How to make pizza like a Neapolitan master • Hacker News Board

Re: How to make pizza like a Neapolitan master

#141

Post by mhkhung » Fri, Apr 24, 2020, 3:34 PM UTC

elhudy wrote: post #138

albmoriconi wrote: post #52

I am from Naples and eat regularly at Gino Sorbillo's and Ciro Salvo's places. As it often happens here, everyone will swear by its pretty small and obscure "favorite place", but they are masters without doubt ;) The dough recipe from the article is pretty legit and exactly the way I do it at home; the main problem I see is that it would be pretty hard to find good Mozzarella or Fiordilatte cheese (Fiordilatte di Age…

Are they ever made using sourdough (wild yeast)? I imagine that would be more "traditional"?

Would not considered Neapolitian. There are some 'higher-end' pizza places there that don't follow the 'tradition as dictated by committee'.

https://www.eater.com/2018/2/23/17025722/ugly-delicious-pizz...

Re: How to make pizza like a Neapolitan master

#142

Post by castillar76 » Fri, Apr 24, 2020, 3:35 PM UTC

lisper wrote: post #126

I can't speak to pizza, but I have an espresso story to tell. One of my favorite things about going to Italy is the quality of the coffee. I really like extreme dark roast (your typical American diner coffee doesn't even count as coffee in my book). In Italy you can go into pretty much any coffee shop and come away with a top-quality espresso. (Don't even get me started on Starbucks.) It's a taste I inherited from my…

If you're looking for something better for them/you (and ecologically better too--the Keurigs are pretty bad for that), try an Aeropress. It's absurdly inexpensive, but makes easily the best coffee I've had outside of crazy high-end shops, and it's really easy to use. It consistently gets high marks from coffee geeks.

Re: How to make pizza like a Neapolitan master

#143

Post by lisper » Fri, Apr 24, 2020, 3:35 PM UTC

gregkerzhner wrote: post #136

lisper wrote: post #126

I can't speak to pizza, but I have an espresso story to tell. One of my favorite things about going to Italy is the quality of the coffee. I really like extreme dark roast (your typical American diner coffee doesn't even count as coffee in my book). In Italy you can go into pretty much any coffee shop and come away with a top-quality espresso. (Don't even get me started on Starbucks.) It's a taste I inherited from my…

I don't know much about espresso, but the pourover coffee I make at home is certainly much higher quality than a Keurig machine. The beans are the most important part - you should get them roasted within the last few weeks. Even the fanciest pourover funnel costs only 50 dollars, but you can certainly get by with a cheap plastic one for a few bucks. If you want to go full hipster, you will also need a temperature con…

I ended up with both a Keurig and a Cuisinart DCC-450BK. The Cuisinart makes better coffee (despite its incredibly cheesy construction), but the Keurig is faster so I'll typically use one in the morning and the other in the afternoon. I've found I don't get a lot of value from high-end beans. My favorite coffee is Seattle's Best Post Alley Blend. But my coffee heart will always be in Italy. (Actually, Philz is pretty good too.)

Re: How to make pizza like a Neapolitan master

#144

Post by toohotatopic » Fri, Apr 24, 2020, 3:37 PM UTC

lisper wrote: post #126

I can't speak to pizza, but I have an espresso story to tell. One of my favorite things about going to Italy is the quality of the coffee. I really like extreme dark roast (your typical American diner coffee doesn't even count as coffee in my book). In Italy you can go into pretty much any coffee shop and come away with a top-quality espresso. (Don't even get me started on Starbucks.) It's a taste I inherited from my…

Those Italians in your coworker space, were they baristas or office workers? I would expect that Italians in Italy also cannot produce perfect espresso unless they made it their profession.

Re: How to make pizza like a Neapolitan master

#145

Post by jasonlotito » Fri, Apr 24, 2020, 3:40 PM UTC

lisper wrote: post #116

mishkovski wrote: post #113

Our last attempt: https://www.instagram.com/p/B_TDukylKSj/ We made it in a regular home oven but on maximum temperature of 285°C (545°F) and broiler on. It takes no more than 2-3 minutes. We followed this recipe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-SJGQ2HLp8

Wow, Instagram has really gone over to the dark side. They haven't just broken the back button, they have entirely disabled it. There is no way to escape that site other than typing in a new URL or going to your browser history.

