Some exciting food-related things this week: drinking a glass of Clément XO rum (pictured above right) at Calabash! I first discovered this delicious rum via Ryan in the Okanagan this summer. It tastes much smoother than a $20-bill would, so I think that was a good trade. Calabash had some great mixed drinks too, most notably the Ten Toe Turbo (Mount Gay Silver Rum, Cointreau, guava, lemon juice, egg white and Angostura bitters) and the Coconut Jumby (pictured above left: El Dorado 3 year old rum shaken with fresh organic coconut water, agave syrup, muddled lemongrass, mint and lime zest).
Also: a return to Nicli Antica, the pizzeria we went to on my birthday. Let's talk about pizza. In fact, let's quote Nicli's menu verbatim, because it is very informative:
Each region in Italy has its own version of Pizza. (ed: they capitalize the word pizza! They mean business.) Naples is the birthplace of pizza and of the SGT (Traditional Specialty Guaranteed).I think it's time for me to make a visit to Naples.
The pizza is formed by hand and is cooked in a 900°F wood-fired oven (ed: woah, that's hot!) for roughly 90 seconds. (ed: Really?! Wow. That is a very short time. I did not know that.) This creates a pizza with the following:
• A light and fluffy cornicione (crust) which has a patina of crunch
• Flame blackened blisters may appear along the crust
• A soft thin centre
• 27–30 cm in diametre
Fast cooking time: The addition of sauce, cheese and other toppings creates a pizza centre that is generally soft and moist. This is a typical characteristic of authentic Neapolitan pizza.
P.S. On your next visit make sure to drench all of your pizza slices in Nicli's chili oil. It's pretty great.
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