Cars, Food and the Ladies of Hong Kong & Macau: V.P.N. Certified, Pizza Mario

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

V.P.N. Certified, Pizza Mario - (Sydney, Australia)

The traditional proper Vera Pizza Napoletana status is not easy to attain as it must adhere to certain rules and recipes as set out by the original VPN Association and requires a minimum of 1 month’s continuous training in Naples in Italy. 1 month of your time to learn a life long trade, to be fair is not an exceptionally long time. But the association and its rules do stipulate exactly what you must or must not do in order to retain the V.P.N status and give it the final seal of approval in the form of a D.O.C. (Denominazione di Origine Controllata) stamp, whether inside or outside of Italy! There is only 1 shop in Sydney which does a proper DOC/VPN certified pizza, and Melbourne down South has also joined in thus far with a VPN certificated pizzeria at 400 Gradi: http://www.hkepicurus.com/2011/08/pizza-napoletana-400-gradi-melbourne.html. Another shop in Lane Cove in Sydney is said to have also joined the association recently, to be opening the upcoming Sunday on 6th of Nov in a few days time!

Vera Pizza Napoletana Association Certified -
Doesn’t mean a damn to me, if the pizza is not good.
It’s the end result which matters most, and when the bullshxt stops.

A good selection of Fritti, and slightly localised Antipasti -
This is definitely Italian in spirit. And true to its tradition.

Proper Woodfired Pizza Oven -
Woodfired ovens are not hard to find in Australia, as laxer regulations here mean that burning charcoal or wood remains completely acceptable in a restaurant environment, unlike Hong Kong’s stupid and often unnecessary policies. This oven is meant to be built up to V.P.N specs.

Umani Ronchi Montepulciano d’Abruzzo from Marches, Italy -
A good table wine to go with the fritture and pizza

Bianchetti of white baits – $12
These were fatter than the usual white baits and done reasonably well. Well seasoned and the wedge of lemon, brought out its unlocked flavour potential thus far. ~ 8/10

Margherita with Basil, Buffalo Mozzarella, Tomato Sauce and Cherry Tomato - AUD $25
The cornicone crust on 1st appearance was certainly not up to Neapolitan/Napoletana spec, as it was a bit dense and not blistered up properly. The buffalo cheese imported from Italy has also melted too much during the baking process. Whilst the taste of this was generally good, I couldn’t get over the fact that the san marzano tomato sauce was overly watery which made the pizza base super wet and slid off the pizza on every attempt whilst eating it. Soggy base is not a problem with a Napoletana Pizza - but the sliding around was ~ 6.5/10

Cornicone Edge -
Only true tossers would weigh a pizza on its crust. Well, they’re VPN stipulated to be hand tossed only by the pizzaioli ! Open-mouthed smile This one was decent but a little too dense in the dough formulae and certainly not bubbly burnt enough around the edges either. The pizza dough was o-so-thin in the middle, under baked and wet. The taste was good though, despite the outcome not up to proper Napoletana standards… Being the current and only VPN spec pizzeria in Sydney right now, they really ought to improve on this wetness problem and may be then, they’ll regain their status as the No.1 Pizza from being just No.2 in Sydney as voted by Timeout Sydney: Pizza Lucio. The no.1 pizzeria in Sydney was a little above here in terms of execution. 400 Gradi meanwhile down in Melbourne, still easily made the best crust out of them all for now, just look at the pictures yourself to compare…