Works fine in desktop Safari, so it's a problem with your browser.

Re: How to make pizza like a Neapolitan master

#146

Post by carlob » Fri, Apr 24, 2020, 3:42 PM UTC

telesilla wrote: post #119

ThePhysicist wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Damn, he bakes those at 825F (440 °C), which unfortunately is unattainable with most regular home ovens. Mine e.g. maxes out at 300 °C so it's not hot enough to let the crust rise significantly and produce a nicely charred underside, at least not before completely burning the top. What I'm currently experimenting with to solve this problem is to put the pizza on a flat, heavy and preheated iron pan or plancha and hea…

I find a pizza stone is a great addition to the regular home oven for crispy bases.

Yes! Pizza stone! Best 12 euros I've ever spent.

This[0] is the kind of results I'm able to get in a normal Ikea electric oven that maxes out at 250 C. Another thing you can do with it is experiment with a Weber-like barbecue...

[0] https://imgur.com/a/7MDWyv4

Re: How to make pizza like a Neapolitan master

#147

Post by WhompingWindows » Fri, Apr 24, 2020, 3:43 PM UTC

xchip wrote: post #7

Please ignore all these experts, all they want is to make you feel special because you drink/eat their stuff. Above a certain threshold one cannot tell the difference between good and very good. Wine tasters know it and it has been very well documented. When it comes to flavours, as long as it doesn't harm you, your judgement is as good as anybody else.

I think your argumentation lacks evidence. Where is the evidence for your very strong claims?

Re: How to make pizza like a Neapolitan master

#148

Post by lisper » Fri, Apr 24, 2020, 3:45 PM UTC

toohotatopic wrote: post #144

lisper wrote: post #126

I can't speak to pizza, but I have an espresso story to tell. One of my favorite things about going to Italy is the quality of the coffee. I really like extreme dark roast (your typical American diner coffee doesn't even count as coffee in my book). In Italy you can go into pretty much any coffee shop and come away with a top-quality espresso. (Don't even get me started on Starbucks.) It's a taste I inherited from my…

Those Italians in your coworker space, were they baristas or office workers? I would expect that Italians in Italy also cannot produce perfect espresso unless they made it their profession.

They were all software engineers.

Re: How to make pizza like a Neapolitan master

#149

Post by theelous3 » Fri, Apr 24, 2020, 3:46 PM UTC

lisper wrote: post #126

I can't speak to pizza, but I have an espresso story to tell. One of my favorite things about going to Italy is the quality of the coffee. I really like extreme dark roast (your typical American diner coffee doesn't even count as coffee in my book). In Italy you can go into pretty much any coffee shop and come away with a top-quality espresso. (Don't even get me started on Starbucks.) It's a taste I inherited from my…

I found the coffee in italy unremarkable compared to any other decent cafe in any of dozen random european countries.

There are three cafes local to me that are better than pretty much anything you'd get in italy.

Italian espresso is just... extremely plain. Decent, but boring.

Re: How to make pizza like a Neapolitan master

#150

Post by diroussel » Fri, Apr 24, 2020, 3:46 PM UTC

CraneWorm wrote: post #132

lisper wrote: post #126

I can't speak to pizza, but I have an espresso story to tell. One of my favorite things about going to Italy is the quality of the coffee. I really like extreme dark roast (your typical American diner coffee doesn't even count as coffee in my book). In Italy you can go into pretty much any coffee shop and come away with a top-quality espresso. (Don't even get me started on Starbucks.) It's a taste I inherited from my…

> It is still a mystery to me how the Italians manage to produce such consistently good coffee I thought they use moka pots. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moka_pot Easy to clean, easy to use, doesn't burn the coffee, like a percolator inevitably will.

Yes, they do, except they call it a caffettiera. Every house in italy I've been to has one or more. This is in the north, the south might be different. But it's not the same as an espresso machine.