Pizza Defined

I haven’t counted for quite some time but I would guess that the cookbook library here at the Ballymaloe Cookery School must now contain in excess of 2000 books – mostly cookbooks, but also books on wine and other food related topics.   The library has grown gradually from a base of my own personal collection of nine or ten in 1983, with books on everything from traditional Irish cooking, Mexican, Japanese, Italian, Indian, baking, herbs, fish, meat, entertaining – from basic cooking techniques to weighty tomes on the science of cooking.

Some books sit virtually undisturbed on the shelves from one end of the year to the other, but then there are others that are in constant demand, eg River Café, Nigel Slater, Marcella Hazan, The Book of Ingredients, Harold McGee’s Science of Food – and then there are the books that disappear.   These are cookbooks that touch a chord and appeal so much that the ‘borrower’ can’t bear to return them.   After replacing the book several times we’ve learned over the years to eventually remove these favourites to the safety of my private stock.

I was reminded of this recently when a copy of ‘Pizza Defined’ arrived on my desk.  This little paperback by Bernadette O’Shea was originally published in 1997, when it went out of print I carefully hid my very precious only copy.  It has now been republished by Estragon Press,  there isn’t a better book on Pizza Cookery, or if there is I certainly don’t know of it.

This book, written by the indomitable Bernadette O’Shea, whose restaurant Truffles in Sligo became a magnet for food lovers during the 1990’s.   Bernadette retired from professional cooking after the publication of Pizza Defined and now cooks privately.   Her free-spirit and unique creativity live on in this delicious little book. 

It feels every bit as fresh and exciting today as it did when it was originally published.  The superb photographer Mike O’Toole and design by Nick Cann make ‘Pizza Defined’ a classic.

Basic Pizza Dough Ingredients

350ml (12 fl.oz) of lukewarm water (113F/45C)20g (¾ oz) fresh yeast or 1 tablespoon active dried yeast 560g (1lb 2oz) strong white flour ¾ teaspoon salt 2¼ tablespoons olive oil 35g (1¼oz) extra flour for kneadingBernadette gives brilliantly detailed step-by-step instructions over 126 pages which guide even total novices through the process of making the dough and shaping the pizza.   I’ve just given the ingredients here so you’ll need to seek out the book to get the method which is brilliantly explained and not complicated.  When you’ve made the pizza dough the fun continues, there are lots of recipes for sauces and toppings.Pizza Defined by Bernadette O’Shea, published by Estragon Press €20.

 Milleens Pizza
This is one step up from a pizza baked blind.  It doesn’t have a sauce, it doesn’t have Mozzarella, it doesn’t have any of the traditional things you associate with a pizza.When Milleens is cooked and melts, it has a buttery, slightly nutty sharp taste and the perfect pairing for that is sun-dried tomatoes, and a glut of soft herbs on top, always soft herbs: yellow marjoram, sweet marjoram, basil and oregano.  These suit the herbaceousness of one the great West Cork cheeses.140g (5oz) basic pizza doughBasil oil or sun-dried tomato oil 85g (3oz) sundried tomatoes, excess oil squeezed out, shredded into strips85g (3oz) cream cheese85g (3oz) Milleens cheese, very finely slicedFresh herbs (marjoram, oregano, basil, yellow marjoram, lemon thyme etc.)Rosemary oil or sun-dried tomato oil