Know When to Hold Them, Know When to Fold Them

11/23/21 • 47 min

🍕🍕🍕🍕 Dough is a living, breathing thing. It rises, it reacts to its environment: temperature, time ... it’s an extensible object that shapes the way we interact with pizza. But how malleable is it? People are pushing the boundaries of what constitutes crusts throughout the country, giving new parameters to how we think about grain builds, proofing, shaping, baking, and handling the process of pizza making in general. While there are unlimited options for pizza toppings, Nathan posits that what may set it apart the most, is its base.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Previous Episode

Agent Double Zero

🍕🍕🍕 What’s the secret behind a perfectly charred Neapolitan pizza? Answer: the cornicione—that famed leopard-spotting that blisters around the edges. But is this a sign of superior pie, or just burnt dough? Whether you like a soft crust with a chew, or a nice crisp bite, it’s merely a matter of the dough’s four main ingredients: flour, water, salt, yeast . . . or is it something else? We’ll find out more about the foundations of a perfect pizza — from Italy’s prized 00 flour, to farms that grow ancient wheats specifically for pizza. But is flour as different as the homophones: palate and palette?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Next Episode

Aplomb Tomato

🍕🍕🍕🍕🍕 Why is the humble plum tomato the gold standard for pizza sauce? According to the AVP, there are only three tomato varieties permitted to make real authentic Pizza Napoletana: San Marzano (the most famous/infamous), Piennolo (known for being preserved in bunches, hanging on a piece of twine), and finally, the Corbarino. We’ll talk to growers of the two latter tomato types, and find out what sets their fruit apart. We’ll also find out what happens when a California canning company joins forces with a wood-fire pizza legend, how northern Italian pesto Genovese became the go-to green sauce for many pies, and what sauces Modernist Cuisine constituted as pizza sauce. Spoiler alert: that can of soup you have in your pantry may comply. What’s in your sauce?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.