We Found The Best Pizza In Wellington! And they shared their secrets

What makes a real Italian pizza?

In this delicious episode of the Forkin' Good Podcast, Simon Gault and Kate Fenwick head to Mediterranean Foods in Wellington to sit down with the team behind some of New Zealand's most authentic Italian food.

From traditional Neapolitan pizza making techniques to the secrets behind great pasta, prosciutto, olive oil and Italian ingredients, this episode is a masterclass in simplicity, passion and food culture.

The team shares:

🍕 What makes authentic Neapolitan pizza different
🍕 Why pizza dough can take days to prepare properly
🍕 The importance of flour, fermentation and temperature
🍕 The truth about pineapple on pizza
🍕 Traditional Italian food philosophies
🍕 How to make better pizza at home
🍕 Why simple food is often the hardest to perfect
🍕 The stories behind Italy's most iconic ingredients

Along the way there are plenty of laughs, pronunciation lessons, pizza debates, and insider tips from people who live and breathe Italian food every day.

If you love food, pizza, Italy, cooking, travel, or simply hearing passionate people talk about what they do best, this episode is for you.

Mediterranean Foods can be found in Wellington and Christchurch, offering authentic Italian ingredients, deli products, restaurants, and some of the best pizza you'll find in New Zealand.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:04

We have just got the best pizza. Look at that. That is this is proper pizza. From where? Mediterranean food. In Wellington. Newtown. Newtown. Newtown in Wellington. And Trezano is the pizza Ola. Yeah. The master of pizza there. And Gabriella is the manager. I reckon we've got to go back and do a podcast with it. That's my one.

SPEAKER_06 0:35

That one. This one's your one.

SPEAKER_02 0:37

Alright. Can we share though?

SPEAKER_06 0:41

I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 0:42

But look, this is an authentic Napolitan style pizza. Look, you've got the leopard skin on the outside, right? And it's puffy and it's all about the same you grab the whole like no no, look. It's a proper paint fine.

SPEAKER_07 1:03

I got a nice five. Oh five.

SPEAKER_02 1:05

Oh fire.

SPEAKER_07 1:08

And you're supposed to rip it like that.

SPEAKER_02 1:10

Like that, see? And then you eat it.

SPEAKER_06 1:42

I'm glad.

SPEAKER_02 1:50

I I don't know about you, but I'm like stoked to be here because I've been hearing about the Mediterranean in Wellington for so long that's been famous for like the best pizza in Wellington and the best grocery store. So finally I'm here and I drink cagong.

SPEAKER_07 2:08

You know, and you started it off on our way here, we had a margarita. I thought this is a great idea, Simon. I'm now I'm drinking coffee and water, but we're fine.

SPEAKER_03 2:17

You have a margarita cocktail or do you have a margarita pizza?

SPEAKER_07 2:21

I know I drink I drink margarita, I eat margarita. Anything margarita's fine, right? You know, I'm learning a lot from Simon. So let's introduce our guest first, Simon.

SPEAKER_02 2:38

I'll let you Well, we're with the two guys that run the Mediterranean Wellington. There's also one in Christchurch, and soon to be the med in Auckland, but you know, we've got the guru who runs the kitchen and the whole operation, and then we've got the guy who's got all the secrets to the pizza.

SPEAKER_07 3:01

Oh, so you're the guy who can teach me how to do the margarita pizza cake.

SPEAKER_02 3:07

He is the one who's passionate about the flour that's being used, the yeast, the the hydration of it, what temperature is it outside? What uh did you leave the fridge door open? Because all those things are important, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 3:24

Very important.

SPEAKER_02 3:25

So you guys taught pizza. Talk tell us about. I mean, this is a cool place. You can come here for pizza, but wine, shopping.

SPEAKER_03 3:33

Yeah, if you come around, we have a fantastic lingo in a kitchen as well. We got really cool people there and walking, passionate, and that's what drives this place. A little bit of passion for where we come from and our products. So we've been around for quite a while actually. Um, when I first came in New Zealand, this was one of the first places that I came and visited. It was not didn't look like this, but uh then uh year after here I am, you know, I they called me in to get these things a little bit organized and lampshades and the color, the palette color and everything. So we figured allowed that just to work and uh here I am, still here. And uh Tiziano joined me three, four years ago.

SPEAKER_05 4:20

Yeah, four years ago.

SPEAKER_03 4:21

Four years ago. Uh um and until then uh how did you find how did you address? I found that I got the CV from Italy actually, and we I interviewed online after work from Italy, you know, and uh like well, yeah, let's come around, let's let's start it. He's the guy. Yeah, let's get on with it. And it's it's good because getting a standardized product it's always been, you know, it's a challenge for a lot of business, you know, and and it still depends on what kind of people you have in the place. So to have somebody that is passionate and wants a product and knows the importance of standards and keeping the standards.

SPEAKER_02 5:04

So that was I was quite lucky to do that. So for all the people that are listening to this that knows what a Domino's pizza is, loves ham and pineapple on a pizza and throws everything except the kitchen sink on the pizza, which is what Kiwis do, right? What is a real pizza? What is what is a pizza that you eat every day in Italy? And how can we get Kiwis to love that as well?

