The Pizza Bible: Everything You Need to Know to Make Napoletano to New York Style, Deep Dish and Wood-fired, Thin Crust, Stuffed Crust, Cornmeal Crust, and More
A comprehensive guide to making pizza, covering nine different regional styles--including standards like Neopolitan, Roman, and Chicago, as well as renowned pizza sub-specialties like St. Louis and Californian--from chef, 11-time world Pizza Champion, and Guinness world record-holding pizza-spinner, Tony Gemignani.
Pizza is one of the world's most well-known and beloved foods, and everyone has their favorite style. In fact, devotion to one particular style is so ubiquitous that most pizza books only cover one or two varieties of pie. But for those who truly love pizza, there's no need to be monogamous. Pizza master Tony Gemignani brings pizza to the people in all its glorious forms, from Chicago deep dish to paper-thin Roman style. "The Pizza Bible" is the world's first guide to making all of the major pizza styles, filling a hole in the market and elevating the craft of making pizza to that of bread or charcuterie.
MY REVIEW: Kudos to "The Champ", Tony Gemignani, for delivering "The Pizza Bible" in a style that reflects his motto, "Respect the Craft". This is not just a book of recipes and techniques--it is an encyclopedic epicurean enlightenment of all aspects of producing "five-star, killer-pizzeria-quality pizza". It's intense, involving, and inspiring--you may never be a professional pizzaiolo (pizza maker), but you may just step up your overall cooking game plan. "The Pizza Bible" contains many delicious recipes and mouth-watering color photos, and includes slices of pizza history and tasty tidbits of pizza trivia. If, like me, you love pizza, this book will make you hungry--very hungry. However, most home cooks will not have many of the specified ingredients, so be prepared to adapt and substitute if you want to try your hand at your own version of these professional pizzeria recipes. There are errors in "The Pizza Bible", and my book came with an insert noting some necessary corrections, but the insert left out the following very important correction: In the "Master Dough Without Starter" recipe (page 48 in my book), the amount of ice water is listed at 225 grams, which is about 1 cup, not the 4 cups stated for the recipe. In closing, I am now headed to my own kitchen to start some dough and see just what rises to the occasion of my intense craving for some soul-satisfying pizza pie!
Book Copy Gratis 10 Speed Press via Blogging for Books
Reviews
“The Best Pizzeria in America: Tony’s Pizza Napoletana” —Larry Olmstead, Forbes Magazine
Tony Gemignani
Born and raised on an apricot and cherry orchard farm in Fremont, California …
Gemignani’s childhood was filled with boisterous, family dinners. Growing up, he spent much of his time cooking alongside his mother, who would only use the fruits and vegetables that came straight from the family farm. This culinary philosophy of utilizing only the freshest ingredients has stayed with Tony throughout his life and is reflected throughout his menus.
Gemignani has had a passion for the pizza industry since 1991. His humble beginnings began at his brother’s acclaimed Pyzano’s Pizzeria in Castro Valley. Fresh out of high school, Tony took on the task of a pizza thrower and soon began entertaining the restaurant crowds with his wily tricks. A few years later, he entered into his first pizza throwing competition in Las Vegas and quickly became the top pizza thrower in the world.
Since his days at his brother’s pizzeria, Gemignani has received a number of accolades for his impressive pizza making and throwing skills. He is president of the World Pizza Champions; the first and only Triple Crown winner for baking at the International Pizza Championships in Lecce, Italy; and, his most prestigious title to date, the 2007 World Champion Pizza Maker at the World Pizza Cup in Naples, Italy, where he was the first American and non-Neapolitan victor. He has appeared on popular shows like The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Good Morning America, and is a regular on Food Network. Gemignani also received his Master credentials from the Scuola Italiana Pizzaioli and is the proprietor of the International School of Pizza where he certifies chefs from around the world. His most impressive accolade to date is being named the official U.S. Ambassador of Neapolitan Pizza by the city of Naples, a prestigious title only given to three people in the entire world. In 2011 and 2012 Tony won two world titles in cooking, making him a 13-time world champion.
In an effort to share his talent and passion with aspiring connoisseurs, Gemignani collaborated with acclaimed cookbook writer, Diane Morgan, on his first cookbook PIZZA, which was showcased on Emeril Live and The Rachael Ray Show. Following the success of PIZZA, he wrote his first children’s book, Tony and the Pizza Champions, a fictionalized telling of a pizza team’s journey to compete in the International Pizza Lovers’ Competition. In 2014, Tony released The Pizza Bible, the definitive book on pizza.
Tony was also inducted into the Guinness Book of World Records twice for creating the largest pizza, as well as the most consecutive rolls across the shoulders, a unique throwing trick which involves rolling the pizza dough along the back of the shoulders.
In 2009, Gemignani fulfilled his lifelong dream by opening Tony’s Pizza Napoletana in San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood. At the eponymous restaurant, Tony hand-crafts his award-winning pizzas utilizing the same Cirigliano wood-burning oven used to win in Naples. The pizzeria also offers several styles of pizzas, including Classic American, Italian, Sicilian and Neapolitan pizzas artfully made with artisan flours, an array of authentic sauces, and seasonal ingredients and finished in seven different, regionally-specific ovens. The restaurant was met with immediate success upon opening and was named the best pizzeria by USA Today and top pizza restaurant by the Travel Channel.
In 2010, Tony opened the adjacent Tony’s Coal-Fired Pizza & Slice House next door to his flagship pizzeria, serving an array of authentic pizzas by the slice, in addition to classic sandwiches. The following year, Pizza Rock in Sacramento opened with nightclub entrepreneur George Karpaty, a creative new concept that pairs gourmet pizzas with specialty cocktails. In November 2012, Tony opened Capo’s, a Chicago-style Italian pizzeria and whiskey bar in the North Beach neighborhood.
Tony now has several licensing locations in casinos, resorts and sporting arenas including the San Francisco Giants in AT&T Park. His most recent opening is Giovanni Italian Specialties which is a retail shop selling hand made and imported Italian Specialties such as olive oil, flour tomatoes and ceramics. Giovanni’s hand makes, piadina, sandwiches, focaccia, fresh pasta and raviolis daily. It’s also a cafe that serves local Italian coffee. Tony now owns 22 concepts across the country. He resides with his wife and son in San Francisco.
https://www.tonygemignani.com/
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