By Kimberly J. Decker, Contributing Editor
Chefs and product developers embrace pizza as an outlet for culinary expression. “Pizza is a palette—a carrier for anything,” says Dianna Fricke, C.R.C., C.W.P.C., executive chef, research and development, J.R. Simplot Co., Boise, ID. “It’s perfect for me as a chef because it allows me to take familiar items and put a twist on them. If you take something that everybody’s familiar with and put it back on a pizza, you’re making it hand-held, portable and easy to eat.”
Such easy adaptability has let pizza evolve with the American public, passing through a healthy phase, and an exploration of multicultural influences. “You’re still seeing a lot of cross-cultural ingredients,” says Fricke. For example to give pizzas a Mexican angle, she uses “chipotle pesto as the base, then the bean (and corn) blend, and some fresh cilantro sprinkled on top.”
Liz Hertz, marketing director, Burke Corporation, Nevada, IA, says a chorizo crumble or slice can “create a little more interest with a little more heat. Taco pizza has been around for a while on the foodservice side, but Mexican flavors seem to be making an appearance on the frozen side, as well.”
A global thrust can only propel pizza so far, suggests Joseph O’Connor, corporate executive chef, Great Kitchens, Inc., Romeoville, IL. He thinks it may have more traction in foodservice, where a menu might make room for a bean-burrito pie. In retail, he believes, the mood remains old-school. “You have to fit that pizza concept—literally and figuratively—into a box,” he says. “You have to go after a certain customer, and Asian-inspired would only appeal to a very small niche.”
O’Connor sees pizza’s future as rooted in its past. Pizza, he contends, follows the 80-20 rule: 80% of sales come from 20% of the selection—and that 20% draws from the Mediterranean pantry where pizza was born. That means “cured meats, tomato sauce, anchovies, olives, the classic cheeses, a crust that’s crisp and rises on its own,” he says. As he diversifies his company’s lineup, he strives to fit a core Italian-Mediterranean theme, such as white pizza with ricotta, spinach, feta and tomatoes. “It’s different, but it fits the pizza moniker conceptually.”
A balancing act
When building the perfect pizza pie, each piece of the puzzle requires both technical and culinary analysis.
Moisture might be “our biggest enemy, in terms of how you build your pizza,” O’Connor says. Thin, glassy crusts in artisan pies are particularly vulnerable to becoming waterlogged, and product developers must keep moisture in mind with every topping choice.
“The crust is a huge sponge for extra moisture,” says Charlie Baggs, president and executive chef, Charlie Baggs, Inc., Chicago, “so controlling moisture with topping choice or cooking technique helps control crust texture and freeze/thaw properties.”
The first hedge against a soggy crust is the ideal crust-to-topping ratio. “On those cracker-like artisan crusts,” Fricke says, “you don’t see a lot of ingredients. Usually, those aren’t your layered, Chicago-style pizzas. They just have a few smattered ingredients on top—cheese, some fresh vegetables—that just get warmed in the timeframe, and not necessarily fully cooked.”
