Pizza Power (Sorrento)

The weather forecasters nailed it. Morning showers greeted us when we opened the shutters. Regardless, we were not straying far from Sorrento itself. While we had sorted how to get to Naples on Monday, I was still to bed down how we were getting form Sorrento to Napoli Centrale on our day of departure. I wasn't keen on a private transfer and the Circumvesuviana didn't look like an option during the peak period when we have luggage.

My search turned up a shuttle service from Sorrento to Naples but nowhere on the web site did it specify where the pick-up point was. My guess was the station or the bus depot a few hundred metres down the road, but I wanted to be sure before I booked. We opted to walk to their office and ask the question.

Before we ventured out for breakfast, the usual rabble of tour groups went marching down the street. The school groups are the loudest. I don't know from whence they come or where they go because we never see them around town. There are a number of cruise ships in and they start early, to the extent that one group was leaving well before 9 this morning.

The usual ruckus they make reached a crescendo to the extent that we thought there was a protest march down in the street. What had occurred, as this particular group walked back to its waiting bus, was two of its number were hit by a car. Who'd have thought it? Walking on the street, where the cars belong and you get hit. I am amazed it doesn't happen more frequently. It would, if I was driving over here. While I will grant you that the Neapolitan drivers are out there, their behaviour is far more rational than that of a tour group blindly following a flag, walking down the centre of the road.

The rain cleared quickly and breakfast was at the usual gelateria/pasticceria, espresso and chocolate muffins. Little ones, not like the oversized version you see at home. Interestingly, although probably not surprising, the muffins were flavoured with lemon.

Ducati time pieces.

From there we navigated past the pick up point for our pizza class and, after a short detour, arrived at the office of Sorrento Coastal Shuttles. They were non-committal about the pick-up point, here or your hotel, depends, was the reply. The office was less than 10 minutes from our apartment so it wouldn't be an issue for us. We booked our seats, supplied the details of our accommodation which is on the road back to Naples and it was decided they would collect us there. Bonus.

Home via the supermarket in case we require a light dinner after making our lunch time pizzas and then, it was time for domestic duties. Reconciling the credit card with the receipts. This is a relatively simple task at home, a glance down the page usually does it, but when your life revolves around your card for every purchase and in a foreign language, it takes time to make sure things are ok. They were and dozens of receipts went into the recycling.

By the time we left for our pizza class, the cloud had returned and the wind had picked up. We dusted off our apron's from Matt's tour, stowed them in our bag and walked the few minutes to the Plaza Hotel. Chef Luigi was already in fine form when he collected us and a Canadian couple for the 10 minute drive to his restaurant/cooking school. There was another Australian couple, a mother and daughter American pair and an Italian father and his two sons.

The Plaza Hotel, our pick up point, is located next to the gorge. Down in the depths, there is a derelict building that was once a mill, among other things. Once the piazza was established above it, the humidity became unbearable and people couldn't work there so it was abandoned. Since then, it has become a sort of open air terrarium and has fostered the growth of numerous varieties of ferns.

Tirabuscio Restaurant is perched on the hill above Sorrento, beyond some ageless olive groves and lemon orchards. Inside the restaurant tables were set for lunch and two other, longer tables were set up to make pizzas. We sat around and chatted while the mini-van made another trip back to town to collect the last of the participants/students.

Before we got our hands dirty, we watched Maria make bocconcini balls while drinking a glass of their red wine. The process looked so simple I am keen to try it at home. It is really just milk, rennet and a little salt. We shall see if it is so easy. The bocconcini was lovely and we sampled it with some foccacia and a variety of flavoured olive oils. What an excellent way to commence a class.

Watching the magic happen.

Ushered back inside, we assumed our places around the long table where ingredients had already been 'measure' out. Yeah, not so sure about that. I am unusually meticulous when making pizza dough and follow the recipe closely. Everything is weighed. Not today. It blew my mind.

Take your stations.

A glance down the table suggested the amount of flour in front of each person would be roughly the same. Roughly, not exactly. Luigi talked about the process and the importance of 'double 00' flour, Caputo is best. I'm changing brands, Caputo is much higher in protein.

The recipe, if you like a lot of pizza.

The process begins. Make a well in the centre of your flour. Add a good pinch of salt. Unmeasured.

Add water to fill the well and then add a pinch of fresh yeast. All unmeasured.

Add some olive oil. Unmeasured.

Then, using one finger start mixing the ingredients together. There was a bowl of flour on the table to add to the mixture to obtain the correct consistency. Some of us required more of the flour than others depending on how much water or oil we added. We worked the dough, gently.

Because dough needs time to prove, our efforts were all collected and slapped together. It would become tomorrow's bread. We were using dough prepared yesterday. Unlike at home, Luigi did not allow the dough to prove at room temperature, the pizza balls we had shaped were to go straight into fridge for 24 hours. At least I got that bit right.

At home I would wait for the dough to come to room temperature before I work it into a pizza shape. Wrong. Work it straight from the fridge. Use your hands and fingers to stretch the dough into shape and then use closed fists to stretch it to about plate size.

The topping was, as usual, crushed tomato with a little sauce and then additives, the fresh bocconcini pieces, salami, ham, marinated mushrooms. Then into a pizza oven the size that Cait and Luke have in their backyard.

Two minutes later your pizza is ready. It is now time to add oregano and chilli flakes, post cooking. Serve with red wine. It was seriously good.

It might not be the cheapest pizza I've had, but I learned a lot that I will try at home. Using a stand mixer would make it even simpler. We even scored some bread making tips. It was an excellent day. No dinner required.

If you are young enough to remember the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles you may remember their song, Pizza Power. Memories.

Alla prossima.