Joe Salonia, Cutting the Curd

06/25/23 • 62 min

Welcome back to Pizza Quest! We recently did a show that we called Bourbon 101 (June 11), and have done other shows that celebrate artisanship in subjects adjacent to our usual focus on pizza (olive oil, mezcal, tomatoes, and various types of cheeses). But, when Joe Salonia, co-host of HRN's podcast series, Cutting the Curd, offered to take me on a journey of his personal specialty cheese category, Swiss, it was impossible to resist. Joe is a national sales and marketing rep for Gourmino Cheese, makers of some of the finest Swiss-style cheeses in the world. To most Americans, the term "Swiss Cheese" is very confusing, so I asked Joe to take me by the hand and walk me through a tasting that would lift the veil and make me a semi-dangerous Swiss cheese expert. Taste along, if you'd like, and join us on a deep dive into the wonderful world of Swiss cheese!

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Click here for the video versions of Pizza Quest.

If you count on HRN content, become a monthly sustaining donor at heritageradionetwork.org/donate.

Pizza Quest is Powered by Simplecast.

Previous Episode

Jonathan Goldsmith, Padrone of Spacca Napoli, Chicago

Over twenty years ago, Jonathan Goldsmith fell in love with traditional Napoletana wood-fired pizza while living in Italy, and then became a mid-life apprentice to the local pizza masters. He then decided to bring the experience back to his hometown of Chicago, where this style was still a new thing. Spacca Napoli was thus born on the North Side, and has become a pizza pilgrimage destination ever since, even in pizza-crazed Chicago, loaded with every style of pizza known to man. There's something about the inner connection that Jonathan has with his pizza roots, a genuine soulfulness, that is experienced by his patrons, who view him as the padrone of Spacca Napoli and as their own link to the authenticity he so clearly honors. Jonathan returns to Pizza Quest in this episode to elaborate on his unexpected journey in becoming one of the pizza community's most beloved ambassadors of the true craft.

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Next Episode

The Pizza Crossover with Giulio Adriani and Mark Dym

One of the recent paradigm shifts in the pizzeria world is that customers are now familiar with and in search of many styles of pizza, be it classic Neapolitan, New York and New Haven, thin-crusted parlor and bar pizzas, Detroit and Sicilian thick crusted, and all of the variations in-between. In response, a number of popular pizza experts have expanded their repertoires to include pizza styles that were not part of their original menu.

In Denver, Colorado, Mark Dym has long been known for his award-winning Neo-Neapolitan-style pizzas at Marco's Coal-Fired Pizza; while Giulio Adriani has been a go-to teacher, trainer, consultant and trail blazer in the wood-fired Naples-style pizza realm. In this conversation with Peter, they discuss shifting customer demands and how they are expanding their own repertoires to stay one step ahead of the curve.

Click here for the video versions of Pizza Quest.

If you count on HRN content, become a monthly sustaining donor at heritageradionetwork.org/donate.

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