SPEAKER_03 5:33

I think this is this is something I come across since the community, actually. This this generalization of what it could be, you know, the Italian food or pizza or product in particular. And I think to me it comes down for one thing, simplicity. But behind the simplicity, there is a lot of other things. There is fashion, tradition, there is your cousins, your grandma, there is uh the flowers, there is heaps of other things behind that. But at the end of the day, just flour, yeast, water, tomato, passerella.

SPEAKER_01 6:12

That's about it, right?

SPEAKER_02 6:14

Isn't it the most beautiful thing in the world that you know you just number just a very few number of ingredients? I mean, everybody has water at home, everybody has flour at home, everybody has salt at home, maybe not the yeast, right? But every supermarket has yeast, right? Yet you come up with something when done well, it's like a mama meeting. This is what I want. Right. And you know, when you have a Domino's pizza or you see a pizza in the supermarket that's five dollars, I'm like, you can't make a pizza for five dollars. You can't put quality toppings on. Yeah, I know everybody's thinking right now, but you just said flour, water, yeast, and salt.

SPEAKER_05 7:02

Cheaper if you'll make it by your own. Yeah, and cheaper, that'd be why you might have a supermarket.

SPEAKER_02 7:05

But when that when that that's not even pizza dough, that's just stamped out pastry in the supermarket. And did you know that over 70% of the pizzas so sold in New Zealand supermarkets are imported into New Zealand? Yeah, I don't know if I want. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But they're not they're not pizzas, right? They're they're just pastry with everything thrown on there, and then all generally all the sweet barbecue sauce.

SPEAKER_07 7:34

Oh, I hate those pizzas.

SPEAKER_03 7:36

Oh, we're just something I'm gonna do. We always want to be careful about these things, you know. I mean, the simplicity behind it's almost connected with our healthy we want to eat. And the product focus.

SPEAKER_02 7:50

So you just hit the nail on the head. How healthy we want to eat, right? So if we eat that five dollar pizza supermarket from the pizza from the supermarket, which is I don't know about you, but I don't think it's pizza. No, you feel afterwards bloated, you feel terrible. And the number of people that say to me, you know, I was in Europe and when I eat the bread over there, I don't feel bloated, I don't feel terrible because the flour here in New Zealand is so highly refined and processed, it's changed from the flour that your grandparents use, right? So the flour is the important bit of people, is the main thing, it's the star of the show. Tell us how we make a pizza at home. Leave the can out of the bag so they don't have to buy it. So some people can make a pizza at home.

SPEAKER_05 8:58

My my art on pizza is like making Napolitan pizza, which is like a style of pizza in Italy. What I do is like making the prefermentation the day before. We keep the prefermentation 24 hours in the fridge, and then the day after, at the same time, we start to make the dough. So we grab the prefermentation and we mix it with the dough, uh with the other flour, the other water, the yeast and the salt. Then we make the dough and we keep uh we we we need it like half an hour on the bench uh to let it be rest. After it, we just roll it and we put it in the chilla for two days. After two days, 48 hours, we're gonna we're gonna use it, we're gonna we're gonna cook it.

SPEAKER_02 9:42

So why not make the dough? Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_05 9:50

So I start with hot water. Uh I always double check that the final temperature of the dough once uh it's done, uh it's between 22 to 24 degrees. Yeah. Because in that half an hour, maybe it's gonna get like two, three more degrees, is what I need to make it perfect after 48 hours in the fridge. Yeah. So it's everything is just depends about the temperature that you have in your workplace. And yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:19

I think that's where a lot of people go wrong trying to make authentic Napolitan style pizza at home, is they do it in a mixer, yeah, which is probably more for cash. I was just gonna say that. And it gets over mixed. Yeah. And then the heat of the flour, even if they start with cold water, it gets too warm.

SPEAKER_05 10:41

So it's more meant to be dough, elastic, uh? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_07 10:48

Give it the bile, right? Yeah, yeah. Because that's one of the things that we've got a pizza oven at at our place. Yeah, we've the first time we tried it was a shocker, but it wasn't the dough, it was the wood. Remember? Yeah, yeah. The wood kindling, and you need like it was not hot enough.

SPEAKER_02 11:06

The wood wasn't getting hot enough to get that 400 degrees, yes, yeah. Celsius. Yeah. Because people should be able to cook a pizza in what, 90 seconds, right? Oh, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 11:17

Yeah, yeah. It's been uh boom, it's gonna be red. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 11:21

We need a proper temperature, yes, for sure.

SPEAKER_07 11:23

Yeah. Because we found like we we did pizzas last weekend and we got good wood. So now we've got great wood, but then we had issues because we've got the dough, but it was so cold on the weekend. The dough was not was not right, because we brought the frozen dough from your mate, you know. And um, and it wasn't rising. And so, and but then it's amazing to hear, like when you're so you make a a fermentation mix, then you add the flour, and then you wait, and then it's like so it's it's 24 hours, then it's 48 hours, and then you're making a pizza. Yeah, it's not just oh, put some flour and oh, here's a pizza. Yeah, that's amazing. That's and that's why your pizzas are so special, right? Like, there's a lot, that's the love right there. Yeah, there's a lot behind.

