Floridian Pizza Oven

This weekend I’m in Florida to see a live performance with picture of an animated short film I worked on some years ago while at USC. More on this in a coming post. One of the reasons I decided to make the trip out here for this particular performance is that my family happens to live out here. And of course, where there is family, there will be food… lots of food… ridiculous food. Today I was visiting my uncle who recently had a brick oven built in his back yard… What? Doesn’t everyone’s uncle have a brick oven? Hm… Anyway, he was generous enough to allow me to invite myself over for pizza. My initial visit was at 12, which was a good thing since he needed to light the fire right then so that it would get up to temperature by dinner time at 7. The temperature? Around 700 degrees. Cook time? 90 seconds.

Now don’t think for a minute we used any “pizza sauce” homemade or otherwise. Uncle Sam does pizza “sauce” with fresh chopped plum tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, oregano, and salt – that’s it. Topped with a combination of fresh and shredded mozzarella, sautéed mushrooms, and onions, it’s divine. There is nothing like the crust one gets from a brick oven. A bit charred, amazingly crispy, and with a touch of smoke from the burning wood. I’m obsessed. He tells me that there are a myriad of things that taste amazing from the oven – chicken, steak, vegetables. But his favorite? Whole roasted turkey. That will have to wait til next time.

Me? Spoiled? Never. 😉