Suits & Pizza

Is there anything better than a good suit and a good pizza? Well, there are more good things out there than that, agreed! But it’s fair to say that many of us love the idea of wearing brilliant tailoring and eating good pizza. If suits aren’t your thing and you just like eating pizza, you will still learn a few things you probably did not know about pizza-making. But if you like me are fascinated with both worlds, this should be an enlightened read.?

Having spent almost three decades working with suits and now with pizza in my own pizzeria, I discovered some striking commonalities between these two inherently different things. It applies not only to the sprite in which these two products are derived but also to the making process itself. Allow me to explain!

Just like there is a proclivity towards thinking of suits as one thing, we also tend to think of one single, well-defined object when we say the word “pizza”. A baked flat piece of bread with topping, typically consisting of tomato sauce and cheese. After the initial categorization, we can quickly agree that there are many different types of pizza and that they differ in style, quality, and taste. In the world of suits, “taste” of course becomes more of a visually element for the eye, rather than a sense produced in our mouth, but the terminology can still somewhat apply. A suit clearly isn’t just a suit - just like a “pizza” isn’t just a pizza.?

So, what are the commonalities that ties these two products more closely together than one might have ever thought of at first? Well first thing is the heritage. When mentioning pizza, ist likely that Italy comes to mind, as it is both the birthplace and where the pinnacle of this product still can be found. With suits there is a similar connection. Even if Italy isn’t the only country who does tailoring well, it undoubtedly true that the Italians excel in the practice of suit making and style as well as having the well-earned reputation of making the best pizza.?

Before turning our attention fully towards Italy, an important point needs to be made. The way we make pizza (and suits) around the world is a clear reflection of the culture of the specific country and as we later shall learn, also can be the reflection of the style and temperament of people from a certain region. To jump the gun, we can think of the US and their deep-pan pizzas. The suit equivalent of those would be the classic American “sack-suit”, where the aim is comfort achieved by adding room in the waist and shoulders. Oversized shoulders, square shaped and heavily padded chest and typically not an ultrafine wool is used. This is exactly like its pizza equivalent which has a thick crust, square edge and is topped with lots of cheese and other less refined toppings. Size and practicality top high-end and refinement in suits and in pizzas alike in that part of the world. That does not by any means mean that we should consider sack suits or deep-pan pizza as bad taste – not at all! Everything has it’s time and its place, but they are nevertheless indicative of the American culture. But then there is the New York style pizza that has a thinner crust, or the Chicago style pizza somewhere in between... Do you see what I am getting at here?

In Italy there are two main styles of pizzas. The?Neapolitan?style and the?Roman?style. Yes, there are other styles too, such as the Sicilian pizza and countless varieties within the styles such as pizza-fritta or calzone and many more. In Italy there is even current trend for new and innovative style pizza. In modern pizzeria’s such as “Sapore” in Verona, you can encounter a “bagel-pizza” or the a “double-crust pizza”, all taking the term pizza under a very large freedom of interpretation to create something new and exciting. Simultaneously there is another trend in Italy towards the more traditional Neapolitan pizza style spreading to the north of the country and we see branches of the traditional Neapolitan pizzeria’s such as “Dry” and “Da Zero” opening restaurants in Milan and the youth are flocking to these trendy spots to rediscover traditional Neapolitan pizza. The Italians, being brought up with pizza and style and having such an extensive tradition around it, are obviously in a different space than the Northern Europeans of who many are oblivious to the many types of pizza and suits that exist, so rather than going into explicit detail, let’s keep things simple and talk about the Neapolitan and Roman style pizza and suit-making. These the two main styles of pizza out of Italy and as it happens they also have each their own distinctive style when it comes to tailoring.??

What is the Neapolitan style?

Neapolitan pizza is highly specified term and craft protected under the?True?Neapolitan Pizza?Association (Associazione Verace Pizza napoletana,?AVPN) which has strict criteria as to when something may be called a?Neapolitan pizza. There is to my knowledge no association that protects Neapolitan-suit making but it is surrounded by very distinct features

The main feature of Neapolitan style pizza needs to be its inflated and rustic edge which curiously is unmistakably similar to the pleated and puffy “spalla camisa” shoulder of a true Neapolitan suit, and the similarities does not stop there.

A Neapolitan pizza has a soft center and for this reason it’s best eaten with a knife and fork. The soft center of this pizza bares a striking resemblance to the soft construction of a Neapolitan suit where the “full canvas” hallmark, and sparingly use of fixation (materials that are fused on to the back side of the fabric to give it more weight and smoothen it) allows small “imperfections” to be visible due to its soft and handmade nature. This is considered EXCLUSIVE, and it requires a highly skilled tailor to apply the right amount of imperfection to make it perfect. The lapels of a Neapolitan suit are typically wide and not far from resembling the large rustic chunks of buffalo mozzarella, casually placed on the tomato sauce covered base of the pizza.?