SPEAKER_03 12:12

Yeah, the love, the fancy details. As you say, there are only a few ingredients, but yeah, needs to be uh look after.

SPEAKER_07 12:21

That's so cool. That's so cool.

SPEAKER_02 12:23

Yeah, and I think a lot of people come into me and they're talking to me about their doughs at home, and I said it wouldn't stretch, I couldn't get it to stretch. And I said, Okay, well, when you push the dough with your finger, a little bit of flour on your finger, does it bounce back at you? Oh, yeah, it bounces back. There's your answer. You need to let it sit on the bench longer, because if it bounces back at you, it's not ready. It's saying, hey, give me time, give me time. All right, yeah, yeah. So that that that's really important. I gotta tell you a funny story. This guy comes into my deli, you know, like deli-like little version of what you guys have got. I'm going to enter the pizza competition. Will you help me with a pizza? Alright, now I bet you this guy will never tell you this. So I came up with some ideas, and we had a particular salami, New Zealand, made with venison, and we had black garlic honey, ricotta, and guess where he went to Milano? Guess where he came in the caputo competition.

SPEAKER_01 13:33

Second.

SPEAKER_02 13:35

Now you probably know who I'm talking about, all right? But he won't tell you that he came into my store to look at it, huh? But he would have had to make the dough, right? And the dough is the magic, right? So now I love to, you know, and I love the fact that we sell the doughs that people can keep in their freezer and allows them to make a really good Napolitan style pizza at home. I love you guys how you make the dough here in Wellington and then you put it out so the customer can come in and buy your dough and oh, so you guys have the pizza doughs? They have a pizza dough, but you need to use it like that night or keep it in the fridge while I want from there. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 14:20

Oh, that's really cool to know. So, because that's I think the thing, like you come and you have something that's that yummy and you want to replicate it at home, but you got those stupid pizza bases at the supermarket. So then you want to be able to buy the authentic.

SPEAKER_03 14:34

And that's and we got a lot of families, the kids love in the most fun thing. So these down to do all the preparation before in the door under the rest and they write rubber too hard for the shop on the pizza party for the the kid back today, you know, they start to spread the pizza. I've done a few uh birthday parties for kids. In fact, I've done my son's birthday party years ago. Yeah, teaching all the kids out to stretch and rest their own pizza and they're having it.

SPEAKER_07 15:06

Oh, that's so pizza.

SPEAKER_03 15:08

It's a great entertainment, yeah. Right? Yeah, cooking together is it.

SPEAKER_02 15:13

Yeah, yeah. And sitting at the table breaking bread without an iPhone on the table, where you're actually with the family and you're talking about food. I love it with my daughter, you know. It's like, what do you taste? What do you what do you taste in this? What do you like about it? What don't you like about it? Yeah. Get some thinking, right? Kids. I did a pizza class in the school holidays for the kids, you know. They come in and we we get all the doughs and they make it stretching. And we're talking young kids, you know, like six, seven years old, sometimes up to 14. And I remember this one little boy makes this pizza. It looked incredible. Wow, it was absolutely beautiful. We cooked it in the F1 oven, you know, so 90 seconds, out it comes. And I said to him, Are you gonna take that home and share it with Mum and Daddy? He said, No. He said, I'm gonna sell it to them.

SPEAKER_07 16:10

He's industrial.

SPEAKER_01 16:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 16:14

But I I was blown away when we came in here today because it's like from the outside, just looks like this industrial, like a big building. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:24

I mean, we are in the home of pizzas in Wellington, right? If you want to eat pizza, you want to make pizza, you want advice on pizza, you won't be pizza, you want the ingredients for pizzas.

SPEAKER_07 16:36

This is the place. Yeah. And also pasta. But as I walked in, I was like, this it is cool. Like you were saying, like you helped design it, and like I love the lampshades, but then you're sort of like that's all restaurant and sort of feels like cafe. And then you you walk around and and then there's the pizza oven.

SPEAKER_05 16:54

So there's cool ready.

SPEAKER_07 16:55

And then, yeah, and then there's a kitchen. Yeah. It almost feels like you're at Cali Talton's, but it's all about food, you know? And then, and then there's plates, and then there's all this food. And I I actually, when I was ringing Brody before, I was like, it's just as well I brought a really small suitcase.

SPEAKER_01 17:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 17:12

Because otherwise I'd be like, okay, and I just well, you know what? I'm like when I'm at your deli, I'm like, I want this and I want this. And I was like, it's just as well I've got a small suitcase because otherwise, but you guys could freight it to me, eh?

SPEAKER_02 17:24

I am I'll just go shopping and you know somebody in Auckland who can hook you up. You're like, I need a ball with these guys. I mean, just because they're the coolest and the best in Wellington doesn't mean you have to suddenly run to them.

