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The author, Ken Forkish, owns several pizzerias and bakeries. This is his second book after the acclaimed Flour Water Yeast Salt– one of the best bread-making books of all time. Another book by Peter Reinhart? Yup! Since “American Pie” is half a travel diary, I really wanted to read another book with a stronger focus on recipes and pan pizza in general. The great thing about the book is that it focuses purely on sheet pizzas. It highlights the main styles of sheet pizza: Detroit Style, Grandma, Sicilian Style, Focaccia, and Roman Pizza. This is the latest pizza cookbook to my collection as it’s fairly new, printed in 2021. It is written by Anthony Falco who was the chef who popularized Roberta’s in Brooklyn, New York. Vetri’s expertise in Italian cuisine is evident in the recipes and techniques shared in this book. This book has something for everyone, from classic Margherita to adventurous topping combinations. I also carefully read the sections about different techniques for layering ingredients, shaping dough, and even how and when to put the sauce on. Though I've been making homemade pizza for decades, I learned a lot and had fun trying the various ways of assembling a pizza.
The first few chapters are on the art and science of pizza – mainly ovens, flour, and dough. They follow Marc’s visits to Italian pizza legends like Franco Pepe. You can skip these chapters if you just want to get making pizza and go straight into the recipes. The very first thing that stands out is that this book comes with a lot more pictures than the first one and is also easier to digest in my eyes, especially if you are only interested in the recipes. It presents the reader with three dough recipes, based on wheat flour, whole wheat flour and a sourdough.Finally, I need to say a word about the dough recipes. All the recipes rely on a sourdough-like starter. Although I've made sourdough, I have long since lost interest in keeping a starter going. Instead, I made my favorite yeast crust, but I followed Falco's suggestions for how many grams each dough ball should weigh. All the pizzas we've made since I got this book (one grandma pie, six grilled pizzas, and two oven-baked Neapolitan-style pizzas) have been excellent, with perfect crusts and delicious sauces.
Ken Forkish, an artisan baker, strips down pizza to its bare essentials in “Flour Water Salt Yeast.” This book is a testament to the idea that simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. Forkish focuses on the traditional elements that are the foundation of the most delicious baked goods. Pizza has also risen in the ranks of the world’s top chefs. Culinary masters like Wylie Dufresne and David Kinch have opened Stretch Pizza and Mentone respectively, and are pushing the limits of what a great pie can really be.
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Falco’s storytelling is amazing. As he shares recipes, he also shares the stories of the people and places behind them. His experiences, both successes, and failures, give you a real sense of the blood, sweat, and tears that go into making great pizza. There are the usual sections on flour, tomatoes, cheese, and equipment that you find in other pizza books. The book has a strong focus on quality ingredients, mostly of Italian origin, and it’s this route that Jim takes in his recipes for world-class pies. If you're a pizza maker--even if you use store-bought, premade dough--you need to take a look at Anthony Falco's Pizza Czar. I bet you learn something new and that your pizza skills will reach new heights.
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