North 5 to 7, becoming variable 4.
Slight or moderate.
Wintry showers.
Mainly good.
Today was Pizza Margherita day (thanks to a reduction
of Buffalo Mozzarella in Lidl). And a simple question turned into a journey.
All I wanted to know if the basil is under the cheese
or over the cheese. If you think this is a bizarre question, try out your pizza
salami with the salami under the cheese or on top (it belongs on the top). So I
dug out one of my old (and very competent) cookbooks to look it up.
Read through it and they insisted that it is done with fresh
oregano. WHAT? The? FUCK?
Come on..Pizza Margherita are 5 ingredients: Pizza
dough, tomatoes, mozzarella, olive oil and basil. We all know this, right? So
my journey started.
First thing I learned was that the charming story about Pizza Margherita is probably fake.
In fact, the only connection to Royalty and pizza,
which has been documented, is with Ferdinand
IV of Naples and his wife Maria; the latter (despite being Austrian) was so
fond of pizza that she had a pizza oven installed in her household. Quite some
decades before “Margherita“ entered the political scene. Seeing that Maria was
only sixteen when she married Ferdinand (and she hated the marriage since she
was only second best after the first “choice” unfortunately died), it is not a
surprise that a sulking, unhappy teenager embraces pizza.
Second blow was about the basil. Basil in Italy is a “Jonny
come lately” herb. Introduces from Asia it requires heat and no frost, but also
wet and well drained soil. If you have ever tried to grow basil in your garden
you know how much you have to water it. Basil is associated with Liguria, a province
in the north of Italy, milder in climate, very much like the South of France,
but not with the South of Italy. It was also considered an “ill omen” and a
symbol of hate (which gives the alleged story, combined with the proudness of
the people of Naples and a disdain for foreign rulers, an interesting twist). Oregano,
on the other hand, is hardy and probably the true taste of Italy. Now... I am
not saying that basil should not be part of a Pizza Margeritha, but it is striking
that, through historical documents, any pizza in Naples (poverty food) was always
quoted as having gutsy flavours: anchovies, clams, or oregano.
Never mind, I had bought basil and I was intended to
use it. On top of the cheese or under.. by now I was too hungry to care.
A pizza Margherita is simple food. And like all simple
food you ought to get the best suited ingredients you can afford. No, a piece
of dough covered with a ready made tomato sauce is not a pizza Margherita. Save
you money and get the best quality tin of tomatoes you can afford. If you cant
afford Buffalo Mozzarella, opt for the normal one. In my opinion it doesn’t make
a huge difference. But for the love of food, get the really best olive oil.
Honestly, I calculated my ingredients and spend, with a very high (priced)
quality tin of tomatoes about £3 on the pizza. No, it is not cheap food. You
get a pizza Margherita at ASDA for 99 pence and it tastes vile. But curbs
hunger. But you also pay in a pizzeria about £6-8 on the simple Margherita. It
might be still lacking in taste.
Pizza
Margherita
150gr of simple flour (yes, you can make it with 00 flour
but you don’t have to, just don’t do it with bread flour)
1 pinch of salt
1 teaspoon of dried yeast
about 90-100ml liquid, either just water or water and a
bit of oil
one (360-400gr) tin of whole, peeled tomatoes (may I
recommend either the Cosi Come or the
Mutti brand?)
One ball of Mozzarella (preferable Buffalo but really don’t
bother with Burrata)
A glug of really, really good olive oil
Torn basil leaves
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
The dough is dead simple and very forgiving. In fact
you can throw, in the evening, all the dry ingredients into a breadmaker and
put the wet ingredients aside... and while you have your shower in the morning
or sip your coffee, throw all together, let the hook do the dough and once it
is done (after 15minutes), oil it and put it in the fridge (covered with cling
film) for the evening. Or just do it now. Just take all the ingredients and
knead into a dough. Dont feel tempted to add more flour, just give it a good
workout. Let it rest (or take out of the fridge) while you deal with the other
parts.
Preheat your oven as high as it gets and put a baking
sheet into the oven so it is searing hot (well done if you have a pizza stone,
I dropped mine on the stone kitchen floor).
Open the tin and cut the tomatoes (while in the tin)
with a scissor in small bits. Put into a sieve, add a sprinkle of sea salt and
white pepper, mix it and let the fluids drip away (you can save the juice for
another dish). About 10-15 minutes. Give it a good stir once in a while.
Cut the mozzarella in very thin slices (astonishingly
difficult).
Once the oven sheet is really hot, shape the dough.
Very thin. As thin as it gets. According to tradition you are not supposed to use
a rolling pin but do it with your hands..but what is tradition? The story of
Margherita? I use a combination of rolling pin and hands to get it in some kind
of shape. Perfectly round? Are you mad? Artisanal touch!
Get your oven gloves ready and be prepared to work
quickly. Open the oven and slap the flat thin dough on the searing hot sheet.
It should start to cook while you reach for the rest. Spoon the (raw) tomatoes
into the middle and spread it out from there. As in a circle motion. You don’t want
(and get) a thick sauce, just enough to cover the dough. Distribute the
mozzarella pieces on top and sprinkle the pizza with a good, healthy glug of
olive oil. Give it a grind of black pepper and return to the oven for 10-15
minutes.
If you have some olive oil left, brush the edges of the
dough after about 10 minutes.
Take out of the oven and distribute the torn basil
leaves on it. Eat and enjoy!
And think about Maria. The unhappy teenager who was
carted off in an arranged marriage to a distant country and spend her evenings
with pizza.
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