SPEAKER_07 17:36

Oh, yeah, but I'll see you. Not for long. And you've got a website as well. Yes.

SPEAKER_03 17:47

Our site, our site with uh Christchurch branch as well. Yeah. We are all there, you know. You can buy your stuff online or shopping, whatever you see in the air things online as well.

SPEAKER_02 17:57

So let's be really clear about it for people. So uh if they Google the Mediterranean Christchurch, Mediterranean food. Yeah, Mediterranean Christian Christchurch or Wellington, they'll get to you guys. Both of them have a tritorial where you can buy a lot of pizzeria. But it's not just pizzeria on the menu. Do you want to just run through some of the well? I want you to whet the appetites of all these people listening.

SPEAKER_07 18:25

Because I tell you, I'm like And you probably sell all of this to D, eh?

SPEAKER_03 18:30

Well, you know, a lot of it. The idea when they they call me to develop this, this is the idea. We got great shops, we've got great people that can bring products in here. Let's design the manure around the ingredients that we sell here. Yeah. And it's a double marketing, right? So you you see, you really know the manure, you test it, and it's like, oh, this is really just good. I want to do it at home. So just go.

SPEAKER_07 18:54

And so then all of a sudden your waiter can go, voila. Here is the ingredient.

SPEAKER_03 19:01

It's an antipasta platter. This is the balsala, this is a salami felino, this is the bintuccina. They start to hear the name, they start to understand the product a little bit better. So we want to be a little more specific with our ingredients, like if people recognize it. Because that's a simple ingredient. But again, there is a huge story behind this ingredient. So come around, test our Parmigiano Reggiano, our grana pagano, our prosciutto salami, and that's where I can go and test it as well. Oh, I didn't mind they'll give you a little test. What why why didn't I not get it?

SPEAKER_07 19:42

Because I I moved around, I looked at all the cheese, I looked at all the salami, I looked at all the oh, I'm like, oh, this looks amazing.

SPEAKER_03 19:52

Just sit down, relax, and then and you'll cook it for us. Yeah, I love it.

SPEAKER_02 19:56

So what are we? We're like 10 minutes from Wellington CBD by an Uber with it.

SPEAKER_03 20:01

Yeah, something like that.

SPEAKER_02 20:03

In Newton, Newtown, in Newtown, yeah, and you've got parking on site behind the building. You've got 11 car parks there, plenty of street parking. You can come for lunch or dinner or eat any time during the day. Great coffee.

SPEAKER_03 20:19

Monday to Thursday we have with focaccia cabinets and and croissants and your noise, and then Friday. Gelato, you have gelato. And then Friday, Saturday, Sunday, we do a lunch-brunch menu, and then of course pizza. All day, every day, including breakfast.

SPEAKER_07 20:39

Oh, yeah, wine as well. I forgot. Because I haven't finished my tour and we like it. Because you go around there, you got cheese, you got salami. I saw it, and I know you sell it as well, but you know, just so that people know, they often think delis are expensive. You know, they think it's expensive. But then when I walked around there, the the prosciutto, which I get off you, and I think it's pretty much the same price, it was like $3.99 for a prosciutto.

SPEAKER_03 21:04

The past is like what, four dollars for a big packet of the brand legal brand, which is a penis, anything else are one of the top ranked.

SPEAKER_02 21:13

Oh, yeah. Amazing.

SPEAKER_07 21:17

So and and yet in the supermarket you buy diamond, and it's just yeah, it doesn't even cook very well, does it?

SPEAKER_02 21:24

You know? You can see by the colour, you can see by everything, you know, like and you should buy extra virgin olive oil or cheese or pasta off somebody you trust. And I'm sorry. I love the supermarkets, don't get me wrong, there's a lot of beautiful products in there. And they sell some of my products. But if I'm buying something like extra virgin olive oil and I has a life and I have a pasta, I'm going somewhere like yeah.

SPEAKER_07 21:57

But that's but that's what I'm saying, like people will. Assume that this is expensive, but it's not expensive, it's actually completely comparable with a supermarket brand from a price point. I know, you know, but you're getting a really, really good, authentic Italian product. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:15

So the Parmigiano Reggiano that we sell is aged for two years in a historic building, won every award you can possibly think of. It's cheaper than the Parmigiano Reggiano in the Zoom. Yeah. And the quality is much, much better. You know how uh when I ever do when I do these podcasts with Cake, I do stuff on Instagram, everybody tells me off for pronouncing the words of New Zealand cities wrong. Okay, you say where you live. I'm too scared to say. We're gonna do an Italian lesson, right? For those people out there that criticize me, we're gonna start with the one that you started off. Prosciutto. Alright, so we're with the Italians.

SPEAKER_07 23:18

We say prosciutto.

SPEAKER_02 23:20

So you're with the masters here. Yeah. How do we pronounce it?

SPEAKER_01 23:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 23:30

So it's like a basketball prosciutto.

