Francesco and Davide, father and son, the same passion for pizza that becomes a symbol of evolution and research, an expression of a growing craft
The story of Samarani Pizza in Orzinuovi (BS) began some 20 years ago when Francesco Samarani, a pizzaiolo by vocation in the family, opened his take-out pizzeria: Roman pizza in pala, classic Neapolitan-style pizza and, finally, inspired by pizza in pad, here is gourmet pizza.
Ready and delivered, from 700 to 1,200 takeout pizzas a week, he is an institution in Orzinuovi. A well-established business and a passion that Francesco passes on to his son Davide who, not yet 30 years old, has already achieved excellent results at the World Pizza Championships:3rd place for pizza a metro, 3rd place for fried pizza. “These are types of pizza that I don’t usually make at work,” declares Davide, “but I like the challenge, I like to measure myself against my skills and have fun, fly with my imagination and experiment with new things.
A proactive attitude, Davide’s, which recently gave rise to another project and the opening of a gourmet pizzeria 500 meters from Francesco’s takeout. Here, the environment offers a different vision of pizza, food, product and, finally, complete sensory experience. It is called Masa Experience, and the name itself suggests a more contemporary approach; a tabletop pizzeria that follows the fast-moving trend of considering pizza something more than just a food for consumption, albeit a quality one: it is a modern, refined dish, studied in detail, to be enjoyed slowly, savoring every moment. It is an “experience,” indeed. It is gourmet. But let’s go back to everyday reality and to Papa Francesco’s take-out pizza, which employs different techniques and specially designed doughs to make its 3 types of pizza with the use of 5 Stagioni’s three classic flours, red, blue and green. For the classic pizza, long leavening and a maturation of 24/48 hours; for the bases, a dough made with 50 percent biga. Explains Davide, “In this way, the pizza remains crumbly, light and fragrant thanks to the pre-ferment that we leave to mature for 24 hours at a controlled temperature so that it develops gas and alcohol that give thrust and aroma to the product.”
A consumer product? Yes, of course, but of the highest quality because it is studied and proposed in the smallest details as professionalism dictates. And Francesco Samarani is such a longtime professional that, in Orzinuovi, right in the center of the town, Samarani Pizze is a reference point for families, for young people, for everyone.
“We have a varied clientele,” Davide explains, “and everyone can choose according to their preferences, from classic in pala to gourmet, and this is a possibility that is not always found in a take-out pizzeria. We try, in fact, to follow market trends, to please everyone’s taste, to use products as much as possible at km 0, to create special toppings, to increase the quality level of ingredients.”
If this were not enough, the coming together of two generations of pizza makers – Francesco and Davide – provides an opportunity for enhancement. Davide represents the evolution, the passing of the baton of ideas and methods, the refinement of a craft that, today, is complex and constantly progressing to stay in step with the times and with an increasingly informed and demanding clientele. A craft not without its criticalities, and if doing takeout seems trivial and obvious to you, you need to think again. Davide Samarani explains how practicing takeout that lives up to customer expectations requires a well-designed and implemented methodology: “First of all, it is essential to find the right compromise so that the pizza arrives at home in perfect condition. At the table it’s easy, you bake and serve, but when you have to deal with transportation and the time involved, it’s more complicated.
It is important to create the perfect balance, especially in the case of gourmet pizza. A pizza with tartare, just to give an example, you can’t seal it in the box where the heat would cook it. Then you have to devise the right topping, calculate the degree of humidity inside the box, the heat, the delivery time, which cannot always be the same or the same if the customer comes to the pizzeria and picks up or if the delivery is made by our staff, which, in this case, also has to evaluate the delivery round, the route and the time needed.”
So, the competent pizzaiolo must know how to evaluate and devise ad hoc recipes that, while meeting the canons of the type of product, take into account conditions subject to the occasion. A gourmet pizza that meets these requirements, according to Davide, is the pizza with Speck Alto Adige, porcini cream, walnuts and burrata: the secret lies in providing the burrata in a separate package, leaving it up to the customer to pour it on the pizza at the moment of consumption. In addition, the base made with biga stays crispy over time. “The base is important,” says Davide Samarani, “especially at the take-out stage but also at the table because, nowadays, it is common to see people sitting with pizza in front of them lingering on their smartphones, perhaps taking photos, and letting that time pass, even briefly, that could compromise the tasting. Certain aromas, the hot/cold contrast, we also have to take all that into account when we study a new dough.”
It is the new frontier of pizza, which understands the importance of research and study in a trade that was once considered “last resort” and now requires professionalism and commitment “If you don’t understand the mechanisms, you can’t convey the value of your product to the customer and you are out of the market. If you work like you did 50 years ago, you can’t do it.
You have to study a lot, I often tell the kids I teach at the academy – Davide concludes.” This is the message to listen to, even to make a good takeaway, like that of Francesco and Davide Samarani, father and son, tradition and innovation constantly in the making.
