Pops strives to duplicate the pizza we enjoyed as we traveled through Italy. Like that made for centuries there, our fresh pizza dough is made using only flour, water, salt and yeast. In the tradition of the Pizzaiolos of Naples, the birthplace of Pizza Napolitano, we make our dough using only Italian milled Antimo Caputo “00” Pizzeria Flour finely milled by the Caputo family since the 1920’s for the ultimate pizza dough and specifically prepared to stand up to the blistering temperatures of the wood fired oven. Our dough is mixed in an imported Italian spiral mixer.
Most of Pops’ pies are topped with fresh homemade sauce prepared with herbs and spices and the prized, imported San Marzano tomatoes grown in the shadow of Mt. Vesuvius in the Sarnese Nocerino area of Italy. The rich volcanic soil, high water table and ideal Mediterranean climate combine to give the San Marzano their sweet flavor and low acidity. San Marzano tomatoes are widely recognized by top chefs, Italian cooks and food aficionados as the Gold Standard. They are the top choice for traditional Neapolitan pizza pies. They are the only choice for Pops’ pies.
Made with the best dough and tomatoes, Pops’ pies deserve only the finest toppings. Pops has partnered with Grande Cheese Company of Fond Du Loc Wisconsin. Its authentic Italian cheeses are made from the freshest, all natural ingredients and are free of additives, fillers and preservatives. Grande’s Foir-di-Latte,”Flower of the Milk” is made with flavors reminiscent of fresh mozzarella handmade in Italy. Grande’s Ricotta Sopraffina cheese is made from the freshest, purest ingredients, including sweet whey, whole milk and sweet cream. It has an incredibly smooth texture and a clean light flavor.
These are not ordinary pies.
These are Neapolitan pies.
These are Pops’ pies.
What exactly is Neapolitan Pizza?
The art of Neapolitan Pizzaiolo is a culinary practice comprising four different phases relating to the preparation of the dough and its baking in a wood fired oven involving a rotatory movement by the baker.
Acknowledging the significance of Neapolitan pizza, the art it represents and the impact it has had on Italy, its country of origin and the world as a whole, in 2017 the “Art of the Neapolitan Pizzaiolo” was inscribed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
The Associazione Verace Pizza Napolentana (AVPN) of Naples, Italy is responsible for ensuring that its members meet and follow the stringent requirements of true Neapoliatan Pizza. Early on the Pops’ Pizza Company wrote to the Associazione to determine if it was eligible for membership based on its use of the traditional ingredients and methods. We learned that, for the simple reason that Pops’ is, not yet, a brick and mortar business, it is not eligible. Nevertheless, in an effort to duplicate the amazing pizza we enjoyed as we traveled in Italy, Pops’ chooses to follow the requirements of the Associazione. One day, we hope, the Associazione will either allow mobile pizziaolo like the Pops’ Pizza Company to carry the coveted AVPN designation or Pops’ will become a brick and mortar establishment.
To qualify for membership, the AVPN requires pizzaiolo to follow strict requirements.
- Wheat flour type “00” (doppio zero) must be used to make the dough. It is a highly refined flour with an almost talcum-powder like appearance and is completely free of bran or germ.
Pops’ Pizza Company does that. Pops’ uses imported “00” Pizzeria flour milled in Naples, Italy by the Caputo family.
2. The dough must be made by mixing only “00” flour, water (with an absorption of 55-62%), sea salt and yeast
Pops’ Pizza Company does that. Pops’ (secret) dough recipe uses a 60% absorption, sea salt and yeast.
3. The dough must be worked in a fork or spiral (not a planetary) mixer.
Pops’ Pizza Company does that. All Pops’ dough is mixed in our imported, Italian Mara spiral mixer.
4. When formed by hand, the dough balls (panetti) must weigh between 200-280 grams.
Pops’ Pizza Company does that. When formed, all Pops’ dough balls weigh in at 220 grams.
5. The pizzaiolo is to use a steel spatula in the ball forming process and base preparation stage. The dough balls are to be placed into either plastic or wooden rising boxes.
Pops’ Pizza Company does that. The Pops’ pizzaioli use stainless steel spatulas. Pops’ now uses fiberglass dough boxes. The plastic boxes we started with lacked the necessary strength and warped making it hard to nest boxes one on another
6. The dough must be opened on the prep surface and formed into the disc, using only the talented hands of the pizzaiolo without any rolling pin or other tool. With a motion from the center outwards and with the pressure of the fingers of both hands on the dough ball, the pizzaiolo forms the disc so that the thickness of the center is not more than 0.25 cm and the border of the crust (the cornicione) is no greater that 1-2 cm. The finished pie must be less than 35 cm (13.7 inches)
Pops’ Pizza Company does that. Pops’ pies are approximately 11 inches in diameter. The pies of one of our pizzaiolo are consistently beautiful, perfect and look as if they came right out of a how to book of Neapolitan Pizza one might study in Naples. I will confess, however, some of the pies worked by Pops himself may take on a more “artisanal” appearance. That’s OK, right? This is art not science. And the Pops’ pizzaioli are artists, not scientists, right? Trust me, it tastes just as amazing no matter the final shape.
7. The sauce must be made using only fresh or canned San Marzano tomatoes grown in the rich volcanic soil on the slopes of Mt Vesuvius.
Pops’ Pizza Company does that. The tomato sauce used on most of Pops’ pies (all but the Rachel, Speciale and the Sweet Pig) is made by us by combining our own blend of herbs and spices with imported Italian San Marzano tomatoes. The San Marzano tomatoes, or as they say in Italy, the “Pomodoro San Marzano” used by Pops to make our last batch of homemade sauce were actually grown on a farm just south of the Via Lo Porto nestled between the city of San Marzano Sul Sarno to the east and the slopes of Mt Vesuvius to the west. Yes! That’s in Italy. I know because I checked. Cento, our supplier provides information on each can of the prized tomatoes so the farm of origin can be pinpointed.
8. The pies must be topped with certified mozzarella di bufala campana or Fior-di-latte cheese.
Pops’ Pizza Company does that. We use Fior-di-latte Mozzarella from Grande Cheese of Fond du Lac Wisconsin. Grande’s founder Filippo Candella was born in Sicily where he learned the art of Italian cheese making. The Rachel and Speciale pies are also topped with Grande’s Ricotta Sopraffina cheese.
9. The pizzaiolo must transfer the pie into a wood fired oven using a wooden launching peel.
Pops’ Pizza Company does that.
10. The pizzaiolo must use a steel peel to gently raise the edges of the pizza while monitoring the baking process.
Pops’ Pizza Company does that. The Pops’ Pyro (the pizzaiolo tasked with working the oven, preparing and maintaining the fire and quickly baking the pies to perfect completion) uses a stainless steel 8 inch turning peel to monitor and adjust the pies while they bake.
11. The oven should be fired with oak, ash, beech or maple wood.
Pops’ Pizza Company does that. We use only triple split, oak to fire the Pops’ oven.
You see that the Pops’ Pizza Company is guided by and follows the requirements of the AVPN. Pops offers you extraordinary pizza. You simply can’t get pizza like this anywhere close.
When you enjoy a Pops’ Pizza Company pie, you are not just having the best pizza you can get without using your passport, you are enjoying Neapolitan Pizza and celebrating the very cultural heritage of humanity!
That’s right! This is serious stuff!
To be clear, Pops’ Pizza Company does not claim membership in the AVPN. We provide the information above to let you know just how close we come to providing this highly regulated and historically significant product from our own mobile oven, right here in Towson, Maryland