This is a simple Neapolitan style pizza. It's chief features are thin crust, some would say extremely thin, a faint layer of simple tomato sauce, some would say too faint, a scant tablespoon. This sauce is thick sun-dried tomato pesto with olive oil, Parmigiano and parsley. And finally fresh mozzarella cheese.
This mozzarella is different. It is the original mozzarella bufala used for pizzas, not American bison (don't even try to milk a bison, they'll kick your ass) but rather water buffalo raised in Campania the milk from which holds the official status of protected designation of origin. I didn't notice exactly but I think the cost is something like 3X regular fresh American mozzarella from cows, I could be wrong. I recall the first time I saw this cheese a year ago I thought in the moment of consideration, "You're out your minds." But I've been thinking about it ever since and decided to test it to see for myself if it deserves its reputation. I was prepared to be disappointed and readied myself to disparage it here. I admit to being cynical and completely wrong in my expectation about this cheese. I can see now that what I've known as mozzarella both fresh and hard is a pale imitation of the real thing. I have never in my life ordered a simple cheese pizza -- what would be the point? Or so my thinking went -- but here I had to keep it very simple in order to taste-test the cheese and I do believe this is the best pizza I have ever enjoyed. The whole thing lasted all of four minutes.
The pizza dough is aged one day. This is 1/4 the total dough prepared so 3/4 of the dough is still aging. The dough is 20% semolina flour 80% AP flour. A few herbs were thrown in on impulse. 1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast combined with dry ingredients. Hot water poured into the dry ingredients while it processed quickly at first then slowly as 1 cup was approached, carefully monitoring to stop pouring as soon as a ball of dough formed and pulled away from the bowl while processing. It continued to process for approximately 30 seconds. Chilled immediately.
* two pizza stones, top and bottom.
* pizza baked directly on the bottom stone
* the stone draws off moisture from the dough causing it to crackle
* a cookie sheet without a rim is taking the place of a pizza peel
* parchment paper is taking the place of corn meal or semolina which behave as ball bearings to slide the pizza off the peel into the oven but also make a mess in there and burn.
* the parchment paper is removed while the pizza bakes so that the dough makes direct contact with the stone.
* the pizza cooks for anywhere between 7 to 10 minutes depending on its size, the load of ingredients, its thickness, the heat of the stones.
* tongs are used to grab the edge of the cooked pizza and slide it back onto the cookie tray
* fresh herbs added after cooking so they don't just shrivel and burn.
Conclusion: when it comes to pizzas, use the best ingredients available and keep it simple.
Is the mozzarella buffalo worth it? I would say yes. I would be able to tell immediately one from the other and appreciate the difference, but I must hasten to add that most of the people I know wouldn't appreciate the difference and that includes all of my own family. In fact they would ridicule it if it were pointed out and reaffirm their preference for hard mozzarella over fresh mozzarella. I resist being so negative about it but I've learned to face the fact that is just the way it is.
| I had PBS on mute, the subject was American bison. Suddenly a scrawny dusty cowboy appeared on camera, he was wearing a prototypical red neckerchief and a weird kind of cowboy hat that was round on the top. I thought, "This should be interesting," so I turned on the sound just in time to hear him say in the most incredible Western accent I ever heard, like that guy Festus on Gunsmoke, I think, the guy who limped, I think. I don't know, some very strange Western character who then said, "There ain't no fence around bin invented yet that ain't nuth'n more 'n a suh-jes-tin to a buffalo. " I fell out laughing because he was entirely serious. If he were putting us on it wouldn't have been funny but his authenticity totally cracked me up. Of course there are fences that do keep in bison but they are sturdy enclosures indeed and the guy did make his point that bison are undomesticated animals and difficult to manage. I went around for days repeating that line in his voice and cracked up all over again, "There ain't no fence around that's more than a suggestion to a buffalo." Should I ever burst out laughing at an inappropriate moment, somewhere solemn, say, at church or on an operating table or something, it will be because my thoughts randomly took me to that. |
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