Crust Masterclass @ cheeky food group, Surry Hills

Thank you very much to Laura Cario from Liquid Ideas for inviting me to a Crust Masterclass inside cheeky food group's headquarters. It's my first and hopefully not my last invited event and it's a rather intimidating and at the same time comforting sensation being in the same room as multiple like-minded individuals. There's no disapproving eyebrows to be found to indicate that maybe, just maybe... I should stop talking about what I had for dinner the other night or maybe I should stop waving my arms  around erratically in public to exemplify how you emulsify a hollandaise. 

Sometimes known for their less traditional pizzas and loading of ingredients, e.g. surf and turf and salmon benedict, today they were unveiling the creation of their much more conservative and simpler pizza: the heirloom tomato margherita. It's the classic margherita dressed up with a variety of heirloom tomatoes, and assortment of cheeses and oregano verde (which is like a salsa verde made with oregano). 

I was paired up with Vivian from When the World Stops Spinning and were tasked with preparing one for ourselves to eat. Being the more avid cook, Vivian did most the cheffy things while I just stood back and admired. There's something therapeutic about pizza making; the twirling, rolling and pounding of pizza dough, casually (or rustically as Crust call it) dropping ingredients all over and watching it slowly but surely roll into the oven with the cackle of the licking flames.  

I admit, besides finding many many many uses for the average egg, I really can't do much else in the kitchen contrary to what most of my friends think. I am an absolute nightmare when it comes cooking especially baking. I am a superb eater however, but that skill doesn't really benefit me in today's masterclass as I'm more tempted to eat the individual ingredients than to finish the actual product. And how can you not with 3 different types of mozarella. 

Before

Green Tigers Masterpiece courtesy of Vivian from When the World Stops Spinning

and After

Our result turned out quite impressively. Green tigers. YEAAAHHH. Initially I was worried that the liberal amounts of raw oregano would overpower but it oddly doesn't and just lifts the sweet tartness of the tomatoes. The flavours of the ingredients are just clean and beautiful with the cheeses really giving a distinctive yet wholesome richness, rounded off with a flavoursome kick of pesto. It's a real joy to eat.

Crust Head Chef - Peter Augoustis

Laura Cario from Liquid Ideas

Ox hearts, green tigers, breakfast's, apollo's etc.; heirlooms (coming from the word heritage, thank you Peter, I did learn something) come in a wide array of weird names, textures and flavours. It's a shame the finished product wasn't a reflection of all those types but in retrospect, it's not humanly possible to taste 100+ types of tomato on a singular slice and I'm all the happier for the creative restraint and simplicity. The heirloom tomato margherita might prove to be a very promising and popular addition to the already hefty selection at crust.


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Posted in: Crust, event, masterclass, pizza, surry hills