SPEAKER_03 23:33

Exactly. Don't confuse with prosetco. A lot of people they they say the same thing. Yeah. Can I have a few slices of prosetco?

SPEAKER_07 23:46

Because I know that you can drink proset. Well, imagine bringing them out of glass full of prosciutto.

SPEAKER_02 23:58

Well, a slice of the prosciutto with the proseco would be great.

SPEAKER_07 24:04

Marvelous, right? So you could put that on the menu. Like for those who can't can't pronounce it, we've got both P's. You can get both.

SPEAKER_02 24:13

So then they have prosciutto from different regions, right? So prosciutto da palma and different regions. And the thing that I always found interesting is that if they make prosciutto around wrong, it generally has more salt in it. Like the Peccarino Romano is salty as opposed to other root regions that have less salt. And what I learned was that in Rome they don't put in salt in the bread. That's why they put more salt in the cheese and the prosciutto, but then you're in Tuscany or down there where you're from. We make better with our salt.

SPEAKER_03 24:54

I come from Umbria, which is the court cousin of Tuscany. Yeah, call it. And uh yeah, we know it's not salt there. It's not stock. But that is because we use, for instance, different pigs compared to the pigs that we use for potato karma, for instance. From proshutter karma have instead with the left shoulders, the byproduct of the farming jan, the jan and the granopadan. Oh that's gonna tastes good, right? That's why for shooters considered. The king suffer a little bit more cold, so as they are a little bit more a little bit tougher, yeah. Yeah, firmer as well. Yeah. And uh then they are helping the fade with echo and nothing.

SPEAKER_02 25:57

That's what we get the iberical and uh the black pigs.

SPEAKER_07 26:02

Yeah. Yeah, I watched a documentary about that, uh, about the black pigs and the the proshoot. And and how that like how long it's aged for, and it's years. Some of those some of those specialty ones are aged for years. But yeah.

SPEAKER_03 26:25

Yeah, uniquely they need it for a little bit uh less and yeah. Uh but it depends. Uh uh, I remember when I was little, I remember we keep a couple of some kills, you know, so you know we share with our neighbors the products from the different cards. And the proship was one of the latest ones to be tested and eaten. Yeah, as well as this palita, which is the prospector made with the shoulder.

SPEAKER_01 26:53

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_02 26:54

Yeah, underrated, but really good, right? Really good. And it's cheaper. Yeah, cheaper, like, you know, like yeah, cheaper.

SPEAKER_03 27:04

You don't find it very often in the shops in Italy as well. Because it's a five upper niche product.

SPEAKER_07 27:10

Yeah. Yeah. Well, it's a little bit like New Zealand, right? We get shoulder bacon and streaky bacon and middle bacon and but ours. Ours is full of uh preservatives. Nitrates. Nitrates, is that the that's the one we don't add our bacon anyway.

SPEAKER_02 27:32

No. Our deli. We have a nitrate-free bacon with zero nitrates, no added sugar, no preservatives, no e-numbers, no rind to get stuck in your teeth. Streaky bacon, and people love it.

SPEAKER_03 27:50

I was looking for something like that the other day because going in shops in the markets and uh the pure meats, they're all processed. Yeah. It's really hard. And I found the one person online that's selling for living because I think they need to sell uh pork product of the trade.

SPEAKER_07 28:13

Yeah, there you go. So you're from you're both from Tuscany area.

SPEAKER_03 28:23

It's close to the San Francisco, you know, I see.

SPEAKER_07 28:27

I've never been there. You've never been there. I'm one of my dream places to go is Tuscany.

SPEAKER_03 28:33

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_07 28:34

Always. That might be my 50th next year. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 28:38

Go to Tuscany and then to to to clean your soul, come to Umbria and go to Assisi to get a couple of places.

SPEAKER_07 28:45

I'm gonna have to get, I'm gonna get, I'm gonna I'll contact you before I go. Before I go, I'll be like, what do I need to do? Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 28:52

If you've seen things in Tuscany and then campuses, I can just I'm thinking about that for my 50th next year.

SPEAKER_07 29:00

There you go. Let's book it now. I'm coming. Oh, am I bought it? Well, you can come if you want. I don't mind, the more the merrier. Yeah, we could go to Greece on the way home, too.

SPEAKER_02 29:10

Oh no, definitely.

SPEAKER_07 29:10

Oh no, uh, Simon, please come.

SPEAKER_02 29:14

I want to I want to uh circle back, as they say, to pizzas. One of the coolest pizzas that I ever had was I did a three-day stage in Ligato in Roma, you know, you know the restaurant? Picca. And he did a pizza where, and I want you all to talk about your favorite pizza here, right? Because we're gonna have a favorite pizza. Everybody at home will, some of them will talk about the ham and pineapple. I'm gonna have to look at the recipe. They put ice on the dough, covered it with ice, into the oven, comes out, pecorino romana, catch pepper, catch it, and uh and the black pepper on top. Oh my fucking god. I'll have to bleep that one. I can't be bothered. Honestly, but uh, you know, the beautiful thing about pizza is you can put whatever you want on it, you know. You know, it could be some potatoes left over, you know, it doesn't matter. And you know, some people love ham and pineapple. What do you got? What do you think about it? Let's go there. Okay, let's go.

