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How to make pizza like a Neapolitan master

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Re: How to make pizza like a Neapolitan master

#191

Post by joefourier »

rv-de wrote: post #177

I very much enjoy making pizza (or pasta) in the evening after work. It's a great way to relax, watch something on the side and provides some kind of Italian style escapism where you enter semi-consciously a fantasy world of Mediterranean savoir vivre (what's the Italian term here?). In the end I enjoy (usually together with my girlfriend or guests) the result with a nice bottle of red wine which provides the elevati…

A pizza stone is a definite improvement, but what will make an absolute world of difference is a proper pizza oven (preferably wood-fired, but gas also works).

I instantly went from mediocre home pizza to almost restaurant grade simply by switching from my household oven to an Ooni, despite using the same ingredients and preparation method.

Re: How to make pizza like a Neapolitan master

#193

Post by ofrzeta »

boris wrote: post #165
kimi wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nespresso. That's what Italians drink at home today. Easy peasy, always good. Even my relatives in Naples drink it. :)

Second that. As much as I want to believe a $10k La Marzocco is absolutely essential to good espresso, a $100 Nespresso machine and Kazaar roast is the best espresso I've ever had.

You don't need to spend 10k for good espresso. Get a used portafilter machine, a grinder and good beans. I used to drink Nespresso but gave up because of the huge amount of waste. Now I am happy with my Saeco Aroma (old model, bought for 150 euros). Actually I even went back to hand grinding with my Hario grinder some month ago. I'll take the time and also have some workout :)

Re: How to make pizza like a Neapolitan master

#194

Post by character0 »

gdubs wrote: post #88
pbowyer wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For years I've dreamed of building a wood-fired pizza oven, or buying one of the cast kits from https://www.fornobravo.com/ . But this looks way easier and cheaper. How long does a gas cylinder last?

I have a green-egg[1] style ceramic grill that works really well for pizza. Wood-fired, and can get up to a pretty good temperature. I use a pizza stone in it. 1: The exact brand is a Kamado ceramic grill.

What kind of pizza stone do you use? I have a green egg, but have never made pizza in it.

Re: How to make pizza like a Neapolitan master

#195

Post by Arnt »

albmoriconi wrote: post #64
slow_donkey wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would instant yeast have an effect on slow rising? You'd just use a smaller amount than AD or cake yeast? I can't think of any significant difference especially compared to AD.

It seems that I wrongly thought that "instant yeast" was what we call "lievito istantaneo", i.e. baking powder, that would give a a pretty different end-product. It looks like it can also refer to instant active yeast, i.e. dehydrated beer yeast, that should actually be fine as far as I can tell (I have no idea of exact proportions however).

Dehydrated yeast will work, but getting the amounts right is more difficult in my experience. I can cut a paper-thin sliver from a yeast cube easier than than I can count the right number of grains of dehydrated yeast.

Re: How to make pizza like a Neapolitan master

#196

Post by bearzoo »

airstrike wrote: post #124
misiti3780 wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ciao, Come siete ? I'm not sure if you have ever been to NYC but an interesting observation I have had with Gino Sorbillo is the pizza in Napoli is very good, but he/they opened a restaurant in NYC and it's absolutely average at best. I assume they import everything, but quality wise, the places are polar opposites. Also curious your thoughts of Da Michele?

Try Pizzarte and Naples 45 in Midtown And for a different type of pizza but honestly my favorite pizza on Earth, try the Portobello pizza at Mediterraneo on the UES. They have no idea how good that pizza is otherwise they'd turn the whole place into a pizzeria and just do that everyday

in NYC una is the best i've found. it easily competes with the best in naples (in my opinion)

Re: How to make pizza like a Neapolitan master

#197

Post by TeMPOraL »

misiti3780 wrote: post #99
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…

Ciao, Come siete ? I'm not sure if you have ever been to NYC but an interesting observation I have had with Gino Sorbillo is the pizza in Napoli is very good, but he/they opened a restaurant in NYC and it's absolutely average at best. I assume they import everything, but quality wise, the places are polar opposites. Also curious your thoughts of Da Michele?

Given the stories I hear from pretty much everyone in my circle who's been to the US, there's a general problem with food there tasting bland, in comparison to Europe. Like others, I suspect the ingredients in the States are worse for some reason (perhaps they've been optimized too much for shelf life).

Re: How to make pizza like a Neapolitan master

#198

Post by yomly »

misiti3780 wrote: post #167
yomly wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recently went to Naples and IMO the secret to just how amazing everything tastes there is the quality of produce. I don't know whether you can even export it - I don't know whether that kind of quality travels. On the Netflix show ugly delicious one of the chefs explain supposedly in Naples chefs will choose their mozzarella freshness by the hour (e.g. 6 hours or 12 hours) but to make "authentic" Neapolitan pizza w…

yes -- but on the same show they highlighted people making ridiculous high quality fresh naples-style pizza in other countries other than italy - japan, denmark, etc. the cheese is the hardest part of the pizza to replicate outside of italy for sure, you can easily buy high quality imported olive oil, flour, and san marzano tomatos.

yeah the guy from Denmark resorted to making his own mozzarella by rearing his own cows - hence the point about exporting.

Japan have decent local dairy (Hokkaido milk) and their overall attitude to produce is similar to Italy which probably is a big contributor to their food culture

Re: How to make pizza like a Neapolitan master

#199

Post by ggsp »

Arnt wrote: post #195
albmoriconi wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems that I wrongly thought that "instant yeast" was what we call "lievito istantaneo", i.e. baking powder, that would give a a pretty different end-product. It looks like it can also refer to instant active yeast, i.e. dehydrated beer yeast, that should actually be fine as far as I can tell (I have no idea of exact proportions however).

Dehydrated yeast will work, but getting the amounts right is more difficult in my experience. I can cut a paper-thin sliver from a yeast cube easier than than I can count the right number of grains of dehydrated yeast.

Grams are a thing ;)

Re: How to make pizza like a Neapolitan master

#200

Post by whycombagator »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #197
misiti3780 wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ciao, Come siete ? I'm not sure if you have ever been to NYC but an interesting observation I have had with Gino Sorbillo is the pizza in Napoli is very good, but he/they opened a restaurant in NYC and it's absolutely average at best. I assume they import everything, but quality wise, the places are polar opposites. Also curious your thoughts of Da Michele?

Given the stories I hear from pretty much everyone in my circle who's been to the US, there's a general problem with food there tasting bland, in comparison to Europe. Like others, I suspect the ingredients in the States are worse for some reason (perhaps they've been optimized too much for shelf life).

> Given the stories I hear from pretty much everyone in my circle who's been to the US, there's a general problem with food there tasting bland, in comparison to Europe

I think that heavily depends on where your circle is eating at in both places.

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