The Cob Experience

Today my aspirations for the cob oven were realized in the form of pizza. During class today we were given pizza dough during our preparation of the day’s lentil soup. I’ve only used pizza dough a very few times so I began to roll it out with not a very exact idea of what I was doing. After a while it started to look somewhat like an actual pizza crust. I gave it a toss or two in the air, more for my own amusement than a part of the rolling out process. After a few minutes I developed a few rips in my dough so I balled it up and started over. However, my second time around I couldn’t seem to get my dough to roll out the way I wanted. Finally I passed my dough off to Jamie in bitter defeat hoping she could save what was left of my pathetic crust. She had some experience at rolling pizza dough so after a few minutes of working with my “angry dough” (as the group referred to my dough ball), I finally had a working pizza crust. The crusts were then covered and put away only to wait until later that afternoon.

I sat at the pick nick table that afternoon waiting for the oven to be ready as bees buzzed past my head. My anticipation grew as the time progressed and soon it was time to start preparing the pizza. I pulled out my dough and slowly worked it off the plate as it had become rather attached during its midday storage. Finally, I worked my dough free and began to apply the sauce. I like a light amount of sauce on my pizza as too much can overpower the toppings. After the sauce, I put on a layer of cheese and then moved over to the large granite slab to put on what we were all waiting for. In front of me stood an array of fresh vegetables picked that afternoon from the UW student garden ready for our consumption. I started first with some green peppers (a personal favorite of mine) and then kept it simple adding only shallots to accompany my rows of green. I then walked my pizza over to the oven and handed it to Keith. Keith was willing to put off his own pizza making to instead bake for everyone else. Despite the heat and hunger Keith carried on without a complaint. The atmosphere created by Keith was greatly appreciated by all. It reminded me of our post-prom party where I cooked crepes for two straight hours. I didn’t get to do anything else during that time or even eat a crepe but my work was appreciated by those around me as I supported the gathering of people.

When the pizza came out, the smell and the appearance were what you wished most of the pizza you ate looked like. I quickly sliced my creation into fours but couldn’t start right away as it was still too hot. After a few minutes I took my first bite. The pizza was better than any pizza I had eaten in a long time. It was not at all greasy leaving you feeling like you hadn’t eaten a brick for dinner like some pizza do. Also the fresh vegetables were so much better than any restaurant purchased vegetable pizza. The pizza outing has been my favorite food project so far