Tag: Home-made pizza

Lahmacun, Iraqi flatbread: the best damn thing we’ve eaten lately

Iraqi flat bread

Yes, I can say hand-on-heart this Iraqi flatbread with lamb & veggies was one of the best things I’ve eaten all year! I’ve always loved Middle Eastern food and I do cook it often at home, but this really left both me and my man speechless.

The whole experience was triggered by the fact that some of my colleagues will be travelling for business to Iraq. Everyone started asking the usual questions: is it safe to go to Iraq, how are things over there and so on. The first question on my mind was: what do people eat in Iraq? I have to confess, I didn’t know much about it in particular. My Food Atlas of the World doesn’t say much on Iraq, but Wikipedia came to the rescue. I learned that, along with all the other great things, Mesopotamia was also a land of culinary delights and advancements. They gave us one of the world’s first cookbooks, written on a clay tablet in cuneiform writing: it describes the dishes served during summer festivals. Now, this needed further (practical) investigation!

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Home-made pizza: pomodorini freschi & ruccola

Home-made pizza pomodori freschi

You’re probably wondering why. Why make your own when we have so many great options and pizza joints spread all over town and good delivery services?

I’m a huge pizza fan (I mean, really, who isn’t?) and Friday is pizza night at my house. I have 2 secret (well, not so secret) places where I get the pizzas from.

My best guarded secret place is called La Bottega Della Pizza on Chee. Waterloo…conveniently walking distance from my house, as they don’t deliver. You can either eat there (nice terrace & small, but cozy resto) or pick it up to enjoy at home. Now, these guys come from Sardegna and we have very close sentimental bounds with this wonderful island. My man used to live there and we go visit regularly. But what about the pizzas? Authentic, fresh, excellent ingredients, really THE BEST I’ve had! A bit more expensive, but totally worth it! My absolute favorite is Margherita Imperatrice: simple, beautiful, perfect! And you can enjoy an ice-cold Ichnusa…which I something I absolutely love: promoting their local products instead of going for the easy & convenient. I’m not telling you what Ichnusa is, you have to go there and discover for yourself.

Also very close to my heart is a shop called Pizza La Regina, in Ixelles and Brussels City. I’ve never actually been there, but I order from them on regular basis. I think it’s a mom & pop’s business and they are really doing a great job. They are super friendly on the phone, good delivery time (30-40 minutes) and the pizzas are absolutely AMAZING. My favorite ones are 4 fromaggi, Parmigiana and Siciliana. Whenever I have an event at work, I call them. If they can make happy 70 hungry, picky, smart engineers (my colleagues), I’m sure they can make you happy, too. Oh, and the prices are more than decent.

Then WHY do I sometimes make pizza at home? Well, the answer is very simple: for the love of cooking and for the love of pizza. I simply enjoy making it at home. No, it’s not authentic, it’s not perfect, it’s not always fancy. Yet, we love it and my man sometimes asks me to make pizza (yep, true story). It seems that I have an inclination towards pizza provencale, with a  thinner, more crustier crust. Interested in making it? It takes less than 30 minutes, baking time included. Read More