In my never-ending quest for baking knowledge, I attended the pizza
baking class at
AOA Bar and Grill. Michele "pinged" me on I.M. at the
top of the week and sent me link to a Groupon for the class, knowing
full-well that I'd never be able to pass it up. She's got my number, I
guess. I'm just glad she's on my side!
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| I haven't learned how to use my iPad camera yet. |
I was much less nervous, or shall I say
"self-conscious", before this class than I was before the Le Pain
Quotidien class. Maybe it's that I've gotten over my fear of making
mistakes in front of other people. Or maybe it's just that I've gotten
over myself. I was talking with my beloved little sister this morning
(today's her birthday, so I had to call and sing to her in my most
exaggerated/corny/horrific Elvis voice) and she commented that what she
likes about my blogging is that I admit I don't know everything and
that I'm always trying to learn more about what I
do know. Maybe I'm taking that to heart and that's why I was kind of fearless today. Maybe.
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| Self portrait of the student as a younger (by a couple of hours) man. |
The thing I noticed first off
about this venue was that being a restaurant/bar, and having an open
floor plan, was that it was probably going to take extra effort to hear
the instructor, so, I scoped out a place up front. As soon as the class
filled up, my observation, and my choice of placement proved correct.
See? Being trained by parents who were career teachers paid off!
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| Front and center! |
Another observation: apparently there was some secret
instruction I failed to read about coming to class as a pair. I was one
of the few non-coupled people there. Looking around the room, it was as
though I was a voyeur on about two dozen dates. It was actually kind of
sweet.
Despite having to shout
over the noise that all cavernous restaurant/bars with high ceilings
create, the instructor was good at conveying the information and getting
the class into the groove. He went through the basics (prepping the
yeast, measuring the flour, kneading, etc.), none of which I consider
problems in my pizza making experience. What I was really taking the
class for was shaping and tossing technique and I wasn't disappointed.
So often I found that the center of my pizzas were too thin and the
edges too thick and that I had the most difficult time tossing the
dough. Watching the instructors hand for finger position in patting out
the dough, and listening to him discuss the steps to the pat-down, was
illuminating. Aha! So that's where I've been going wrong! Pinch the
dough ball with thumb and forefinger to make the round. Work the edges
of the round with your fingers together, not using your palms, and pat
it out to about eight inches. Then pat down the center to even things
out. Flip the dough over and repeat the pat down process.
At
this point in the class we proceeded pick from some prepped ingredients
– mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, baby spinach, mushrooms – because, even
though this was billed as a pizza making class, we were really going to
make calzones for our lunch. Mine was quite tasty!
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Call it lunch.
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I ended up sitting across from my station mate, Avi
who was an NYC high school teacher and a husband and wife, David and
Betty, who were at the table behind us. They're company was enjoyable
and it was great hearing their stories about coming to the class and
other baking experiences. Betty's passion was sourdough bread and I
really loved listening to her talk about her process of perfecting it. I
take my hat off to anyone who's got the patience and desire to make
sourdough. David was an actor who had set fire to two kitchens on two
continents but could eat with the best of them. Avi was really looking
to take more baking classes and and explore the love of the craft that I
sensed was just starting to bubble up in him. Cool!
Well,
when I said that I took my hat off to anyone who made sourdough bread, I
should have added that I also took my hat off for NYC high school
teachers who fling their dough at me when they're trying to learn how to
do the toss. I felt like I was in a western, and the quick draw artist
shot my hat off to prove that he was the real deal. Honestly, it was too
funny and we had a great laugh – even though Avi was mortified.
When
it was all said and done, I'd gained some good foundation technique
(which I'll have to use very soon or run the risk of forgetting) as well
as a few new acquaintances. All-in-all a day well spent!
And back home, I rewarded myself with:
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| My reward! |
The last of the lemon-ginger ice cream, the last of the
v2.0 hand-held cherry pies (which I'll discuss in my next post) and a
cuppa Joe!
Currently listening to: Zedd - Clarity (Feat. Foxes)