SPEAKER_04 30:24

You can make it uh with pineapple pineapple, not just like uh pink can and just throw your hand, no.

SPEAKER_03 30:30

Yeah, maybe maybe you can spray pineapple, scratch the birth thing, yeah, give a bit of uh, you know, grill to something.

SPEAKER_04 30:37

Ah, the grill leaf give like some flavor.

SPEAKER_07 30:41

Yeah, not just a chunk of pineapple, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 30:44

And then what ham you put on as well. Uh put a nice ham on, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 30:50

There was a post one who asked for uh pineapple pizza. That's why I say I'm sorry we we don't make it if they asked it. If you make with a can of pineapple from the supermarket, he just uh ordered a pizza. He opened it and for the pineapple can on top of the pizza. Yeah, just to pin.

SPEAKER_03 31:05

Yeah. We we we can't have a special order for that customer, so the appetite no pineapple.

SPEAKER_02 31:17

So I wonder what our listeners reckon, Kate, whether they're ham or pineapple people. It seems we've got two Italian guys here, yeah, who are masters at it, and they're going, no pineapple. No, I think they're going, it's okay. Yeah, you're a real phone. You know, we're looking, you know, bit of uh some love.

SPEAKER_07 31:39

Some love, yeah, not just a tin.

SPEAKER_01 31:41

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_07 31:42

You ever eat the pineapple girl? Well, I do, just because the kids eat that. Like my kids are, oh, I just want I just want Hawaiian, and it's like no, I was actually looking at because my favourite is always like the margarita. I like the just a classic, like I love it. But I I was looking through this and I was like, oh yeah, there's the Napoli that's got anchovies and that new word to pronounce.

SPEAKER_02 32:08

Yes.

SPEAKER_07 32:08

New word to pronounce Napoli? Nepoli. Napoli, Nap Napoli, Napoli.

SPEAKER_04 32:17

Beautiful.

SPEAKER_07 32:18

Did I say margarita right?

SPEAKER_02 32:20

Yep.

SPEAKER_07 32:20

Oh, there we go. That's rolling on the R, but that's Mar Less or more. Less.

SPEAKER_02 32:29

I hope the people that killed me on social media for getting the name of Todd on wrong. Toddoma. Toddoma wrong. Honestly, they just like killed me on social media. But do you know even?

SPEAKER_07 32:49

Well then I was just because then I was going through and I was going, oh, anchovies. Did I say anchovies right? She hates anchovies. I hate anchovies.

SPEAKER_02 33:01

Yeah, but guess what?

SPEAKER_07 33:03

He keeps trying. He brought some olives around a while back, and he's like, Oh, taste these olives, opens the can, gives me one, like, puts it straight in my mouth. And I was like, Oh, you know, that's nice, it goes, ah, it's got anchovies in it.

SPEAKER_02 33:17

And then I went I didn't bring Pantanesca pasta, right? And she says, Oh, this is good. And I'm like, Do you like olives? No. I do like olives.

SPEAKER_07 33:32

It's got everything in there. These like it's full of anchovies, you bastard. Yeah, but I don't like that's the one thing. Like, I if I was coming into order, I'd be like, what doesn't have anchovies? But I do love I love the sound of some of these. So which one's your favorite?

SPEAKER_03 33:47

I think I I would go also for margarita because it's as I say, you know, sometimes you just want something simple. Yeah. Sometimes life is complicated. Yeah, something that's not complicated. Yeah. I like that.

SPEAKER_02 34:04

Okay, so we got two margaritas.

SPEAKER_05 34:07

So uh normally I always grab a margarita, to be honest. But if uh wanna choose uh I would order like uh four cheeses pizza without blue cheese or spice salaming oh. Do you do a four cheese pizza?

SPEAKER_07 34:23

Yeah, we have a four cheese. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_02 34:25

So you just change your mind.

SPEAKER_07 34:27

I had that at a place called Mario's in in Gold Coast at Broad Beach in Mario. It's a very authentic Italian restaurant over there. And he does this four cheese pizza, and I've tried and tried and tried to replicate it, and I just can't, but fuck, it's amazing.

SPEAKER_02 34:48

That's another beat there. Yeah, that's right. What about Nanduyon pizza? I like it.

SPEAKER_07 34:52

Is it fromage? Fromage? See, I said fromage probably. I said, is it fromage? That's French.

SPEAKER_04 35:01

That's French. French at the time. Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 35:05

No, no, no, but we know, but pronouncing it otherwise would say fromage. Fromage.

