There was a box with a picture that could very well be the origin story of pizza set on a table at the PG Italian Club kitchen in the heart of downtown Prince George on Monday, Jan. 27.
The scene was set with a cartoon-like green slice of Bad Pizza with a grimace on his face as he sliced off the top of a towering apartment building in a big-city skyscape.
It had an airplane overhead dropping – maybe tomatoes? – on Bad Pizza’s head while the sunshiny Good Pizza came to the rescue in hero-like fashion to save the day.
The artist, Griffin Woodworth, 12, said Good Pizza always wins.
And it certainly did as eight children learned how to make authentically good pizza from scratch with guidance from the wise and gentle volunteers of the Prince George Italian Club on the Pro D Day. The children were between the ages of eight and 12 years old and were delightful participants.
Anna Monetta, a member of the Prince George Italian Club for the last 25 years, said sharing good food with good company is key and sharing the knowledge of how to make that food offers a chance for those in the community to get a glimpse into what it’s like to be Italian in the best way possible – through delicious food.
“We started off doing a test in April and then we decided we’d do a pizza-making workshop and invited the community,” Monetta said.
The morning class was at capacity with eight children but requests came fast and furious at registration time so they decided to do an afternoon class, too.
After making the dough the children were invited into a space where they could do other activities, including colouring sheets depicting Italy that including bits of information about the country.
CrossRoads Brewing donated pizza boxes for the individual-sized pizzas the children made and they were encouraged to use their imagination to draw on their boxes, like Griffin did in epic fashion, while the dough rose. Volunteer Maria Marchetti, a retired teacher, gently guided the children in their artistic endeavours.
“We did a little bit of language sharing, too,” Monetta said. “But I think we need to do that separately in another session so today the kids learned that ‘mozzarella’, ‘parmesan’, ‘pizza’ and ‘sugo’, which is sauce or salsa, are all Italian words.”
“Buongiorno!” Silvia Spoletini, another volunteer, happily added, contributing another Italian word that means good day or hello.
“We’re always looking for ways to encourage membership and raise awareness and by inviting the children into the club, perhaps parents will eventually come, too,” Monetta said. “We’d like to invite the next generation to join, and then the next generation after that.”
During the workshop the children were given their aprons first.
“Then it’s all about following kitchen rules, so everyone had to wash their hands,” Monetta said.
Then the group followed the basic dough recipe that was on a poster on the wall, along with the kitchen rules of safety.
Everyone followed the recipe to create their dough and then it was put in the oven at a low temperature to encourage it to rise in a timely fashion.
“It depends on the weather, it depends on relative humidity, sometimes the dough puffs out right away, sometimes it doesn’t,” Monetta said.
Monetta demonstrated how to make the sauce that was simmering in a big pot on the stove.
Tomato sauce, basil and oregano, with fried bits of onion, is all that’s needed for perfection.
Each child goes home with the recipe for the pizza dough and the sauce at the end of the workshop.
“The key is to let it simmer,” Monetta nodded as she stirred the sauce.
“It’s not that hard. Just know the longer it simmers the sweeter the sauce.”
There’s nothing like gathering with friendly volunteers in a warm kitchen filled with the scent of yeasty dough and tomato sauce bubbling on the stove while the unmistakable scent of parmesan and mozzarella blend into the comforting aroma of traditonal Italian goodness.
Volunteer Marilia Mauro did the heavy lifting, stacking big glass bowls and doing the prep work in anticipation of the afternoon session of pizza making.
About 20 minutes later the dough was ready for the kids to gather in the kitchen once again. The dough went quickly into their pie plate to be worked into a classic crust.
Don’t smooth it out too much or over work the dough though, Monetta advised. Gentle motions with eager fingers did the trick.
“It feels really spongy and in the oven it’s gunna rise,” Griffin said knowingly about his newly-formed pizza crust.
“I’ve done this before – I cook at home so I really like this. It’s fun.”
Monetta instructed the children to sprinkle a bit of olive oil on the crust after they shaped it from ball of dough to pizza crust.
Then it was time for the sauce.
“You have to spread the love around,” Monetta laughed as she guided the children through the pizza making process.
“That’s enough sauce … that’s enough sauce … that’s enough sauce … now that’s really enough sauce. That one’s going to be juicy!” Marchetti laughed with the sauce-loving child. “Everybody ready? OK, now it’s time for the parmesan and mozzarella!”
With names on pie plates the pizzas were popped into the oven until golden perfection was achieved.
As the children gathered around the table once again, this time to eat their creations, a hush fell over the room, each enjoying their made-with-their-own-two-hands pizza.
There were comparisons made, with admiration expressed over how thick some crusts were (Griffin's) and how cheesy and saucy other pizzas had become.
As parents arrived to pick up the children, one mum said she was delighted to find this cooking lesson available to children in Prince George.
“I think Prince George could use more kids’ baking and cooking classes so this is really amazing,” Van Tay said.
“I hope since they’ve had such a good turn out they’ll do more. This is such a great thing for the community. My family is half Asian so this is a great way for my son, Ryan, to be immersed in other cultures. There are a lot of times people invite children to decorate a cupcake or make their own pizza using pita bread but this was how to make everything from scratch and that’s a whole other lesson that kids need to learn. So this is awesome and that’s why we signed up right away.”
For more information about the PG Italian Club and all they have to offer check out their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pgitalianclub.
