I Try to Master The Pizza "Slapping" Technique...

this video is brought to you by skillshare what's up guys salut this is alex i'm still stuck at home i'm still madly obsessed about neapolitan pizza and i'm still trying to improve my game now remember guys i'm not starting from zero on this let me show you so five years ago i made a neapolitan pizza series which got me in terms of expertise from there to there and that is very steep progress in a very short period of time now after a series basically being plateau very slowly and every step i make towards the absolute perfect neapolitan pizza is extremely costly in terms of times and effort so in the previous episode i hacked my oven in order to be able to use the self-cleaning cycle this setup produces amazing heat amazing customizing everything it's the absolute best setup to bake neapolitan pizza at home now i'm afraid not all things can be hacked some things must be learned one of them is the technique with which you shape the pizza disc the shaping is crucial i don't know what point i'm trying to make but there is definitely some slapping involved in this episode just a quick word about this did you know you can buy this from me i'll make sure to share a link down below okay please say hello to my little friend enzo kokia is a true neapolitan master pizza maker he's a legend enzo has been teaching the techniques and secrets of neapolitan pizzas to a whole new generation of chefs the book he wrote along with the university of naples is the very first scientific guide to neapolitan pizzas his restaurant la notizia is the very first pizzeria to be mentioned in the prestigious michelin guide he has mastered a technique i call this the pizza slapping technique let me show it to you mastering this shaping technique is absolutely fundamental for the success of a real neapolitan pizza turning the dough into a beautiful disc with a uniform thickness in the center but a delicate rim full of air on the edges this is nothing short of an art form uniform i want to learn that so bad and i want to take you along this learning [Music] with the slap and flap technique i want to improve the size i want to improve the shape also the consistency of my disc this is a batch of pizza dough that i prepared three days ago if you want to see how i did that then go to frenchguycooking.com pizza dough there's an automatic pizza dough proportions calculated seven pizzas to 80 70 percent in hydration these are proportions you need you see you want to mix that thoroughly and then basically let that rest in the fridge for three days would you need more details there's a link in the description to a video just about though all we need to do is to divide this into 8 double bold and place them in individual containers that's the bubbling action you want [Music] one two three four five six seven i reckon let's just go and break down that italian beautiful technique in the meantime you guys stay here about two hours four hours they just need to relax and be ready to be turned into pizza desk so i'm going to watch it again try to identify the main phases [Music] okay hold on a second step one let's just imagine that this is our disc you don't want to press it with the tip you want to press it with the first two knuckles using the joints as a suspension this is an arc overlapping my two index fingers that's going to give you the curve you need to get closer to the rim and then you flip it over one two three and then bam bam bam bam on the side let's continue to step two [Music] slap and flap place slap and flap place slap and flap and place slap in flat and place stop place your hand on the disc flap it back hold on a second it should be slowly rotating like this you would create an angle with that dough and you slap it back oh the dough has rotated a bit wrist wrist wrist that way look at this like a pizza make you already you can't be ready but i feel like i'm ready okay so i'm gonna start practicing on the dummy dose okay step one one two three [Music] one two three stage two i need to focus right hand on the door slap and slap ouch i've gotta fold [Music] [Music] this is going nowhere the attempt number two was a complete waste of though if i slap the dough on the back of my hand and that's what happened every time go with it like this put this on the side for now now that's better with the joints open instead of just being locked you're creating like a whole movement that displace the air this is therapeutic okay this is doing damage [Music] right so i think i'm gonna stop for a moment and watch that video again i hope i can find something otherwise we are i just found another um video by the same guy on the same channel [Music] there's a very subtle movement the right hand it's slowly moving to the right pushing the air it's making sure that you still get that rim his hands are just weightless he's been practicing his whole life and i'm just humbly willing to master it in three days two days maybe let's get back to it soft it is a bit thinner in the center but clearly here i'm getting there i'm gonna try to be more gentle i'm gonna try to accept the dough a bit more i'm gonna be very honest with you guys i've been making quite a few pockets at first but now i'm stagnating the video you saw about enzo kokia was on italian it's a brilliant youtube channel that is run by a friend of mine alessandro so i called alessandro i told him can i reach out to enzo he said it's complicated can i at least send you a clip then you guys tell me how i could improve myself he said yes so with that in mind i'm about to record myself and then share that shameful clip with one of the best pizza maker on the planet you gotta do what you get it okay so there i go [Music] i'm alex i love making pizza and i'm really looking for your advices please maestro help me get better at making pizza you know what guys i think watching more and more videos of that technique is not gonna help me perfect it i probably need to to go and have a beer i'm gonna call you today as far now and i'll catch up with you tomorrow okay hopefully by now we we can get an answer from enzo i'm keeping my fingers crossed okay and now a quick word from our sponsor skillshare skillshare is an online learning community that offers thousands of classes for curious and creative people usually skillshare classes include both video lessons but also a real class project and that makes it very inspiring yes but also very practical when it comes to actually learning a new skill at the moment i'm following two classes how to make a podcast plan record and launch with success how to start how to make your podcast and how to publish and promote it new podcast the second one is called the staples of branding from purpose to product and i'm gonna be showing you guys the ins and outs of what it takes to create this type of a business and this type of a brand new brand so at less than 10 dollars a month skipshare definitely is very affordable especially considering that for this price you get unlimited access to all the classes the first thousand of you guys to click the link in the description will get a two month free trial of premium membership so you can explore your creativity thank you skitcher for sponsoring this video back to it good news and bad news which one you want me to go first bad news okay i can do that i've been thinking a lot about the technique and i can't see how i could improve my skills just by watching youtube videos the good news is [Music] i've got a response from mr enzo coccy he's like standing up making pizza okay i'm gonna show it to you hey alex ciao how are you he's good [Music] i've got a thumb problem my thumb is sticking out too much and it might pierce the toe so i need to place it back closer to the other fingers ultra problematic problematicum [Music] i've got an elbow problem he says my elbow is too close to my body i need to have a more relaxed stance with a bit more room for the elbow to move freely problema this is the most complicated one it says i need to grab and turn at the same time i thought that's what i was doing look at me i'm looking man this is all giving me a bit of fresh air into this picnic learning just empowers me with a bit more courage i would say let's just go back in the kitchen and get this technique right spoiler i have very few other options because i'm running out of those yesterday i used four does out of seven and i only have three left i'm gonna do my best [Music] i'm getting super excited because i feel like it's working so i'm just trying to focus okay oh no i had this it was working and now it's not working no more okay now i'm doing nothing the last remaining pieces of dough let's do this i see you [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] it's round it's wide the right size that i was looking for success success success success [Music] yes basil one two nice rounder more even definitely more consistent in terms of thickness now i'm just seeing something but i could possibly do a better job on the crust right there but my main goal right here was to shape pizza better i think i did that boy am i pleased with this one let's take a slice i think i did my job well today i think i learned technique i've been waiting to learn for so long now obviously i'm pleased with what i did is enzo please with what i did so i'm definitely going to send him this pizza to see if he has anything to say about my technique i'm sure there is plenty more to improve but from this day on this is the technique i'm gonna use when it comes to shaping my pizza disc i'm gonna be able to brag every time i'm gonna make a pizza party slapping and flapping all around in the description you'll find links to all the videos i have seen and studied thank you so much enzo for for the great advices thank you alessandro from italian squishy for making this a reality and thank you guys for watching this episode bye [Music] you

Channel: Alex

Views: 798,274

Keywords: pizza, neapolitan pizza, how to stretch pizza, enzo coccia, italia squisita

Id: YbkHihvXCPg

Length: 15min 26sec (926 seconds)

Published: Sat May 16 2020