[Sca-cooks] Sicilian Pizza

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

On Aug 7, 2009, at 11:24 AM, Michael Gunter wrote:

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>> It's my understanding that nobody has placed Chicago pan
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>> pizza (as opposed to Sicilian pizza, also baked in a pan) prior
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>> to Pizzeria Uno in 1943 --
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>
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>> Adamantius
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>
> I lived for quite some time in Sicily and no pizza that I ever got
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> was either cooked or served in a pan.

You're going to tell me you never saw Turkish Taffy in Istanbul, either?

I'm sure you're right. However, be that as it may, the stuff that is  
purveyed as Sicilian pizza by the places with those gas-fired Ray Bari  
pizza ovens, is baked in a pan. I'm not prepared to say it's how it's  
done exclusively, but it is at least commonly done that way.

As I understand the process, it's a different dough with more oil in  
it; it may be more delicate to maneuver without a pan, or maybe the  
pan helps it keep its shape, or keeps it from burning, but what I've  
seen a nekkid focaccio-like unit is baked lightly in a pan, then  
topped and rebaked, possibly after removing from the pan.

I'm sure there are key differences in how pizza di Napoli is made in  
Naples and elsewhere, too (and I don't just mean the war atrocities  
committed by Dominoes), but unfortunately authenticity, orthodoxy and  
simple reality aren't always the same thing.

Adamantius






"Most men worry about their own bellies, and other people's souls,  
when we all ought to worry about our own souls, and other people's  
bellies."
			-- Rabbi Israel Salanter