SPEAKER_03 35:12

You know, I learned to make a sauce of patoon when I was 264. And you know who talked? The private chef of uh a very famous runner, Italian banner called Pietro Menia. He was uh uh uh world record 100 meter and 200 meter runner, and uh was a chef that was going around with the Olympic team, and he was the personal chef of Pietro Menna, and he was from my hometown, and my mom bumped into him at a shop in the supermarket and have a chat, and he told me, Are you wait for money? You should make this sauce. And that was ninety eighty probably just ninety eighty. Yeah, ninety seventy-nine or nineteen seventy-nine. So it's fantastic. Oh, how good how you remember things a little bit? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 36:06

Oh well, I think we should buy a four cheese. Oh, that's so that's on there, the go, right?

SPEAKER_07 36:10

Yeah. Quattro quattro formaggi. Yeah, yeah, I knew I know that.

SPEAKER_01 36:19

Formaggi.

SPEAKER_07 36:25

Formaggi. Formaggio. Formaggi. Yeah, so that's mozzarella. Granite, what's what's grana padano? What sort of cheese is that?

SPEAKER_03 36:37

Grana padano is you know, I mean, it's parmesan.

unknown 36:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 36:52

Ah, right. The milk doesn't have to come from the region of Parma. Ah, right. And it doesn't, it's not aged generally as long. Yeah. So the one they have here is the Cantorelli, and it's been it's the milk is from right on the outskirt of Parma, and it's been aged for 13 months. Wow. Which is quite high for granopadana.

SPEAKER_07 37:18

Um because that's a that's a little bit like champagne, like it like it comes from champagne. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like you can only have you only call it champagne. If it comes from yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 37:31

So the Parmiano Regiano is exactly the same deal. The milk must come from Palma.

SPEAKER_07 37:37

Ah, interesting. And then we've got television and gorgonzola. That's the blue cheese. So, what do you swap it out for?

SPEAKER_05 37:52

Gurgonzala, because the taste of it is very, very strong. So, or you like or you hate it. Yeah. Uh, who said that. So I don't know. I I don't mind, but it's not my my cup of tea. So it's very strong.

SPEAKER_07 38:05

So, what would you swap it for?

SPEAKER_05 38:06

Uh, I would take off gurgonzana and I will put uh spicy salamis there. Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_07 38:11

Yeah, see?

SPEAKER_05 38:13

There you go.

SPEAKER_07 38:14

Everybody's got a little flavor over there.

SPEAKER_02 38:16

They've got pastas, they've got all sorts of things, extras, modern pizzas.

SPEAKER_03 38:23

How about our pasta here? Yeah. I decide you notice that that it's not a made protein. I decided that there are plenty of places around, you know, Wellington and New Zealand that they, you know, New Zealand culture is meat juice and for red veg, right? So I wanted to get away from that. Although we in Italy we we we love our meat and the fish, you know, and uh portion of protein, but I thought let's let's give something that really reflects the Italianity that we are.

SPEAKER_02 38:59

So pasta and pizza, you know, and capace, you got fried calamari, you've got a crudo fish, a raw fish dish, which is great. Most people go ceviche to the fish.

SPEAKER_07 39:13

See, I know linguini, linguini, pepperelli. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, and so the the because that what I find really interesting is like you go to most Italian restaurants, they've got lasagna. Yeah, and then they've got spaghetti bolognese. And like I can make that at home. Like, I mean, don't get me wrong, I've had some amazing lasagnas.

SPEAKER_02 39:37

Well, we went out for a lasagna in Orphan, if you come to Orphan, Romulus and Remeth.

unknown 39:43

Best.

SPEAKER_02 39:44

Amazing. Yeah, it is really good.

SPEAKER_07 39:47

Yeah, but then it's amazing, but I'd like I find it exciting to come and go, oh, that's something I haven't tried before.

SPEAKER_03 39:55

And we wanted to play around that as well. You know, that's it's people always, you know, 20 years ago, yes, we go Italian restaurants in New Zealand and that's what you have. Yeah. Uh and spaghetti point is lasagna, etc. Yeah. And I I was looking at my news in when I arrived in New Zealand and I knew which one I wanted to go in. Because if I see chicken fitucini, it's like that's a good thing.

SPEAKER_02 40:21

Or you see cabinara with a cream sauce.

SPEAKER_07 40:26

Creamy cabanara, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 40:29

So explain to these guys what a cabanara really is, because most people think cabanara is pasta with a cream sauce. And chicken. Should not have no cream. There should be no cream, right? It's done with egg yolks. And the water, it's an art to make it with the warm water from the boiling water from the pasta, which is starchy, and you're slowly emulsifying that with the egg yolks and the cheese and the pasta. So it's not a white sauce at all. You know, you're tossing it in the pan and it's going stops. It's the noise of it, and as it all comes together, it's creamy.

SPEAKER_01 41:05

It's like there's a flavor of chale that you can.

SPEAKER_03 41:11

Yeah, you can get away using panchetta bars to be a nice panchetta, nice and peppery.

SPEAKER_02 41:19

But then if you have one chale, you want one chale is the cheek pig's cheek, yeah. But it's cured, yeah, so salted and cured. And you look and it looks really fatty, but that is the flavor. And then when it goes with the egg yolks and the cheese and the water from the pasta, traditional spaghetti, right? And like uh and stop it, you're making me hungry. I can make a Cabanara properly, and to me, that's that's the sign of somebody who can really cook, right?

