Are you one of those who have grown fond of the combination of extra fluffy crusts, juicy tomatoes, and creamy fior di latte? No wonder! Pizza is now a signature product of Gatto Matto Ventúrska. Want to know what makes it so delicious? Here are some tasty titbits! Niet divu! Pizza sa stala podpisovým produktom Gatto Matto Ventúrska. Za jej chuťou sa skrýva niekoľko faktov, which you should know!
1. Dough
The aim of the concept was to single out pizza as the core product and to make it stand out from other places in Bratislava that serve it. This is where chef Jakub Benčo has played a key role, putting to good use his many years of experience from restaurants in London and Switzerland. “I researched the very best pizzerias. I observed the dough and flour they use and how they handle the ingredients. We tried several types of dough. In the end we went for biga dough. It’s a type of preferment that combines flour with water and baker’s yeast, with less than half as much water as flour,” he says.
2. Fermentation
“Biga is fermented at room temperature for 24 hours. Small loaves are then moulded and fermented for a further 24 hours. This is called dry fermentation, and it is what gives the dough its yoghurt flavour,” continues the chef. Fermentation ripens the dough and makes it easier to digest, perfect for the round Italian delicacy.
3. Equipment
The kitchen at Ventúrska is dominated by the Moretti pizza oven, the first of its kind in Slovakia. “It’s actually powered by electricity, but comes closest to the feel of an open- fire furnace. It reaches temperatures of up to 510 °C, but we bake our pizzas at 470 °C. The pizza is completely cooked through in a minute and a half. So the process of stretching the dough and adding all the ingredients takes longer than the baking itself,” smiles the chef.
“The baking needs to be thorough and a cook must be present at all times to tend to the pizza,” he adds. During that minute and a half, it needs to be turned three or four times so that it bakes evenly. The crust puffs up rapidly in such a short bake time, resulting in a pizza that’s crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. The end result is tasty crusts.“
4. Ingredients
The pizza is garnished just before it’s put in the oven. We use top-quality ingredients, including delicious San Marzano tomatoes from the volcanic area near Naples. They have a really zingy taste, which I find really pleasant. This is the perfect balance to the sweeter, creamy taste of fior di latte, a cheese made from buffalo milk, again from Italy. What makes this pairing unique is that the flavours complement each other so well,” gushes the chef. He also gravitates towards Italian products when choosing his salami. “One of our best-selling pizzas is the Pepperoni. It includes the slightly garlicky, Toscana pork sausage and spicy Spianata Piccante.”
We also use San Daniele, a high-quality trademarked prosciutto from the village of the same name in Italy. I love to work with fresh Italian products such as Salsiccia sausage and spicy ’Nduja salami, which is fermented with chilli peppers. These are all very intense flavours. We make our own stracciatella with shredded mozzarella di burrata, cream, and cream cheese, which is also served with salads or spaghetti. Of our Slovak products, I would mention beef Pastrami, which we source from KRAVA & CO, a local supplier that breeds Limousin cows grazing in eastern Slovakia, where I am from, by the way,” he laughs.
5. Combinations
“There are two types of people. Those who love the tried-and-tested classics and those who like to try something new. For these customers, we offer special seasonal pizzas in surprising flavour combinations,” says waiter Július Pekný. He can sense when guests are game for something different and suggests, “You’ve got to try this! Sometimes we bring a pizza to a table and the guests at the next table over will stare at it. Each pizza is bursting with colour and looks like something you’ll instantly fall in love with. My favourite is the Focaccia Pizza, which we first tried out this summer. It’s the same dough, but it doesn’t stretch into the classic shape, so it’s more fluffy. It’s topped with tuna mayonnaise, veal, tomato confit and a dusting of black olives. Yum!”
Šéfkuchár Jakub sa rád hrá s kyslými a pikantnými chuťami. „Napríklad taká pizza Manzo, s už spomínaným hovädzím Pastrami, obsahuje aj naše vlastné nakladané jalapeno a horčičné semiačka. Pizza Salsiccia & Zucchine spája variáciu žltej a zelenej cukety s klobásou Salsiccia. Na vrchu je do chrumkava vypražená petržlenová vňať na osvieženie. Fantázii sa medze nekladú. Stále pracujem na niečom novom, takže sa ešte máte na čo tešiť!“ tvrdí. A že my sa naozaj tešíme!
