Food tasting and taste memories are interesting arenas. I had a few of those memories here this weekend and tried six homemade pizzas, from dough on up.
I had a lot of toppings but some pairing ideas so that I can see what tasters want. My ideas were: mozzarella cheese (fresh Wisconsin) with tomato sauce; that with pepperoni; pissaladiere, the classic French pizza with caramelized onions and anchovies; Kale (I used cavolo nero) with feta and roasted garlic; roasted baby brussels sprouts with bechamel and crumbled pepper bacon; roasted butternut squash with fontina val d’aosta, then topped with proscuitto and arugula with my own lemon vinaigrette.
Only one did one of my suggestions, everyone else improvised in their selections. In a world of fast food, I think I hit a home run!
One of the tasters went for the plain cheese, another for sauteed onions, my marinated olives with garlic and spices in olive oil, and toasted pignoli. The rest of the guests went for the brussels sprout pie (all hand made and rolled) one cheese and pepperoni (my dear husband) and two all over the place flavor-wise.
The most interesting tasters here were our guests with plain cheese and that with olives, sauteed onions and pepperoni. See, the cheese reviewer is five years old. The other, who was sampling onions and pignoli and other items was interested in dough-making and tastes. She is three years old.
From now on no matter how much work it is for me to make 15 toppings and dough this is what I’ll do for families as a get-together activity. It is my greatest wish, inspired by the wonderful aunts L and J that kids taste. If every ingredient is out in a bowl ready to go, let them stick their fingers in and decide what to put on their pizza.
Of course the kids decided first and we did theirs, then the guests, then my husband’s then mine. It was a trial run except that there’s a smoke/heat detector right outside the kitchen by the den and as a legal bedroom it must be there. It went off four times due to heat, not smoke, and my husband’s “legacy” pizza stone he’d purchased the day before… and scared my young reviewers. Sorry!
My aunts wouldn’t let me know what was in anything until I tasted it first, and my palate is all the better for it. Thank you guest reviewers, for visiting, and thanks AL&J for making it possible. Dee
ps I usually use 2/3 AP flour and 1/3 whole wheat but as my husband bought me kilos of Italian 00 flour I’m learning its’ properties as well.
Cooking with Dee 