Feb. 13, 2008 - Issue #643: Breaking Up Is Hard To Do
Cooking up something Famoso in the kitchen
Famoso, which means famous in Italian, also means yummy in my belly. In the few months that the spot has been open, I’ve had everything on the menu, and I eat there at least once a week—and it’s got nothing to do with the fact that I now know the owners, Justin Lussier and Jason Allard. Shortly after they opened I was already suggesting new pizza ideas based on fabulous flavour combinations I’ve had on my travels or during random restaurant adventures. Fortunately for me, the Famoso boys agreed that since I love to cook, and probably because I would continue to harass them, that I could come into their kitchen and create a feature pizza for their menu.
I was expecting that Justin would do all the prep in the kitchen and I might just watch while he put my suggested toppings on, but I was mistaken. When I arrived I was given my official chef shirt and Famoso apron. I was extremely excited to get going, but before he would let me touch an ingredient I had to get my intro to traditional Neapolitan Pizza.
The first lesson was that Famoso imports Cuputo “00” flour from Italy. The “00” refers to highly refined low gluten, which makes the crust both soft and slightly crispy. The Italian flour costs double the price of normal flour, but you can definitely taste a difference. The quality of its flour also allows Famoso to cook their pizzas at 1000 degrees F in just 90 seconds without burning, a feat accomplished with the help of a bell-shaped fire-oven imported from Italy.
Though Justin initially comes off as a funny, easy-going guy, he’s quite serious about his pizza: after all, he trained with the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (VPN) in Italy, an organization dedicated to preserving the standards of “true Neapolitan Pizza.” He was completely professional while I got my lesson on how to stretch out the dough, and he didn’t even get mad when I interrupted to ask if I could try and throw it in the air.
Once I had completed my Famoso 101 class, Justin and I reviewed my feature pizza ideas. The first up was a pear, gorgonzola and roasted pine nut pizza. Our first attempts to roast pine nuts in the super hot oven ended with Jason holding up a smoking, blackened pan and asking, “Is this done enough for you two?” At least we provided some entertainment for the two friends who had accompanied me to participate in the tasting. Having fruit on a pizza is a departure from the Famoso menu, but all of us enjoyed the subtle sweetness with the gorgonzola cheese and our second batch of non-burnt pine nuts.
Next in line for the tasting was pizza inspired by a pasta dish I had on an island in Croatia. It was the most heavenly gnocchi in a gorgonzola cream sauce with prawns and prosciutto. In the Famoso kitchen, Justin and I used their Bianca sauce (extra virgin olive oil, garlic and oregano) and topped it with prawns, prosciutto, gorgonzola, roasted garlic and basil. One bite and I knew this would be my personal favourite, but Jason (the other man behind Famoso) thought that it tasted sort of like their four cheese pizza with some additional toppings. Personally, I loved both the flavour combination and the novelty of the pizza: it would be the only pizza in the place with prawns, and only the second seafood option (the other being a smoked salmon dill that I adore).
Already having added fruit and prawns to the culinary possibilities, we moved onto another departure from the traditional Famoso pizza, using dips as the base instead of tomato sauce, inspired by an absolutely amazing spinach-and-artichoke-dip pizza with bacon and feta I once ate. We decided to play around and our first taste was of a pizza with spinach dip, artichokes, bacon, feta and fresh tomato. My brilliant plan was a bit of a bust as the spinach dip was too rich and overpowered the pizza. Once we got past the first bite, the combination of artichokes, bacon and feta was actually quite nice and would work well on one of Famoso’s Bianca sauce pizzas.
I’m glad to say that I redeemed myself with my final attempt. I used an asiago and artichoke dip sauce (so good I could eat it with a spoon) with prosciutto, roasted mushrooms and basil. We finished off every last bite (dipping our crusts in more of the dip), and attempted to discuss which would be best for a feature pizza on the menu in February.
With five different opinions being discussed, I did my best to be objective. While my picky friend Paula would never think to order a pear pizza, I assured her there would be those who are brave enough to try something new. Personally, I’ve always felt a feature item on a menu shouldn’t be something that is already available at a restaurant: it should be highlighting a seasonal ingredient, play into a culinary theme or be a temporary item providing a different taste than the regular menu.
By the end of the evening, the boys decided that they needed some time to think about what they would want to add, the availability of additional ingredients and if they could incorporate it into another item on their menu. Though it took longer than I had hoped, they finally let me know just before February rolled around that they’d be featuring the proscuitto and prawn pizza, albeit with a sun-dried tomato sauce. With that settled, now I can only hope that it will be received well enough that they let me back into their kitchen for another round. V
Tue - Sat (11 am - 11 pm)
Mon (11 am - 9 pm); Sun (12 - 9 pm)
Famoso Neapolitan Pizzeria
11750 Jasper Ave, 732.0700
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