Ishikawa Kelly - The essential wood fired pizza cookbook : recipes and techniques from my wood-fired oven

Copyright 2016 by Anthony Tassinello

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Photography 2016 by Kelly Ishikawa
Styling by Rod Hipskind

ISBN: Print 978-1-62315-724-1
eBook 978-1-62315-725-8

FIRE UP
THE OVEN

PIZZA
NIGHT

THE
DOUGH

SAUCES and
CONDIMENTS

CHARCUTERIE and
MEAT PIZZAS

POULTRY and
SEAFOOD PIZZAS

VEGETABLE
PIZZAS

CALZONES and
SWEET HAND PIES

BEYOND
PIZZA

VOLUMES HAVE BEEN WRITTEN about the pleasures of the table and the meaning of cuisine in our lives. If we pause and consider food as a medium, it has for centuries defined our celebrations and lamentations, but the days between the festivals and holidays also carry weight. These small moments, too, can have deep meaning and bring us sustenance.

The rise of the kitchen as a hub for family activity has not gone unnoticed by modern social scientists. As smart home technology has blossomed, the kitchen has been elevated as well. Rain-filled, rusty grills are giving way to showpieces for culinary adventure. Consequently, we begin to see former luxury items, such as outdoor kitchens and wood-burning pizza ovens, included in many new construction projects and remodels.

For the established homeowner with culinary ambition, the addition of a wood-fired pizza oven can unlock an atlas of edible adventures. To put it simply, people are revisiting the joys of gathering friends and family to reconnect, meaningfully, over a delicious home-cooked meal. What was once looked upon as a burdenshopping, cooking, and servinghas more recently become a gift of gratitude. The idea of creating edible memories is leaving an indelible mark on our collective consciousness and our palates alike.

Over the past decade, a wave of enthusiasm about ingredients and their pedigree has seen family meal night expand exponentially. A new breed of do-it-yourself, home-based, artisanal foodies has drawn the awareness of what we eat and how we eat it out of restaurant kitchens and placed it squarely in the capable hands of 21st-century home cooks. Its no surprise, then, that high-tech cooking gadgets now dominate the retail landscape; novice chefs are encouraged to create signature dishes using odd techniques that achieve scientific results.

Have we lost our way? This story of cooking comes not only from the nourishment we gain, but also from the pleasure derived from the sights, sounds, and smells of those pedigreed ingredients being transformed. Gone are the heady aromas: hijacked, vacuum-packed, and plunged underwater. Certainly, there will always be room for experimentation and culinary invention, but leave that to the chefs in lab coats. This is an exploration of a more primitive method of cooking.