You can draw your own conclusions as to what that means.

After jump-starting the day with focaccia, we rocketed toward our first pizzeria: Pizzetta 211. This place only has four tables, so get there early to avoid the lunch rush. We were lucky because the rain kept our wait time to a minimum. Pizzetta changes its menu to reflect whatever is in season, so don’t expect to see these pies available every time. We went for three pizzas: a Margherita (listed as “tomato, mozzarella, basil”); a pie with house made sausage, green garlic, fingerling potatoes and shaved Parmesan; and one with fresh farm egg, braised fennel, onion, currant and ricotta salata. All three were delicious, but I preferred the sausage pie. I have really come to appreciate good sausage after having too many disappointing “mystery meat” experiences on my recent New Jersey Pizza Patrol trips.

The incredibly high quality toppings on these pies were the star of the show, so I almost wish we picked a funkier pie than the Margherita. But as you can see from the photo below, it was the favorite pizza of the two most adorable pizza pals I met with on the entire trip: Kai and Ming.

I practiced some self-restraint and donated the leftovers to my companions, then hopped into the car and headed North to Pizzeria Picco in Larkspur. This place was recommended to me by a serious pizzanatic and SPT alum named Joe. The best part of taking trips like this is meeting up with the people who told me to visit these pizzerias in the first place! Besides Joe, I was also joined by PizzaHacker and Brian and Ramona (they got engaged on a pizza tour a few months back). More on all these pizza buddies later, but now we’ve gotto get to the PIZZA!

Since there were so many of us, we were able to order more pies to sample. We went with a Margherita, Marinara, Marin (roasted garlic, young organic potato, mozzarella, Parmesan, rosemary oil), Cannondale (house made sausage, roasted peppers, roasted onion, mozzarella and basil) and Surly (hog island clams, tomato sauce, garlic, soppressata, pecorino, parsley, Calabrian chile). Pizzeria Picco is definitely on my list of top Bay Area pizzerias. Unlike many of the other NEOpolitan spots, Picco pays a lot of attention to the crust in both its flavor and texture. They bake in a wood-fired oven using a softer flour than most of the like-minded places I visited in California. The crust is soft and interactive, with plenty of bounce-back in the rim. Toppings are applied very evenly and with great attention to balance as to avoid compromising the other ingredients. I don’t really like to think of these pizzas as having toppings, which usually makes me think of a cheese pizza with a bunch of things on top to substitute flavor that was lacking in the original pizza. Spots like Picco and Pizzetta have instead constructed entirely new structures atop a non-intrusive bread base.

The pizzas are all great and the menu cracks me up (on the bottom it says “Salad on pizza is always OK!”) but you cannot leave without getting some Straus Dairy soft serve with olive oil and sea salt. It is absolutely amazing! If you don’t want olive oil on your soft serve, it’s perfectly acceptable to go with caramel instead. I’m reliving the flavor sensation as I type this. Oh no, I just drooled on my keyboard.

The final stop of Day 3 has been at the top of my list since the moment I started planning. A16 began serving Southern Italian cuisine to San Francisco’s Marina neighborhood in 2004 and continues to appear on everyone’s “must eat” list. We ordered a classic Margherita as our first pie but our second pie selection was a real doozey! There’s an item on the menu called “Trust Your Pizzaiolo” and I knew from the moment I read those words that I just had to try it. It’s my personal philosophy to “play with trust” so this option sounded thrilling! The pie we received was called the Widowmaker: tomato, garlic, dry chili, fried Calabrian chile, panchetta, sausage, mozzarella, grana padano and arugula. WHOA!!!!! Yes, seriously a rad pie. Just like Picco, the pizza here sticks closer to the Neapolitan tradition. Just check out all those blisters caused by radiant heat off the dome of A16’s wood-fired oven! Definitely a great end to a thrilling pizza day.

Day 4 begins with a bang: Chez Panisse. San Francisco takes a lot of pride in its food, having developed a real appreciation for fresh and locally sourced foods. While heavyweights like Wolfgang Puck often get the credit for applying this concept to pizza, the true source is Alice Waters. Established in 1971, Chez Panisse represents the origin of California cuisine. Their menu changes seasonally but there is always a pizza on the list. Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to introduce the thick smoked bacon, egg, parsley pizza…

Simple. Elegant. Classy. After eating pizza at Chez Panisse, I can see very clearly how spots like Pizzetta 211 came to be. Even though I enjoyed the pizza at Waters-derived restaurants more than those at their origin point, they only stand on the shoulders of a giant. Before we split, there was just enough time to eat a glorious apple-cherry tart and the BEST ice cream I have ever had. I know you can’t taste it by licking your screen, but we also eat with our eyes.

The next pizzeria is the complete opposite of Chez Panisse. Every time I have guests on the tour from the Bay Area, they all recommend Zachary’s for Chicago style pizza. I’m not a big fan of deep dish, but I just had to see what all the hoopla was about. Sure enough, it was the real deal! These pies are so THICK they have to be cut with a machete. And they take about forty minutes to bake in the revolving deck oven, which spin pies around as if they were riding a Ferris wheel. It’s so cool!

The crust is actually much thinner than I anticipated, with tomato taking up most of the vertical real estate. I can see why there’s so much of it, since the tomato is incredibly tart and tangy and delicious. The big difference between deep dish and other styles is the crumbly, biscuit-like consistency of the crust. You have to cut it with a fork and knife and the last bit really snaps when you break through the final barrier of bread. It’s something altogether different and deserves respect, even though it is not my personal favorite.

There are still two more days of Bay Area pizza to report PLUS a Los Angeles pizza roundup so stay tuned for more hot pizza action!