The important point is the one that Bill/SFNM raised about defining what Bernie means by "basic Neapolitan pizza dough".
Based on my exposure to the subject, I would generally classify Neapolitan pizza doughs into four categories:
1) Authentic Neapolitan pizza doughs using 00 flours and a very high temperature oven. Purists might even demand that the oven be a very high temperature wood burning oven based on Neapolitan design methods. This is the category where the VPN and disciplinaire documents are likely to come into play, even though many operators do not care about such documents and do not follow them, either in Italy or in the U.S. For those who want to play in this sandbox, there are quite a few Neapolitan style dough formulations on this forum and many other places as well.
2) Neapolitan style pizza doughs made in a standard home oven, using 00 flours. This is the category where I spent all of my time and where I developed many of the dough formulations and methods referenced in my earlier posts. In this category, one can be as simple or as sophisticated as desired with dough formulations and dough preparation and management methods. The only objective is to make the best possible pizza in a standard home oven, even if it doesn't rise to the standards of many of the Neapolitan style pizzas possible under the first category mentioned above.
3. Neapolitan analogs. This is a category where "analogs" of Neapolitan style pizza doughs are created where 00 flours are unavailable for some reason and one wishes to simulate 00 flours as closely as possible. Examples include using all-purpose flour (or European counterpart flours), and blends of all-purpose flour, bread flour, cake flour and pastry flour (and even vital wheat gluten). There is a sizeable number of threads and posts on this forum on these "analogs". In many cases, the results can be quite good, even if not up to the standards possible under the first two categories. Until 00 flours became available to home users at the retail level, many home pizza makers used analog flour blends. In fact, my very first "Neapolitan style" pizza dough was based on an analog flour blend. 00 flours were not available at the retail level. For those who live in places where 00 flours are still not available, the analog blends are essentially the only alternative.
4. Other. This is essentially a catch-all category and technically not a Neapolitan style category. It is where I would place doughs made using blends of 00 flours and other flours. But this is an important category, for a couple of reasons. First, it is a way of using up 00 flours that have not met the expectations of users, either because of the lack of the best oven (in the view of the user) or because the 00 flours didn't satisfy user taste preferences. Second, blends of 00 flours and other flours, especially high-gluten flour, produce very good crusts. At least good enough for Dom Demarco at DiFara's, who uses such a blend. So, if I were dissatisfied with 00 flour for any reason, I would not discard it without first trying a blend with some other flour. For some members, such blends have become favorites.
Peter
