Please read my notes below on all the pizza reviews I am about to do and in every review I would refer back to this document.
I am going to start by saying that making pizza is very complicated and it takes extreme dedication to make good pizza. It really is an art and a lot comes with experience. Although one might think that it is very easy, it is actually very difficult. When you eat a good pizza you will know and will never forget the experience and taste. A True Napoletana style is unbeatable.
You should never underestimate how complicated it is to make good, consistent pizza dough, on a daily/weekly basis. Dough has a mind of its own and to get a good product, is very difficult indeed. You only need 4 ingredients. You should always use type “00” flour, water, salt and yeast.
Another factor is the oven and temperature which will affect the cooking of the pizza. The type of oven could also affect the taste and time it takes to cook the pizza (ie..wood, gas or electric). A good pizza should cook between 60-90 seconds. Oven temp +900F
It should have an edge (cornicione) of around an inch with a slight crunch and the pizza should be about 12-14 inches. The edge should bounce back if you poke the dough with a slight crunch. The pizza edge should also not break if you fold it into a quarter.
The pizza should be soft and slightly chewy when you eat it.
The pizza sauce should be canned San Marzano tomatoes from the Campania region in Italy.
Another aspect that could influence the pizza is the climate. Depending on the time of year you might get different results when making the dough. It is therefore vital that the pizzaiollo (pizza maker) needed to be well trained and have a good understanding in making dough.
For Margarita pizza you need to use either Fior di Latte (cow milk mozzarella) or for the purist, Mozzarella di Bufala (from water Buffalo) or you get Marinara with no cheese (sauce, oregano and garlic).
Final ingredient for good pizza – drizzle of Virgin Olive Oil!
You get various types of pizza but I will predominantly only be reviewing the classic Napolitana style.