Author Topic: Greek pizza (Read 73035 times)

CDNpielover · « **Reply #340 on:** February 18, 2012, 07:05:26 PM »

Sorry for the millions of posts.

Atlas Pizza is one of Calgary's most famous pizza places, and the first two photos I linked above are from Atlas. There was someone on the internet (http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/597549) claiming to have worked there, and that the dough contained: baking powder, sugar, salt, yeast, oil, flour, and club soda. Would anyone be able to point me towards a similar recipe that uses all of these ingredients - i would be interested in trying to adapt it into an Atlas-style pizza. Or, can anyone offer recommendations on a formulation using those ingredients? Thanks!

buceriasdon · « **Reply #341 on:** February 18, 2012, 07:25:40 PM »

CDN, Going by scottr's description those photos are not Greek style and don't match the photos on this thread. Closer to Sicilian than Greek. No cheese out to the edge.
Don

Quote from: CDNpielover on February 18, 2012, 06:56:31 PM

By the way, I was reading earlier in this thread where Pete mentioned that this style of pizza seems to be found only around Boston, and that he's never seen it anywhere else. Well, I guess Peter has never been to Calgary before! Greek-style pizza is ubiquitous here. I don't know if it's the same exact thing that you find in Boston, however everyone calls it "Greek-style," and it looks no different from the pies that have been posted in this thread. I'll post some pics of pizza from some of the shops in Calgary, perhaps you guys can take a look and let me know how this differs from the Greek-style found in Botston.

http://a2.urbns.pn/w/s/t1/E7NZYs3qTBqUMO-640m.jpg

http://s3-media3.ak.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/vEUymOK63JkwQi03I7oWQA/l.jpg

http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/_yMjOQUkQQanq8IAC3op7w?select=FFKuGMpmYNEu1lRjB6sJjg

http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/6d_pYeKBfcLaddFmRTaY2g?select=zQi6QegmdI7157o6o_KnGw

CDNpielover · « **Reply #342 on:** February 18, 2012, 07:27:32 PM »

^^thanks Don. Just to calrify, are you saying these are different than Greek because the cheese isn't out to the edge? cause in the first 2 pics (Atlas Pizza), the cheese it out to the edge (it might be hard to see).

I don't actually get out for pizza too much, so I'm not sure how common cheese to the edge is in Calgary, but I'm gonna do some web searching now haha!

buceriasdon · « **Reply #343 on:** February 18, 2012, 07:37:00 PM »

Bar style pies have that deep browned caramelized rim where the cheese and oil meet. Those photos appear and I may be wrong to be rather thick for Greek style. I lumped them together and shouldn't have.
Don

CDNpielover · « **Reply #344 on:** February 18, 2012, 07:38:51 PM »

in case anyone is interested, here are some more shots of pizza in Calgary, where the cheese appears to be all the way to the edge (or very close, at least)

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XbvrL0NyRhQ/TgOqrlme6KI/AAAAAAAAAMk/ehuu1Y6U7-s/s1600/Sophies1.JPG

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wtHtA3MKxOc/TgOoY2FBALI/AAAAAAAAAMc/Wo0IPFZAAu8/s1600/4thSt1.JPG

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bwey7CdN6Cs/TgOrWaBAv0I/AAAAAAAAAMo/sYHLf2ioiok/s1600/Inglewood1.JPG

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CyDyLLXomqo/TgOlyQDmF3I/AAAAAAAAALw/jnjPUR0P32Q/s1600/Atlas4.JPG

CDNpielover · « **Reply #345 on:** February 18, 2012, 07:40:38 PM »

Quote from: buceriasdon on February 18, 2012, 07:37:00 PM

Bar style pies have that deep browned caramelized rim where the cheese and oil meet. Those photos appear and I may be wrong to be rather thick for Greek style. I lumped them together and shouldn't have.
Don

Dear Don,

OK thanks! I've never been to Boston, so I'm not sure how thick the pizza is there. People do call it Greek around here, but I was just curious as to why Pete had said the style described in this thread was particular to the Boston area. I know most folks could care less about the distinction, but hey, i'm a pizza nerd.

Pete-zza · « **Reply #346 on:** February 18, 2012, 08:23:00 PM »

CDNpielover,

Earlier in this thread, at Reply 107 at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,691.msg118006.html#msg118006, member cmyden brought the Canadian (Alberta) "Greek" style pizza to the forum's attention. He was primarily looking for a type of pan to use to make the Canadian "Greek" style pizza. Unfortunately, he did not return to tell us how he made out.

