When Fergus at the Twelve does anything he tends to go all out and go one better than everybody else, especially if it is something that he really likes, and I reckon he is a secret pizza addict. Most people who want to add a pizza section to an already established restaurant would simply ring up the catering equipment suppliers and get three or four quotes, call the sparks, and job done. Not Fergus, he headed off to Napoli in Italy and met the manufacturers of several pizza ovens. You might wonder how the oven could make a big difference, well in the world of cooking things perfectly, authenticity is everything, from the ingredients to the tools of the trade. This oven is made from material that came from Mount Vesuvius and can be fired by either gas or timber. That makes it pretty authentic in my book.
As you can see in the picture it is a pretty substantial affair and can cook seven or eight 12-inch pizzas at a time. This brings me to what I think is a pretty clever piece of marketing, all pizzas are 12 inches and all cost €12 — even the word Dozzina in the name means 12. However the best part of the whole project for me is that they are using only the finest gourmet ingredients for the pizza. When have you ever seen another pizza maker stating who supplies all the raw material? Turf smoked Connemara ham, gubeen cheese, superb parma ham, buffalo mozzarella from Macroom, the biggest and juiciest olives from a small producer in Italy, artisan braesola, mortadella, and salamis — this is what will make this one of the most popular pizzas in the west, at least in my humble opinion.
The pizza takes 90 seconds to two minutes to cook, therefore you will get a crisp base while all the ingredients on top will be juicy, something that is pretty hard to do if you are cooking a pizza at home. Consequently you are probably best advised to call in and order your pizza when you are ready to eat it. You can also order the pizzas in the bar where it costs a couple of euro more, there is an opening at the end of the bar area and you can see all the action in the pizza section. For children they are making another Italian favourite, chocolate pizza, it is a regular base with a combination of chocolate, nutella, and marshmallows, it costs €6 and will keep even the wildest child happy while you tuck into your own gourmet favourite.
The pizza section has its own deli where you can buy oils, vinegars, meats, cheeses, wine, and some really great pasta. As I mentioned in the beginning Fergus is not a man to do things by halves, so for slicing the Parma ham and other cold meats he went out and bought a Berkel slicer. This is the one that used to be popular in Ireland years ago before we went all modern, but in reality it has never been equalled for the fine slicing of meats and it is the slicer of choice on the continent. It is the one that goes over and back while slicing the meat and a joy to watch.
Needless to say the choice of pasta is also excellent, it is from a company that has been producing pasta since 1912 and if you Google it you will see rave comments from all over the world. It is called la campofilone, and is made from eggs and durum flour, no water added whatsoever. Because of all the eggs that are used it seems to go much further than other pastas I have eaten. It cooks in three minutes flat, and I was only able to eat half the portion that I made for myself at home. So if cooking it cut back on the amount you normally use. I have never been able to have a favourite pasta as most seem much the same to me, however I think this one will be in my food press in the future.
It is open from 12 noon until 10pm and the phone number is 091 597012. It is located in the area where previously the Pins bakery was, while the bakery has moved next door with a bigger space than before.
