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Confessions of a Pizzaholic
Story and photos by Justin Fox Burks
For years, I did not recognize that I even had a problem. However, last week, I found myself standing in the backyard with a contractor friend of mine who’s measuring a space where we could build a custom-made outdoor wood-fired pizza oven, Then it hit me like the ton of bricks it was going to take to build that thing: my name is Justin Fox Burks, and I’m a pizzaholic.
Have you ever tried to convince your wife that it’s an excellent idea to stand in line for two hours at Grimaldi’s in Brooklyn just to get a chance to try pizza from a coal-fired oven? Have you ever stood outside the windows of multiple Famous Ray’s to watch pies being thrown for so long that you started to creep the pizza guys out? Have you ever had your brother bring you a pizza from Mellow Mushroom when you heard he’d be passing though Nashville? Do you have theories, any theories at all, about what makes a good pizza? Have you ever been called a pizza snob? Well, if you answer yes to any of these questions, you might be in the same boat as me.
Upon my realization that it was going to cost several thousand dollars to complete my dream oven, I decided to scrap the idea and try to improve my pizza with knowledge instead of equipment. Let me assure you, I already make a fine pizza. I pride myself on that fact, but there is always room for improvement, right? It was time to forget all that I think I know about pizza; I went ahead and asked the experts.
“Too much yeast!” said Brian Lurie, owner and operator of Mama Mia’s Pizzaria on Houston Levy, exclaimed as I rattled off my top-secret pizza crust recipe. Impossible…right?
I told him that I only use about a tablespoon of yeast in my recipe, and that it yields three pizza crusts.
“I use two teaspoons in a hundred pounds of dough, and we let the dough proof for three days,” he replied. My head started spinning. The difference was staggering to me. At that point, I wasn’t sure if I even wanted to ask any more questions.
What makes this guy an expert? He is making real pizza in a city that often seems confused about what a pizza should be.
He personally makes 80 percent of the 2,000 pizzas Mama Mia’s cranks out each week. That means on average, he throws 1,600 pizzas a week, and the quality of each is top-notch. “The way we do it is the most tedious and labor-intensive way possible,” Brian beamed. “There is a process to it, but in the end, it’s all about simplicity.”
I continued the interrogation: So why in the world does my pizza crust tear when I try to get all fancy and throw it in the air? I thought I was doing everything right: I use bread flour, and I mix it for fifteen minutes in my Kitchen Aid to develop the glutens just like Alton Brown taught me.
Brian quickly diagnosed the problem.”We mix the dough as quickly as possible so it stays tender and stretches easier,” he explained. That makes total sense. Damn you, Alton Brown.
I told him that I like to use beer instead of water in my crust, and he just looked puzzled. “Maybe cut out the yeast completely?” he guessed. I had obviously ventured into unfamiliar territory. So I decided to pay a little visit to Boscos brewery on Main Street. This is where they brew beer for their restaurant as well as the Ghost River brand you can find on tap around town. There, I ran into Paul Cottam.
“I’d use the Golden Ale,” he told me. “At Boscos, we use whatever is left over from the cask-conditioned ale in our crust.”
“Boscos uses beer in the crust?” I asked. Paul disappeared into the office and emerged holding a copy of A Taste of Memphis, a cookbook from 1997, which held the secret to Boscos beer-laden pizza crust. Andrew Feinstone’s pizza dough recipe is similar to my recipe, but he uses light beer and water instead of beer alone.
“I want something darker!” I exclaimed. I told Paul that I want to be able to see, smell, and taste that my crust is made with beer. After a short discussion, we decided that the Ghost River Glacial Pale Ale might work perfectly for my purposes.
I had one more thing to talk to Paul about before I let him get back to work. I told him that my buddy Brian was concerned that the yeast in the beer could have an impact on my recipe. Paul confidently told me, “Most of the yeast in a beer is dead, so it shouldn’t affect the rise too much. You’ll still need to add yeast unless you want a flat crust.”
I feel ready to get back into my own kitchen to see what I could do with what I learned. I decided to cut down on the yeast, bump up the proof time, slash the mixing time, and since I plan on using ale, which has some sweetness to it, I’m cutting the amount of honey I usually use in half.
I delved into the magical world of dough, but I also want to share some of my own tips when it comes to topping the dough you spent so much time making. I believe that the toppings should reflect your personal tastes. The best advice I have is to limit the number of ingredients you put on top of your pie to a maximum of four. I chose to top one recent pizza with quail eggs and thyme. It reminded me of a wonderful pizza I had in the south of France when I was nineteen years old. The other pizza uses many local ingredients that are readily available. It is topped with caramelized sweet onion and sliced potatoes from Whitton Farms, crumbled goat cheese from Bonnie Blue Farm, and Gracious Garden’s fresh arugula. Be as imaginative and daring as you like when coming up with the toppings for your pizza; after all, it is fun to present—not to mention eat—your very own original pie.
All pizzas generally have the same basic ingredients, so what are the variables? Process, proportion, quality, and time. When I asked Brian for any final advice he said,”Hot oven, hot oven, and hot oven. That is the most important thing.”And while my pizza won’t be baked in a hot, custom-made, wood-burning outdoor brick oven anytime soon, at least they will taste better thanks to the tips and tricks I gathered from my new friends. eM
Justin Fox Burks is a professional photographer and an enthusiastic vegetarian. Visit his blog at thechubbyvegetarian.com.
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Editorial 
