As Mcauley Kaulkin’s iconic Home Alone character says, sometimes there’s nothing better than ‘a lovely cheese pizza, all for me.’
The only exception? When the height of summer eventually (no, really, where is it?) arrives and suddenly all that dough can become slightly less appealing. Or perhaps when you can’t help but eye up the quadruple threat that is the antipasti, primi, secondi and dolce combination.
Though, fret not, because somewhere between the food sleeps and miserable deprivation, it turns out there is a happy, cheesy compromise which doesn’t involve a vile cauliflower base.
At Bardo, a plush Italian restaurant tucked away underneath a grand building in St James, head chef Graziano Bonacina is serving pinsa, an age-old speciality rarely found on UK shores.
The sister of pizza and a second cousin to the heftier calzone, its dough is made of a mix of soy, rice and wheat flour which is fermented for 72 hours, then stretched into a thin oval shape and sprinkled with toppings. The result is a light, airy slice with a crisp outer shell which is easier to digest.
According to Bonacina, the dish ‘was born in Lazio, near Rome, several centuries ago, though the exponential growth of it began to register significantly only about 10 years ago.’
And the key to differentiating pinsa from pizza is in both the flour and the water content, he says. ‘The flours are finely worked to obtain a low gluten content mixture and a high level of water without adding animal fats. The dough is much more hydrated than that of the pizza. Pinsa has more than 80% water, while pizza is about 65%. Plus, the dough of the pinsa is pinched, resulting in clear air pockets and a more pronounced crunchiness.’
Keen for a slice of the action? Bardo, where you can enjoy the light, crisp bites on red velvet banquettes in front of a live band, is the bougiest place serving the speciality in London by far, though you’ll also find it at the more casual Fiume in Battersea, and Madre Pinzeria in Greenwich.
Know anywhere else serving the speciality? Let us know in the comments.
