Pizza

The beauty! The perfection! Oh... and the guy making the pizza is quite nice looking, too. If only it had been him instead of his chubbier and older counterpart that asked me for un bacio, perhaps I would have considered.

This is Gusto Pizza, my favorite spot for pizza in Firenze. Luckily it was just a couple blocks for both of the apartments I lived in, making it quickly become part of my routine. Once this delectable man has finished crafting your pizza, you are presented with this beauty below:


This is their margherita pizza - just mozzarella, tomatoes, basil, and olive oil. Missing my pizza fix, I tried to create my own tonight. By no means did it come even close to touching the perfection that Gusto Pizza can create, but it was a start.


My Pizza Calabrese was certainly not as bubbly and crisp as what could come from a fire oven, but the flavor was surprisingly close to what it should be. I partially blame the whole wheat pizza dough that I choose as contributing majorly to the fail that was this pizza. Pizza Calabrese is composed of

• Pizza dough
• Mozzarella cheese
• Tomato sauce
• Salame Calabrese
• Red pepper flakes
• Capers

My first cooking teacher, Michele, was from Calabria (the foot part of the boot). The region is surrounded by the sea, so they have many fish dishes and love using hot peppers. One of my Italian teachers, Rosella, described the people as having block heads. Since Michele, without a distinct blockish head, is the only Calabrese person I know, I will have to take her word for it. Among many other words, he never quite knew how to translate caperi into English, so he ended up calling them "capes". The "capes" add a really fantastic salty punch to your bite. Make sure you wash the vinegar or salt off of them before using because otherwise your "salty bite" will end up being more like a salt lick.

For now, I'll keep practicing my pizza skills. I did get a few good tosses in there and managed not to drop the dough on the floor or get it stuck to the ceiling.