From mass to service; discover the ‘secrets’ of the pizzeria on the coast of SP, voted one of the best in Latin America | Cooking 013

Cuisine #013: Discover the secrets of the pizzeria voted one of the best in Latin America

A small house in the Boqueirão neighborhood, in Santos, houses one of the pizzerias that is among the best in Latin America. Pizza Di Casabona entered the international 50 Top Pizza guide this year and aroused the curiosity of many pizza fans. O g1 was to uncover the secrets of this artisanal pizza prepared under the watchful eye of the chef and owner of the place, a proud Italian descendant who is passionate about his roots.

When entering the pizzeria, it is possible to come across several comics that make reference to Italian lands. A smell of freshly baked pasta, several cans of originally Italian tomato sauce and the smile of Eduardo Casabona, a passionate about napoletana pizza.

His grandfather, Luigi Casabona, left Sicily and came to Brazil after the Second World War. In Santos, he built a new life and set up his own business, a chain of snack bars. Eduardo has memories of his grandfather and Italian culture, which the family patriarch brought in his suitcase.

Therefore, in 2018, Eduardo left for Italy, where he lived for five months. “Pizza in the country is everywhere. Where I lived, which was in Calabria, they consumed a lot of pizza, almost every day”, he comments. During this time, he went to work at a pizzeria. In the land of pasta, he had the opportunity to try and learn about different pizza preparations.

“The ingredients are totally different, the flour, the sauce, the mozzarella itself, which is much more neutral and lighter than our father’s mozzarella, which is fattier. This makes the pizzas lighter”, he comments.

Back in Brazil, the Santos native took courses with two Italians on Napoletana pizzas, one of the old and artisanal ones. Generally served in individual discs, it has a higher edge and a soft, elastic and airy dough, which involves a lot of technique. The topping enhances the sauce and ingredients, which all need to be Italian.

Eduardo started preparing his first pizzas in his home kitchen and delivering them via delivery. He says that, at the time, he even broke his mother’s kitchen sink while making a pizza. He also invested in events, where he prepared the pizza in front of the customer. With the increase in demand, he had to expand the business and opened the pizzeria in 2019.

A Pizza Di Casabona settled on Rua Dom Lara, in Boqueirão. At the counter, customers can smell the pizza coming out of the oven and check the preparation of each one right in front of them. The chef commented that he always liked the counter concept, so he decided to adopt this style of service, which is also very common in Italy.

“”I’ve always liked this type of establishment, more intimate, more contact with the kitchen. People like to see the different pizzas being produced in front of us. I think this creates closeness with the customer”, says Eduardo.

The house pizzas are all napoletanas, individual, approximately 28 cm in diameter. Napoletana pizza dough contains flour, water, salt and yeast. “That’s why it’s a light pizza, it’s a pizza that doesn’t weigh down our stomach”, he explains.

The ingredients are few, but the preparation is very careful. Italian, the flour is 00, the purest and most refined. “It absorbs water more. We can hydrate it more. It becomes lighter. When the pizza goes in the oven, the heat evaporates all the water in the dough and the pizza becomes light”

The dough is made by hand and needs to be rested, passing through a slow fermentation, 24 to 30 hours. According to him, the dough that is rolled out today to prepare the pizza was prepared the day before. Therefore, the quantity is limited, meaning that when the dough runs out, it is not possible to make any more pizzas that day.

“We spend a short time fermenting Brazilian pizzas. There are pizzerias that make them an hour or two in advance. And we make Neapolitan pizzas with a long fermentation process, using an Italian flour”, he explains.

O Tomato Sauce The house is also prepared with Italian ingredients, as well as mozzarella and other toppings. Once assembled, the round remains in the oven for 60 to 90 seconds. In a short time, the edges become high and gain volume. Airy and soft, the dough beneath the covering reveals the care and lightness of the preparation.

The flagship of the house is the Margherita Verace, which contains San Marzano pelati pomodoro sauce, buffalo mozzarella, basil, parmesan and extra virgin olive oil. Eduardo Casabona showed the preparation of the Margherita Di Casabona the team at g1who also tried the pizza and showed how a napoletana pizza should be tasted (watch the video above).

There is also a menu of pizzas without sauce. One of the highlights is the Parma with mozzarella fior de latte, burrata, finished with parma ham and lemon zest. Already the Calzone Napoletano It’s very special. It’s a closed pizza filled with fresh ricotta, sliced ​​artisanal peperoni, fior de latte mozzarella, basil and margherita topping.

Now, the pizzeria has the 50 Top Pizza seal stamped on the glass. “It’s a very good recognition. When I started, we always followed these pizza chefs to look for ideas and I never imagined that I would be part of this select group that we always tried to reach”, said the owner.

For him, the anonymous judges took into account a series of characteristics of the place, from service to the quality of products. “I think they ended up evaluating the pizzeria as a whole, both our product and the location, the service, I think it was a complement to everything”

The aroma of freshly baked bread and the balance of the topping make the pizza prepared on site truly a true Neapolitan. On the palate, you can feel the flavor and lightness of all the ingredients. By living this gastronomic experience, it is possible to understand why the pizzeria is among the best in Latin America.

For him, in addition to a lot of work and knowledge, success had a touch that came from Italy. “I’ve always been passionate about culture, my grandfather’s roots. After he came from the war, he built his career here. I believe this has given us an extra incentive here”