Bill and fornobravo,

there are a number of stores in the suburbs of Chicago which include the name Caputo. (Not all under the same ownership, confusingly.) The other flour pictured above (without the blue label) must be the house brand of one or more of these stores, separate -- as gleam says -- from the brand you two are referring to.

Here is a list of various Caputo stores.

Amata

Amata wrote:there are a number of stores in the suburbs of Chicago which include the name Caputo. (Not all under the same ownership, confusingly.) The other flour pictured above (without the blue label) must be the house brand of one or more of these stores, separate -- as gleam says -- from the brand you two are referring to.

In Chicago, at least, the "Caputo" brand as seen in the logo on those big bags of flour, is used by the Caputo Cheese Market, AKA Wiscon corp.

The Elmwood Park Caputo's, and its sister stores, use the house brand "La Bella Romana".

When in smaller bags, the pizza flour sold at Caputo Cheese Market is under the brand "Pellegrino" or maybe even "San Pellegrino", further adding to the confusion.

I've been experimenting with grilling pizzas. I have found that as long as they are not too big, I have no problem flipping them. Because of the rectangular footprint of my Weber gas grill, my pizza's are never circular, but more like an amoeba/Australia/rectangle shape.

Thanks to you, all cheese's come from Graziano's.
I do use olive oil in my crust, will try it without the next time I make dough.

As you know, pizza is a personal thing...my N.Y. man likes them extra cheesy...here is a orange pepper, homemade Italian sausage and onion pizza I made last week for him....it's about 5" by 4"

Here is a photo of my latest creation, Pizza Lolita, a white pizza on a true Neapolitan crust. The dough is made with Caputo 00 Pizzeria flour, highly hydrated, and uses a natural starter from Naples - absolutley no commercial yeast. The toppings include both fresh and low-moisture mozzarellas, pecorino romano, and sauteed oyster mushrooms. Baked on an 850F brick floor for about 90 seconds, then drizzled with just a bit of white truffle oil. Just a little bit of each topping.



Bill/SFNM

delk:

Very nice looking pizza (your own home-made sausage?)... I need to try the grill method one of these days; now that the weather has cooled off a little, maybe this is the time... I'm also very glad to hear you're shopping at Graziano's... They have some outstanding deals on first-rate products (try the extra sharp provolone)...

Bill/SFNM:

Wow, 850º for 90 seconds... I wish I could do that chez moi... Very nicely sober and handsome pie...

Buon appetito,
A

Thank you,
The sausage comes from a childhood buddy. I grew up in the Back of the Yards and lived next door to a neighborhood store. I called the owner and his wife, uncle and aunt. Big Polish catholic family--7 kids, youngest daughter the same age as my sister, youngest (and only) son two years younger than me. The oldest daughters were closer to my parents age and our families were and remain close. As a kid, my folks would buy whole slabs of bacon and my "uncle" would store it for us. My mom would say things like, "Go next door and get a half a pound sliced thick for BLT's." As a 43 year old native Chicagoan, I lament the passing of the neighborhood store more than anything. On every corner, some like my next door neighbors, in a middle of a block, there was a community that 7-11's and White Hen's destroyed. Truly makes me (an opinionated) Chicagoan jealous of NYC's bodegas.

Anyhow, my "uncle" made sausage....specifically Polish sausage. BTW, I am a total product of Chicago...my mother is Mexican and my dad is Polish...lol (ps I'm gay, my lover is Jewish and if we adopt a crack baby I may be the next mayor!)

About 15 years ago, I ran into my childhood friend at a wedding. We talked...talked old times....talked sausage. Turns out he has all his dad's grinders and slicers, plus the oak walk in cooler from his dad's store in his basement. At the time he was only making Polish sausage (he's an electrical engineer by day) and a week later he dropped some off for me. Wow...I was transported to my childhood.

A couple of months later, I brought him some spinach and cheese Italian sausages from Gepparth's and asked if he could make some. He took the ball and ran. It's mostly a hobby for him but I tell him all the time that we could do this for a living.

I'd love to try it on my own; it's on the list of things to do. But, you know how life rears it's head. My latest interruption is yet another round of chemotherepy starting on Tuesday...what to have for my last meal in a while?