SPEAKER_01 41:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 41:55

You know, it's not easy to make Cabanara or Cachi Peppy, is uh another one that's really difficult. That's why I've stayed now standing on cooking every boiler, yeah. Complicated needed in tradition, complex technique, the life, yeah.

SPEAKER_07 42:15

I think it's amazing.

SPEAKER_03 42:16

French cuisine is difficult, it's difficult in process and making it and flavor as well. Because you've got you've got all the flavors reaching the fix, huh? And because with the wine is the same thing. Test the Bordoy, that's the cant. The difference is huge, but the yant is simple and it's brown, it's got a tonic and it goes down. Anyway, with French, you're on the edge because you've got all the flavor that we should pick, you know, and you test the leather, you tested the I don't know, the barrels and everything like so it's it's it's quite for us simplicity.

SPEAKER_07 42:59

Yeah. But there's but deep down there's actually complexity, like the dough and things like that. There is the the complexity is in the creation of the base. Like the good pasta, the good, the good bases, the good, like all of that. And then it's uh add-on as the is the love. It's the love. That's all we need. I love it. I like I'm so excited. This is so cool. And I was really like surprised when I walked round, because I'll just finish my tour. When I went round the back and I saw all of the stuff.

SPEAKER_02 43:35

Oh no, it's nuts, right?

SPEAKER_07 43:36

They've got everything. It's crazy. Like everything. And it's really well set out. Like if you're doing an antipasto platter, it's over there. If you want wine, it's there. If you want pasta, it's there. If you want saucers, it's there. It's really well set out. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 43:51

Yeah, no, and I and I love the mystery bags that you combine.

SPEAKER_07 43:54

Yes, I took a photo of those. So in the mystery bags, is it just like a whole lot of stuff or is it Because it's because remember we did that thing, was it food print? No, what was the thing that did we did the interview with the guy who did Yeah, actually it's a very useful thing.

SPEAKER_02 44:12

So it's away at a certain time of day, you can go, I've got X amount of these left, goes out on the app, and then people come racing in to buy it, but they get 30% off. So when you got the, you know, you made your Fakashias or whatever it is, and you got some left, and you go, We only do fresh each day, you put it on the app, and it's gone. But also you could do it with things you can add things in, like a product that is because the reality is you're gonna get products that are coming near the end date, but it doesn't mean that it's no good, right?

SPEAKER_01 44:50

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 44:51

It doesn't mean sometimes a lot of things get better after their end date, cheese and all sorts of things. But I can't remember the name of the app either. Uh we did a whole podcast with the colour. Yeah, that was great, isn't it? Great memories.

SPEAKER_07 45:03

Um yes, great memories. We'll put a link in. Yeah, we'll tell you. And we'll send it to you guys too. So because I keep thinking of the wrong one. And I like, yeah, it's kind of uh it's called Debentia. Yeah, well, that's you. Mine's menopause.

SPEAKER_00 45:17

So on Debentia, your menopause. Hey guys, it's producer Brody here. Just jumping in to say that the app Kate and Simon are talking about is too good to go. And we'll put a link in the show notes about that. Cheers, guys.

SPEAKER_02 45:31

I don't know about you guys, but if you're not excited about visiting Mediterranean foods in Christchurch or Wellington, or coming to my delay in Auckland, then there's something wrong with it. And we'd love to hear in the comments if you come. We'd love to hear what you think of it. But do not come in here without trying one of their pizzas, because you're gonna try authentic Napolitan style pizzas made by the masters.

SPEAKER_07 45:59

And and just on that as well, in Christchurch, it's is it at the Riverside Markets? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 46:06

But they don't do pizzas there. No, but that's their deliberate Riverside. Yeah. And then they're right by the new Rugby Stadium in Christchurch. And it's a similar setup as here, so you can go in and have the authentic Napolitan style pizza. They're making all their own breads there. I mean, they are awesome in there. They're really good. Are you guys allowed to admit that they're as good as you go?

SPEAKER_07 46:30

Well, not as good as them, but yeah, no, but they're not as good as them, but they you know, yeah, yeah. No, I love it, I love it. And so, yeah, thank you so much. I've really enjoyed great coffee too. Superb. Awesome water, you know.

SPEAKER_02 46:46

I love it. I'm just looking at your watch. We've got a skedaddle. Love your work, guys. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_07 46:53

Yeah, I really appreciate it. We'll be back for dinner proper.

SPEAKER_02 46:58

And I'm I'm gonna release a little bit of a secret to people that we're doing one of these in Auckland. And these guys are gonna come and play with us in Auckland. They're gonna hang out with the cool kids in Auckland before we get it on track. All right, so stand by for that. Love your work, everybody. Thanks for following us. Thanks for watching us, and don't forget to subscribe if you haven't already, right? Exactly.

SPEAKER_07 47:27

Hit the subscribe button. See you next week. Thank you.