The World's Greatest Pizza Sharing Experience

Please, post your pizza slices via DM na@nazzarenaarman.co.uk & h.stampfli@bluewin.ch: we welcome any recipes, stories, infos, events memories, visual materials, disasters, suggestions & ideas!

Pizza Al Freddo

Img00112-20101203-2133

Whoever came up with the phrase al fresco, did not take into account that the majority of Italians call eating outdoors mangiare all'aperto. Al fresco means that one is in a cool place, possibly in the mountains, away from the heat of city summer. 

But tonight, my husband and I experienced something completely new in a famous pizza restaurant in Cambridge: we ate al freddo, in the cold. It should not surprise anyone, really... this is the coldest winter for a long time and not mentioning this very fact could fall short of expectations.

An A4 notice warned us of the fact that inside the restaurant the heating system had packed up: We apologise for the inconvenient, bla bla bla. The usual prose as when the temperature is cold, whilst implying that the more the merrier and that if we all stick together like chickens at night it will feel warm enough. - No, the this bit I am only making up as I write!

As we were waiting to be seated, we begun spotting an array of heaters disseminated in every corner of the dining room and no plug was left idle. Some heaters were just small and cute, and others looked so obsolete we were watching over our shoulder imagining one of those cascades of sparks to lit up the atmosphere. A few tables had people seated still wearing their coats and jackets. 

So, I decided to take a picture of the heater responsible to keep our body temperatures at acceptable levels for our pizza night. I'd say it looks a bit... funny! But it did the job and prevented us from freezing, completely,  maintaining us suitably happy for the whole pizza ritual.

I give the pizzeria staff 10 for the effort! 

Pizza & Science

Img_1839

During our recent visit to the Natural History Museum, we entered an area where the human body was being explored in simple terms, for the benefit of the children. Imagine my surprise when I eyed pizza on one of the posters. There was no dietary agenda involved, thankfully. Pizza was rather showcased to make a point about reflexes and reactions.

Next time you bake pizza at home, you can trust the advice contained in this poster, without having to taste it by scolding yourself. After all, this is what science is all about: reliable and testable data... a little bit like a good pizza recipe.
So, remember to use your protective gear, when handling hot trays and let your pizza cool down before placing it in your mouth.

Pizza española

While we spent our holiday in the land of paella we came across pizzerias, naturally ;-). Of course this made me think of the pizza blog and I thought it would be fun to take pictures of all these pizza venues even though we have tried any of them; Nazzarena will forgive us I guess. xxx

(download)

From China, With Love

by @pcbees

As soon as the waitress put this on our table I knew I had to get my camera and record it for you. This, as the waitress said, is "Chinese Pizza"! It was served up on the last day of our three-day Yangtse River cruise and, as I say, my first reaction was to leave the table and go back to our cabin to get my camera.Not quite the reaction the dining room staff were expecting!
 We saw many places offering 'Pizza' during our travels in China but this was the one and only time we came across 'Chinese Pizza'. Obviously the thing that makes it 'Chinese' is the fact that it is made up primarily of rice (and it tasted as good as it looks! An experience not to be forgotten - but, hopefully, never to be repeated!) 


Chinese_pizza

Pizza GT's friend Colin Clews is a keen traveler and professional writer. 

Scooby Snacks & Pizza


Scooby Snacks make an exceedingly interesting subject in their own right: from reality to fiction, with multiple references to the Scottish burger, to the Hanna-Barbera cartoon; and then Tarantino, via Fun Lovin' Criminals, who created their top single after this theme.

Fun Lovin' Criminals' singer, Huey Morgan, loves pizza so much he has opened two award winning pizza places in Dublin, to allow him 24h access to his favourite food. Formerly based in New York City, Mr Morgan has now moved to the UK, with the rest of the progressive rap/rock band. This certainly grants him faster access to the pizza stuff... but to me there is more than this obvious link between Scooby Snacks and pizza.

Perhaps, pizza is to most of the world the equivalent of Scooby Snack for Scotland. It's a quick and cheep take away commodity. It is linked to the youth culture and the 2008 BBC video featured today is about Scooby Snacks, the song, been plaid at a Summer Music Festival in Scotland. Hear it from the mouths of the local farmers first...

On a less physical level, though, one must notice the reference to Scooby-Doo and Shaggy's food-currency to motivate and repay them for the trouble they go through. Of course, those particular Scooby Snacks were caramel flavoured and resemble pancakes... but let's face it: in this respect, could pizza be the real and ultimate version of the fictional Scooby Snacks for us all pizza-snackers of the world?

Venetian Defiance

Img_0537

I really really really like the way Venetians can be defiant to the extreme!

Today, as we strolling from calle to calle in San Polo, Venice, my husband and I had to stop and laugh at the humorous signs outside of a rustic trattoria. One of the messages, embedded in biro onto the main menu, clearly stated: 

- No pizza
- No lasagne
- No menu for tourists

One cannot be more sure than this that the food served at the Antiche Carampane is genuine homely Venetian cuisine, not some stuff from Bologna or Napoli, further down The Boot!

Then, there is a further notice on pizza alone:

We are not able to make piza, due to the fact that we are too thick to learn how to!

You should hear it read by a Venetian, as the cadence is simply charming and the local sense of pride, defiance and refusal to sell out to tourist sales tactics is totally admirable. You are in Venice: you eat the Venetian stuff!

Antiche Carampane, do never do pizza and keep doing your fantastic local dishes: we will love you for that!

PS: in case you were wondering about the boobies on display on the logo, you ought to know the restaurant is close to the Ponte delle Tette, Tits Bridge. 

Alpha & Omega

(download)

Today I thought to show you the first and the last image on Google Images when one searches the world wide net for pizza.

A few days ago, someone told me that he was expecting Pizza GT, The World's Greatest Pizza Sharing Experience, to last about a week from its launch. He said: 'What is there to say about pizza?!'
Well, he might have a point. There are loads of sites and blogs out there dishing out recipes, vouchers, marketing, tips and suggestions. We like some of these things... but this blog in far from having such aims.
People who lend their typing hands, button-clicking fingers and reading eyes to Pizza GT do so because they have something in common. It does not matter where they are in the world, they do eat pizza and above all, they implicitly know what the stuff is, beyond the material thing!

Pizza is something to enjoy, part and parcel of the everyday life in most countries and the perfect excuse to write about other things. Oh yes, you get it right, now: Pizza GT is not just about pizza, rather the infinite things that happen around it. It is about you!

So, get working on your brain dough and dish out your contribution, because it might come with a unique mix of your idiosyncratic toppings and be savoured by many people who will take pleasure in reading your contribution slice.

This is really, the Alpha & Omega of Pizza GT.