The Neapolitan pizza must be round with a diameter of minimum 22 cm up to a maximum of 35 cm. Aside from shape and weight there are specific requirements to the origin and type of ingredients and to the preparation technique of the dough. Creating dough for a Neapolitan pizza requires a hydration of around 70 percent, but it can go as high as 80 percent, making the dough super sticky and challenging to work with. The dough is typically prepared with a combination of “biga” (which is like sourdough) and fresh or dry yeast. Only four ingredients are allowed following the AVPN. The flour is always Tipo 00 which is an ultra-fine and high protein type of Italian flour. The kneading process typically begins by slowly combining the ingredients, forming the dough, and kneading it thoroughly before bulk-rising it for several hours and then making the dough balls.?

The dough balls are typically proofing at room temperature for several hours before they are moved to proof cold for a minimum of 48 hours. The weight of the dough ball is from 200 grams up to a maximum of 280 gram. A Neapolitan pizza will typically be of a smaller diameter and utilizing a heavier dough ball, hence the more bready feel of the crust.

As the first step the clearly defined edge (cornicione), of Neapolitan pizza needs to be made, and the pizzaiolo does this by running his fingers into the dough all around. After that a so-called “slap technique” is used to stretch the dough by turning and puling it into a nice round pie. The goal is to preserve as much as the air in the dough as possible and to maintain the high edge, so a roller cannot be used for this. When the ingredients are applied, the soft pizza is then pulled onto the pallet and the final shape is given before loading it into the oven. Neapolitan pizza bakes at a minimum at a temperature between 430 and 480 degrees Celsius and is typically done in 60 – 90 seconds. The finished result has inflated edges of up to 2 cm with a thin crust and a soft center.

Because of the high temperature the ingredients need to be suitable to cook in this short time. Unlike in the roman style pizza, the Neapolitan pizza utilizes fresh buffalo mozzarella and leaves of basil can be baked as well. If the same is tried in a roman style bake the mozzarella will turn rubbery in consistency and fresh basil leaves would burn to a crisp.

Clearly the Neapolitans favors the rustic charm of the artisan craftmanship and exaggerated features and comfort over the more in slick and clean look preferred by the Romans. This applies not only when it comes to suits, but can also clearly be identified in their style of pizza making. But what about the Roman style? How does it measure up?

What is the Roman style?

Just like a with their suits, the romans adapts an entirely different philosophy and approach to construction and style when it comes to pizza. The edge of Roman style pizza is narrow and flat, and the base is thin and turns crispy and crunchy all the way to the center when baked. A slice can be held in the hand and will support itself. No knife and fork needed. The toppings of a can be a little more elaborate, but they don’t have to be. The shape of the classical roman pizza is originally rectangular, but round versions are the norm around the world. They will typically have a larger in diameter than a Neapolitan pizza.

Roman style dough is made with a lower hydration of around 60 percent and dry yeast is typically the only raising agent. Incorporated is a “mother dough” which is a piece of fully ready, preferment dough which is added to the new batch of dough. The old dough is there to enhance the flavor and facilitate a good fermentation.??The flour is also here typically Tipo 00 although a combination of flours may be used as well. While Neapolitan dough is restricted to four ingredients, a fifth is often seen in the roman style dough, and that is olive oil, which is added to make the dough more pliable as well as adding to the crispiness. Roman style dough is typically bulk fermented for about one hour and then cold fermented to prevent the dough from raising too much but still allowing the complex sugars to develop the fermentation time can vary but is typically no less then 48 hours. The weight of the dough ball is around 200 grams.

The dough ball is opened by hand and flattened using a roller to create a uniform thickness. The roman style pizza has flat edges, and the air bubbles are pressed out to make it thinner and crispier.?

The baking of roman style pizza happens at temperatures between 350 and 380 degrees and the baking time in between 3 and 4 minutes. It’s the relatively lower temperature and water content, in combination with the longer baking time and way of kneading, which creates the distinctive roman-style pizza. Nothing is left to chance.?

The ingredients are selected and composed to match the longer cooking time. Mozzarella fior-de-latte is used and if fresh mozzarella is applied this goes on the pizza after it has finished baking along with salads and delicate meats such as prosciutto and coppa.?

Pizza and?suit making

Many parallels can be made between the process of making dough and process of weaving a fabric. It’s a simple, yet complex process where a select few number of ingredients, in this case flour, water, salt and a raising-agent (yeast, biga, polish or sourdough) are combined. The type of flour and the proportion in which the ingredients are mixed, as well as the mechanical process of combining, kneading, resting, and proofing, will dramatically influence the final result. Much like the weaver can work with different materials, tension, thread counts and weaving patterns to create the fine cloths, the dough-maker is defining what type of pizza the finished product will be from the very beginning. A dough can be made by hand or in a mixing machine and fabrics can be made on a modern-day weaving machine or like in the case of Harris-Tweed, on an old fashioned hand loom and then that becomes its trademark.?

