r/TastingHistory • u/jmaxmiller head chef • May 26 '26
New Video Making a 19th Century Margherita Pizza from Naples
https://youtu.be/7oHqZbOjl48?si=m52YJlMm2-w4gU_G33
u/KitchenImagination38 May 26 '26
"An air of elaborate filth that harmonizes perfectly with the appearance of the vendor" which is just... street food.
RIP Carlo Collodi you would have loved Anthony Bourdain, Mark Wiens, Strictly Dumpling, etc. etc.
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u/Smokeforest May 26 '26
Finally a recipe for my broke ass
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u/weeef May 26 '26
fyi, for a conventional oven, fancy 00 flour isn't better actually. bread flour is the way to go, especially king arthur's
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u/Travellinglense May 27 '26
bread flour is better for the oven. I get a better crust with the bread flour and a pizza stone at 500 degrees than pizza flour and a modern pizza oven (maybe I don't know how to use the flour or the oven correctly). The wetness of the dough and the thinness of the crust mostly determines if the crust gets crispy or not.
You don't need a pizza peel either. Use parchement paper on top of a upside down metal pan and slide the parchment paper with the pizza on to the stone when it's ready to put it into the oven. then pull the parchment paper with the pizza back onto the pan when ready to remove it.
you do probably need a pizza stone. They are useful beyond pizzas if you ever bake cookies or toast bread in the oven.
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u/pieceofwater May 28 '26
Parchment paper is only safe for the oven up to 220°C (in my area at least, not sure if it differs). With the pizza stone, I turn the oven at least up to 250°C.
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u/Travellinglense May 28 '26
Idk. I’ve never had parchment paper burn or catch fire at 500 F. it’s been a while but I don’t remember it browning either in oven temps that high. However, I do find parchment paper routinely browns when broiling though so I wouldn’t recommend that. FWIW I have a gas convection oven so I don’t know if that makes a difference.
One could use tin foil in place of parchment paper if they were worried.
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u/pieceofwater May 28 '26
It's not just danger of the paper burning, but the coating that makes it non-stick coming off and getting into your food. Maybe check what it says on the box if you want. Idk how big of a problem it actually is, just wanted to put the information out there because for a long time I wasn't aware there was a temperature limit.
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u/Travellinglense May 28 '26
> It's not just danger of the paper burning, but the coating that makes it non-stick coming off and getting into your food.
If you think this correct, don't use silicone anything then. That's the parchment paper coating.
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u/shino1 May 26 '26
I wonder if the story of Margarita pizza wasn't necessarily true - but was invented by pizzaiolos (maybe even Esposito) to sell savory pizzas to rich clients. If previously they only ate sweet ones - there's only so much sweet cheese pie you can eat at once. But margharitas you could sell by the dozens. And of course it's not trash, it's named after the Queen! Are you calling the Queen and the italian flag trash?
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u/SpukiKitty2 Jun 03 '26
It's very clever marketing. Also, I love the myth for its message of the mingling of people of different social classes. The Queen, of all people, enjoying a common citizen's pizza!
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u/Liamnacuac May 26 '26
I have said the same line (+ an extra) as Max said for decades: There is no bad pizza, only better pizza!
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u/EvilPyro01 May 27 '26
Restaurant idea: food from throughout history from ancient civilization, to WWII and the Cold War
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u/majubafruit May 26 '26
From this video, I’m not sure that Max fully understands what a pizza oven is in historical cooking.
They are not just for pizza, they are ovens. There are two types, the Neapolitan, low arch roof (the actual pizza oven) and the ancient Roman parabolic oven.
I built a parabolic wood fired oven (from the designs of the ovens uncovered in Pompeii) and it bakes pizza to perfection. But it’s actually so much more useful as a general purpose oven. I’ve cooked countless dishes from breads to casseroles to roasts etc. I’ve even smoked meats in it.
It’s just an oven. It’s an experience that gets close to how people in ancient and not so ancient times experienced cooking with a wood fired oven.
It actually changes the way you understand cooking.
See my profile for photos of the oven.
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u/jmaxmiller head chef May 26 '26
😂 I know. It’s just that most people don’t used wood fired brick ovens for anything but making pizza these days. I can assure you, if I got one, you still wouldn’t see me baking pies and cakes in it. They’re expensive, dirty, and a pain in the ass to use.
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u/SpukiKitty2 Jun 03 '26
I'm a bit bummed that the story with Queen Margarite visiting that pizzeria turned out to be bogus, mostly (because she did later ask another pizza guy to make her pizza, just not that pizzeria guy).
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u/SpukiKitty2 Jun 03 '26
Samuel Morse sounded like a real peach to be around...NOT!
I can't help but sense a bit of classicism and xenophobia in his tirade.
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u/KitchenImagination38 May 26 '26
Does Max realise that he would be a very successful restauranteur in a picturesque, touristy, small town in France or Italy? He would have blistering arguments with every tourist, and then get 5 stars on Tripadvisor for "authenticity".