Reverse Engineering DiFara's Pizzas

[Pete-zza]

For those who are interested, there is an interview of Maggie Mieles, who is the daughter of Dom DeMarco:



Peter

[Jackie Tran]

It's been awhile since I've made one of these.

[foodiebuddha]

For those who are interested, there is an interview of Maggie Mieles, who is the daughter of Dom DeMarco:

Peter

thanks for posting. have you watched it yet? does Maggie get into any of the nuances of their process for making pizza?

[nickyr]

One more thing, when he pulls it out there is a lot of oil bubbling around.  Does he put a lot of olive oil during the pre-bake or does he put a little in the pre-bake then add a lot more during the second bake.  I can't tell from the videos. 


Thanks!

Sorry I missed this, but I don’t know the answer. I always vote for more oil at every opportunity though :-)

[PizzaEater101]

Sorry I missed this, but I don’t know the answer. I always vote for more oil at every opportunity though :-)

I finally noticed in a video he puts oil (prob just enough or a little) for the pre-bake then after he lifts it up and puts a substantial amount in the pan after it has been pre-baked.  I tried that when I tried doing a DiFara square pizza.  The pizza looked like his but I was too lazy to take a picture and post it.  I will next time. 

[Pete-zza]

thanks for posting. have you watched it yet? does Maggie get into any of the nuances of their process for making pizza?

foodiebuddha,

I watched a part of the video but plan to watch the whole video this weekend.

Peter

[foodiebuddha]

foodiebuddha,

I watched a part of the video but plan to watch the whole video this weekend.

Peter

thanks Pete - i'll try and watch it too but if you get to it before i do - would love to know what kind of info is in it.

[Pete-zza]

thanks Pete - i'll try and watch it too but if you get to it before i do - would love to know what kind of info is in it.

foodiebuddha,

Last night, I viewed the entire video featuring Maggie Mieles of DiFara's.

By way of background, Maggie is the middle child of seven DeMarco children (boys and girls). She has been involved since childhood in the DiFara business. Dom DeMarco is now 84 years old and apparently spends little time in the store these days. So, it appears that Maggie is now in charge of the business, which now includes a few pizzerias and a ghost kitchen. DiFara's also struck a deal with Goldbelly to ship frozen pizzas across the country.

In the video, Maggie discusses how they are coping with the Covid pandema and trying to find workers for their operations, which apparently has been a challenge.  All of their stores are currently limited to pick-up and delivery.

There is not much in the video in the way of discussion of the DiFara pizzas per se or how they are made. However, Maggie said that they continue to use the same recipes and related ingredients at all locations and to continue to do so even if the prices of those ingredients increase. The way that they assemble the pizzas will remain the same. One material change that she did mention was with respect to the frozen pizzas. Instead of shipping an 18-inch pizza, the amount of dough was adjusted to make two 12-inch pizza. I believe that I heard Maggie say that they cut the two pizzas in half to facilitate shipping. The two pizzas are the minimum shipping order.

I personally enjoyed the video but there is not much in it for people looking for secrets or even basic information about the pizzas themselves.

Peter

[RHawthorne]

One more thing, when he pulls it out there is a lot of oil bubbling around.  Does he put a lot of olive oil during the pre-bake or does he put a little in the pre-bake then add a lot more during the second bake.  I can't tell from the videos. 



This video might help to answer that question, starting at 0:48 in . He clearly puts a pretty good amount of oil in the pan at what appears to be a later stage of the bake, judging by the way he's able to pick it up. I can't say for sure how late in the bake that pie is, but it doesn't look especially dark to me. I've heard that he actually did a 3 or 4 stage process with his square pizzas.

[HansB]

Note too, he uses two different oils.

[foodiebuddha]

foodiebuddha,

Last night, I viewed the entire video featuring Maggie Mieles of DiFara's.


Peter

thanks peter for the in depth review - i look forward to watching it myself. Sounds like a good watch even in the absence of pizza making insights.

