Even with the pandemic creating havoc for restaurants, three places making really good pizzas have opened — Brick Fire Tavern in Kaimuki (Neapolitan-
inspired), Pizza Mamo in downtown Honolulu (Detroit- style) and ‘Ili‘ili Cash &Carry in Moiliili (from the team that made V Lounge a hit). All three use quality ingredients and follow very specific techniques in their quest to produce really good pizzas.
Sampling their different styles of pizza has inspired some (like my wife) to make pizza at home, using a pizza stone in the oven or sometimes the wood or charcoal barbecue outside. (On that, I make sure to cover the pizza with a disposable aluminum pan, which disperses the heat on the pizza’s surface, as opposed to relying on the grill’s heat from below).
If you don’t want to hassle with kneading and proofing the dough, you can take a short cut and buy naan bread or frozen pizza dough for easier home use.
The three common sauces are a white sauce (essentially a bechamel combining flour, butter and milk), marinara or olive oil simply mixed with fresh diced tomatoes and herbs.
Add your own twist with toppings like chicken, salami, vegetables, shrimp … whatever you are hankering for.
Now the question is, how do we add wine to the enjoyment?
For the white sauce, I suggest a dry, crisp, aromatic country-styled white wine. What immediately comes to mind is the Domaine Skouras “Zoe” white (roughly $14 a bottle). I have mentioned this Greek wine in several articles over the years; pizza offers an opportunity to apply what you’ve learned. Zoe’s wonderful aromatics, its high-toned, light, crisp and refreshing personality, combine to keep your palate alert and ready to dive back in between bites, especially if you add toppings of shrimp or roasted vegetables. Heighten the aromatics by sprinkling some finely chopped herbs over the pizza at the last moment, boosting the dynamics of the pairing.
For marinara-based pizzas, my initial recommendation is a dry, lighter-bodied yet scrumptiously tasty rosé, such as the Birichino Vin Gris ($17.99) from California. Pairing pink wines with savory foods is something done quite often in the Mediterranean countryside. The symbiotic pairing creates pure enjoyment as one washes the morsels down with the wine. If you decide to throw chicken or salami onto your pizza, go with a slightly heavier, richer pink-ster, such as the Fontsainte Corbieres “Gris de Gris” ($19.99) from southern France.
For a grilled marinara pizza, consider unpretentious, delicious reds, like the Birichino “Scylla” ($24), an intriguing old-vine
carignane blend, or perhaps something more aromatic and leaner, like the Luigi Giusti Lacrima di Morro d’Alba ($22.95) from Italy’s east coast.
For an olive oil-based sauce, consider something like the uplifting and wonderfully perfumed Cambiata Albarino ($19.99) from Monterey, Calif., or the
Maestracci Vermentino Corse Calvi “E Prove” ($24), a more masculine, stony white wine — all about the wild countryside it calls home on the island of Corsica off the coast of France.
Yes, assembling a pizza party at home is easy to do, while having some fun exploring wines.
Chuck Furuya is a master sommelier and co-host of the weekly podcast “Chuck Furuya Uncorked.” Follow his blog at chuckfuruya.com.