Italia-Australia – pizza at full speed

Cooking is not a one-man show. Nor is it the art of making a (great) pizza. This is what Antonio l’Australiano seems to suggest while he introduces us to his best suppliers, a catwalk of delicious food that set the beginning of a special event organised at La Cascina dei Sapori to celebrate the unusual collaboration with Stefano Manfredi, a gastronomic institution Down Under.

And so here they are, these magnificent suppliers: Corte Fusia with its Franciacorta Brut (75% chardonnay and 25% pinot nero, 30 months on the lees), Antica Ardenga with an excellent Culatello di Zibello POD, not counting the fiocco di culatello and the salami; macelleria Liberini with a surprising, intense Rezzaola, that is to say the Rezzato version of the classic, yet often disappointing bresaola; La Fucina dei Sapori with a superb soft gorgonzola riserva, served with balsamic vinegar from Reggio Emilia and chopped pistachio from Bronte; finally Caseificio Barlotti for a more than good – given the very different latitudes – buffalo milk mozzarella from Paestum.

Tastings, clapping of hands, but the spotlight was pointing on him alone, Antonio Pappalardo, who is the heart and soul of La Cascina: he doesn’t disappoint the expectations, once again he’s multifaceted, full of adrenalin, creativity, ambition, never satisfied; just like the time when he was no satisfied with the usual pizza “alla napoletana” served in the family restaurant – originally from Castellammare di Stabia, but in Rezzato (Bs) for years now – and decided to take the still little known paths of gourmet pizza. He’s gone a long way since then (and many hours of flight too): at the end of October he was again in Australia, for the third or fourth time and apparently it was not the last time either – that place seems to give him leisure and inspiration; this time he was invited by Manfredi, who wanted his young colleague to take care of the opening of his new pizzeria in Sidney, a place called Pizzaperta.

The Pappalardo-Manfredi partnership turned out to be a fertile one and the latter returned to Italy full of ideas. What followed was the Walkabout Pizza event, a sort of summing up of the experience, which culminated with the presentation of a special pizza, born from the collaboration between the two. Something truly delicious and pleasing: a dough made with Petra flour varieties, cooked in a wood oven; topped with macadamia nut cream, grilled scallops, parmesan chips and toasted macadamia crumble. This was the zenith in an yummy evening: after the aperitif, with a tasting of the above mentioned raw materials, it was the turn of a Steamed bread roll (the dough is made entirely with whole-wheat) stuffed with creamed salted codfish, cauliflower cream and confit capers with a set of aromas so intense the competitors vanquished.

Then came another gourmet pizza: the dough is made with the same mix of flour as the previous one, it is cooked in a wood oven and the topping is made of smoked buffalo milk mozzarella, broccoli, ciccioli and radishes. The last tasting was also delicious, a pizza cooked in a baking tin, Roman style, with a highly hydrated dough made with Petra 3 flour and baked in an electric oven. Light and crispy, to balance the exceptional intensity of the topping: fiordilatte cheese, guanciale, stracchino from le pertiche and late radicchio.

The pairings were with the beers from 32 Via dei Birrai, and the sweet finale was also interesting: Panna poco cotta, with melannurca apple, gianduia and confetto candies, presented by the pastry-chef at La Cascina dei Sapori, Matteo Attianese, as well as the leavened panettone with apricot, awarded during the Panettone Day 2014, by Sandro Filippini of Dolce Angolo in Rezzato.