Pizza

A very kind man I know, who has spent most of his life living close to the land, has recently discovered the pleasures of pizza.

Only he does not pronounce it “pittsa” like the Italians do, he calls it “piszza”. His departure from the standard Italian pronunciation is most noticeable after a few glasses of wine, something he has now also adopted with the energy and vigorous commitment of a first-year student in Stellenbosch. I should know, I was once one of those.

There is a lot of catching up to do if you come from this wine-grape-deprived country. But this is not a column about wine or drinking.

It is about pizza.

Like the hamburger, pizza has become a truly global food. It can be found just about anywhere in the world; from Macau to Madrid.

In essence, pizza is nothing more than flatbread served with sauce (typically made from tomatoes) and cheese and then covered with toppings such as cured meats, sausage, vegetables and more varieties of cheese. The most commonly used cheese for pizza is buffalo mozzarella.

The bread is baked in a special dome-shaped oven under higher than normal baking temperatures, and traditionally, pizza ovens are wood-fired ovens, which contributes to the dish’s distinctive smoky taste. These days, gas and electric ovens have become popular in many commercial pizzerias.

There is little agreement as to where the word pizza comes from, but the word first appeared in a Latin text around 997 AD. But flat breads flavoured with herbs and cheese and oils have been around for much longer.

The original and very popular myth that the ‘original’ pizza – the Margherita – was invented by Raffaele Esposito in Naples to represent the Italian flag (red tomatoes, white mozzarella cheese and green basil) and offered as one of three options to Queen Margherita is also being questioned as unauthentic. Be it as it may, the Margherita is certainly one of the oldest and most popular pizzas stemming from that time.

Pizza aficionados pay close attention to each of the core components of their pizza: The dough, the sauce, the toppings and the cheese. The debates on what is right, what is good and what is morally acceptable in pizza terms are both fierce and inconclusive. Where and when you grew up seems to be responsible for some of the most intense elements of the pizza wars between the various factions.

Let us just say that pizza is no longer the property of the Italians, and that every nation has claimed the right to add their own unique stamp on the evolution of what must be the world’s most popular flat bread. Outside of Italy, the USA has possibly had the greatest influence on the development of pizza as we know and consume it today. The much-loved (or hated) deep-dish, thick-crusted Chicago-style pizza is just one case in point.

There is almost no limit to what can be added as toppings for pizza. But is more always better? I have been surveying what local pizza joints offer as toppings and it seems that we Namibians like very meat-heavy pizzas. Combinations of mince, ham, bacon and salami on a single pizza is not uncommon, and one wonders why anyone would want to have so much meat on their pizza. The answer is probably “because they can”.

Another tendency is to elevate one ingredient to be the representative of an entire nation’s cuisine: Chilli for Mexico, and pineapple for Hawaii, for example. Does being called ‘Hawaiian’ add so much more value to a ham and pineapple pizza that an entire nation’s culinary complexity be reduced to a single fruit, the pineapple? And what hurts even more is the fact that the pineapple is not even indigenous to Hawaii. Oh no, blame the Spanish for bringing pineapples to Hawaii.

It is quite easy to make proper pizzas at home without resorting to the frozen option. Home ovens do not heat to the high temperatures required for pizzeria quality pizza, but with a bit more time and the help of a pizza stone or thick metal sheet, you’ll be fine.

Just use quality ingredients, some clever flavour pairings and good quality dough like this one by Enzo Coccia, a famous pizzaiolo from Naples. By allowing the dough to slowly ferment at a rather cool temperature, he encourages fermentation, and that is what builds flavour in dough.

Basic Pizza Dough from

Enzo Coccia in Naples

Ingredients

• 500 mililitre water (between 10 and 14ºC)

• 25 grams fine salt

• 3 grams yeast (6 to 8 hours fermentation at

about 25ºC)

• 900-950 grams ’00’ flour

Directions

• Pour the water in a large mixing bowl and mix in

the yeast. Mix the salt and the flour and add

dough pulls away from the sides and becomes

a ball. Start to knead the ball of dough with light

criss-cross punches and folding the dough back

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