The process of stretching dough again shares many similarities to working with fabric and patternmaking. Not only is the dough being stretched into a thin “sheet”, but it also acquires the shape and feature characteristics you will see in the finished pizza. How you can and should stretch a dough will depend on the feel, texture, and flexibility (gluten development) in the dough, exactly like a fabric when it is being spread on a cutting table and the tailor applies the pattern (model) and makes small adjustments according to the unique fabric properties. Having worked many year in the made-to-measure suit industry, one of the greatest challenges there, is making different fabrics feel the same to the customer when wearing different suits. That’s because a suit can feel very different depending on the fabric of which its being made, even when the same pattern is used for both. Pizza will bake very differently depending on a large number of factors and the skills and experience of the master craftsman is absolutely vital to ensure a good end result. Both pizza and suit-making are artisanal crafts at their core.

Specialized tools are required, some as ancient as wood-fired cooking, but not unlike a clothing factory where the most amazing machinery is has been developed to imitate the work of a tailor’s hands and give a traditional look and feel, the pizza-world has also developed similar modern machines. Electrical ovens are today fully capable of producing a product that is perfectly on par with a wood-fired setup. Having worked closely with both wood, gas and electrical ovens, this aspect of pizza making was undoubtedly the most surprising to me. The difference between the taste of a pizza from a wood-fired oven and a modern electrical oven is neglectable. Many people will swear they can tell the difference, but just as it has been proven that most people cannot tell the difference between coke and Pepsi when blind folded, the same is true when it comes to pizza. But then again, not all electical ovens are created equal.

At De Pizzabakkers Maastricht we have struck a great compromise with our Italforni Caruso oven. It is an always open, electrical pizza oven, capable of temperatures as high as 530 degrees Celsius, which is a lot more than is needed for our roman-style bake, but it makes this oven very capable of maintaining a steady temperature. The best part is that working with it like working with in a traditional wood-fired oven, where the pizzaiolo is turning and moving the pizza’s around to achieve the perfect bake.?

In this oven you also avoid the typical uniform and too evenly baked look of a pizza coming from more inferior electrical ovens. The taste and visual appeal of the pizzas from this type of oven is exceptional.

One could even go as far and argue that in the professional setting of a pizzeria, the electrical oven can produce a more consistent and thereby better quality seen over the span of the day. This is because you can more accurately set the temperature and adjust top and bottom heat according to the needs of the dough. Dough bakes differently depending on its temperature and level of ripeness and in a busy pizzeria, different doughs are used during the day. If you are an enthusiast home pizza cook with a woodfired pizza-oven in the back yard this will not be an issue you would ever encounter.?

The PERCEPTION of “wood-fired pizza” however is not neglectable and the thought and sight of a wood-fire awakes something profound in us humans tracing back to our ancestors early gathering, bonding, and cooking using fire. Something we modern city humans still has as a subconscious urge, and which today only materializes for some in the occasional charcoal backyard barbeque session. Woodfired pizza still has an amazing appeal to it, just like “made in Italy” still carries a lot of weight in the suit industry, as do hand-stitched buttonholes and other details around the suits that are hand stitched, and even hand-woven fabric as previously mentioned but all within its limits. No one would like a suit that was entirely hand-stitched and sewing machines much preferred for the bulk of the sewing work.?

Conclusion?

For me, the discovery that pizza and suits are sharing some strong fundamental similarities was a true Aha-moment and I have been wanting to share these observations with the people in my network who are equally interested this topic. This short article gave me that chance.

In the world of suits, the Neapolitan suit is the less known and the specialty product for the connoisseur and enthusiast who understands that the perfection should be found in its deliberately made imperfections. Most people have a hard time grasping why it’s good thing that a suit typically costing upwards of two thousand euros or more should look a bit wrinkled. For this reason, the Roman style is far more common and the one most widely adopted by the mainstream brands and consumers who prefer the cleaner look.

In the world of pizza, the roles are somewhat reversed. People think of Neapolitan pizza as the real pizza and most authentic and desirable too. It curiously however always seems to me that when people are describing their idea of a “perfect pizza”, the classic Neapolitan traits are never mentioned. Instead, a thin and crispy crust IS mentioned. How many times have you seen the bready pieces of the crust stay behind uneaten on plates in restaurants? So, is Neapolitan pizza, the pizza people THINK they want, but in reality they actually like the Roman style better? That was the question I set out to find the answer to when I put my career in the clothing industry on hold to pursue my dream and ambition of owning a pizzeria – and not just any pizzeria, the best Roman-style pizzeria.?

If you like to taste what I have come up with so far, then come visit me at De Pizzabakkers Maastricht.

Grazie é viva la pizza!