Petr

buceriasdon · « **Reply #347 on:** February 18, 2012, 08:29:54 PM »

CDN, It's impossible to tell from the photos so I will ask you. Is the bottom crust clearly baked in a heavily oiled pan creating a fried effect?
Don

CDNpielover · « **Reply #348 on:** February 18, 2012, 08:53:24 PM »

Dear Don,

Yes the bottom crust often has a fried effect, although I think it does vary a bit from place to place. I'll get some pics of the bottom next time i'm out and get this style of pizza.

buceriasdon · « **Reply #349 on:** February 18, 2012, 09:14:22 PM »

thanks CDN, I would think and hope there were differences between place to place.
Don

Quote from: CDNpielover on February 18, 2012, 08:53:24 PM

Dear Don,

Yes the bottom crust often has a fried effect, although I think it does vary a bit from place to place. I'll get some pics of the bottom next time i'm out and get this style of pizza.

CDNpielover · « **Reply #350 on:** February 18, 2012, 10:35:39 PM »

^^I hear ya

Ev · « **Reply #351 on:** February 19, 2012, 01:03:22 PM »

CDN,
I think the pizzas in your pictures look awesome, no matter what they're called. What can you tell us about the type of cheese be used? Cheddar, mozz. or maybe a blend?
I'm intrigued at the idea of using baking powder and club soda in the dough. I think some experiments are in order!

CDNpielover · « **Reply #352 on:** February 19, 2012, 01:16:35 PM »

Dear Ev,

I do not really know what kind of cheese is used, or how that might vary among the different operators. I've read that Atlas Pizza (in some of the pictures above) uses mozzarella and cheddar from Alberta Cheese (http://www.albertacheese.com), but I'm not sure if the cheese is blended and in what proportions. I'm also not too sure how reliable that information is, but the person who said that claimed to have worked at Atlas Pizza.

The dough ingredients (baking powder, club soda, flour, yeast, salt, sugar, salt, oil) were from the same internet source, but again I am not sure how reliable that is.

Ev · « **Reply #353 on:** February 19, 2012, 01:23:34 PM »

Ok, thanks.

buceriasdon · « **Reply #354 on:** February 19, 2012, 02:59:00 PM »

CDN, Yes, I find the club soda idea to be intriguing. I've used 7up and liked it.
Don

CDNpielover · « **Reply #355 on:** February 19, 2012, 03:09:32 PM »

Don,

I like the soda water idea too, and thanks for sharing your sucess story with the 7UP. I assume you just used it in place of the water, keeping the mass the same?

I think I will give this a try on my next pizza, probably next weekend. I would actually like to to try adapting Peter's Greek MA#2 formulation (http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,691.msg144180.html#msg144180) to include club soda and baking powder. I need to figure out how much baking powder and yeast would be appropriate, and if I would have to adjust the amount of club soda to account for the baking powder. I'm not famjiliar with baking powder in pizza, but I did find a website that mentioned the use of both yeast and baking powder in dough (http://www.ehow.com/how_8075420_add-baking-powder-pizza-dough.html#ixzz1mr1nso4M). I don't know how reliable that page is, but it is a start at least!

CDNpielover · « **Reply #356 on:** February 19, 2012, 03:20:53 PM »

Here is a video showing pizza preparation at Nick's Steakhouse and Pizza (http://www.nickssteakandpizza.com/), another Calgary institution serving what we call "Greek" pizza. You can see that they are cooking in pans, and it looks like the dough has been rising for some time in the pan. The cheese isn't out to the edge like a "Bar" pizza (which as I now understand it is a type of greek pizza). There are some nice shots of the bottom of the crust, but I don't know to what degree it is fried as I haven't been to Nick's in about 6 years! They are cooking at 600 F for about 8 - 10 minutes.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOBOOZLOU2o&t=1m54s" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOBOOZLOU2o&t=1m54s</a>

buceriasdon · « **Reply #357 on:** February 19, 2012, 03:41:13 PM »

CDN, I will be revisiting adding something like 7up, gingerale, what have you in the next couple of weeks to dough, but my memory of past experiments was I found using all 7up made the dough too sweet for my taste and somewhat off tasting. I ended up with a percentage of soft drink to water. Since I will be starting with a clean slate, so to speak, I will be looking at soft drinks again as perhaps a sweetener. At this juncture I prefer agave syrup over either sugar or honey however I may find it's cost to be prohibitive. Best of luck with your experiment.
Don

CDNpielover · « **Reply #358 on:** February 19, 2012, 03:42:40 PM »

thanks Don, I will of course let everyone know how it turns out!

norma427 · « **Reply #359 on:** February 19, 2012, 03:46:57 PM »

CDNpielover,

I worked with baking powder and yeast when I worked on the “Sukie” pizza. It is sure complicated for me to understand how to go about adding baking powder and yeast, but Peter came up with “goody bag” for me to add to Bisquick Biscuit mix at Reply #74 http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,13686.msg137842.html#msg137842 I did many experiments on that thread. I haven’t worked with soda in any of my doughs though.

I never tried to make those pizzas on that thread in pan, but that might be interesting.

Good luck with your experiment.

Norma