[Pete-zza]

thanks peter for the in depth review - i look forward to watching it myself. Sounds like a good watch even in the absence of pizza making insights.

foodiebuddha,

Maybe I missed it in the video (there are parts where the quality of audio is not all that great, at least to my aging ears) but I did not hear anything from Maggie about her brother Dom Jr. who opened up a pizzeria in Nevada in 2010 that was inspired by his experience working with his father in the flagship store in Brooklyn:

https://nypost.com/2010/07/13/son-of-nyc-pie-master-opens-pizzeria-in-vegas/

I recalled briefly chatting with Dom Jr. when I made my visit to the flagship store. The Nevada location is still in operation:

https://www.domdemarcos.com/

But recent Yelp reviews do not give the high scores that the flagship store has gotten:

5-star 29%
4-star 27%
3-star 26%
2-star 7%
1-star 11%

Peter

[RHawthorne]

foodiebuddha,

Maybe I missed it in the video (there are parts where the quality of audio is not all that great, at least to my aging ears) but I did not hear anything from Maggie about her brother Dom Jr. who opened up a pizzeria in Nevada in 2010 that was inspired by his experience working with his father in the flagship store in Brooklyn:

https://nypost.com/2010/07/13/son-of-nyc-pie-master-opens-pizzeria-in-vegas/

I recalled briefly chatting with Dom Jr. when I made my visit to the flagship store. The Nevada location is still in operation:

https://www.domdemarcos.com/

But recent Yelp reviews do not give the high scores that the flagship store has gotten:

5-star 29%
4-star 27%
3-star 26%
2-star 7%
1-star 11%

Peter

You can tell just looking at the pizza on that website that it's not the same as the original. It might be very good, but it's definitely different.

[foodiebuddha]

Pete -
i had a short conversation with Dom back when my buddy took me there a few years ago - in all honesty, i think this is a classic example of "no real secrets just great execution". I'll see if i can dig up notes from that conversation but i doubt i took any TBH ... i wasn't into pizza making back then like i am now.

[Frank Cozzo]

Interesting Q&A from Scotts Pizza Tours, backs up what a lot of people have been posting about. Tomatoes from Parma, so looks like Mutti. Hit its peak in the early 2000's, recipe has changed.

https://www.scottspizzatours.com/blog/inside-di-fara-pizza-midwood-brooklyn/

[bertanderny]

Interesting Q&A from Scotts Pizza Tours, backs up what a lot of people have been posting about. Tomatoes from Parma, so looks like Mutti. Hit its peak in the early 2000's, recipe has changed.

https://www.scottspizzatours.com/blog/inside-di-fara-pizza-midwood-brooklyn/

Interesting to see that they combine whole tomatoes with passata - something backed up with this video here:
https://youtu.be/Yb9fuZ5Ade4?t=28

Might give this a try.

[CheeseMcSauceface]

Here is my attempt at a Difara square pie. It is basically Craig’s Difara dough but made with 70/30 Anna 00 flour and KASL. Par-baked at 500 with a little Sauce for about 5 mins. Put cheese Sicillian oregano and Sicilian olive oil on then baked again for 10 mins. Broiler was on to finish.

[CheeseMcSauceface]

Oooops! I forgot the basil!

[Jackie Tran]

Oooops! I forgot the basil!

Only when basil is added does it become a Difara pie. 

[Chronic mole]

Is Don Sr. Still active? I’ve watched a few videos of Don Jr. make pies and I notice he doesn’t have the overall ‘carefulness’ and targeted approach Don Sr. Has when making pizzas . See for example https://www.instagram.com/the.real.difara.pizza.dom.jr/tv/B8cTGaWnB0T/?utm_medium=copy_link

Cracked the shell while lifting it up roughly and just kind of threw the toppings on - might be harsh criticism
But just something I noticed. I’m sure it still tastes great