Ever since the September 2009 issue of the Ottawa Magazine published "101 Tastes to Try Before You Die", an edible guide to Ottawa's best dishes, I have been almost driven to enumerate the tastes I have already had, catalog them on foodiePrints, and pursue the ones outstanding.

Case in point, gravy pizza. I have long heard that one of Ottawa's better pizzerias originated the gravy pizza when a slightly intoxicated Montrealer, homesick for poutine, wandered through its doors after a night's indulgence. He perused the menu for fries, gravy, and cheese curds. Finding no fries, he asked for a slice of pizza and a portion of gravy. The pizzeria was House of Georgie's (Sorento's) on 211 Gilmour (at Elgin). The rest is history.

According to the September 2009 issue of the Ottawa Magazine, "fans drive into Ottawa from Toronto and Montreal for the delicacy." Me, I have already had many opportunities to try House of Georgie's pizza, enjoying some great delivery pizza, but I kept forgetting to order the side portion of gravy. Here is my first:

Delivery Menu Cover

Medium 13" Canadian: pepperoni, mushroom & Bacon
It had all the characteristics of a great pizza:

An abundance of real mozzarella, gently crusted during baking.

Expertly worked dough to provide just enough chew.

In-house made tomato sauce with quality toppings.
The tomato sauce tasted as if it were carefully simmered. It was much more than just crushed tomatoes, including spices and herbs. The toppings included some fresh mushrooms, spiced pepperoni, and crumbled bacon.

Cost: $19.20 ($17(medium 13" Canadian), taxes, and including a free 1 L bottle of Coke).

Two weekends ago, I ordered an Extra Large 17" Combination from House of Georgie's to take with me to a pot luck dinner party at a neighbour's. This time, I made sure to include a side of gravy, opting for beef instead of chicken.

Extra Large 17" Combination: Mushrooms, green peppers, and pepperoni

To demonstrate how consistently House of Georgie's makes great pizza, the pictures of the Medium Canadian Pizza were taken a year ago.

Again, an abundance of real mozzarella, gently crusted during baking.

The same expertly worked dough.

This time, though, with gravy:

Completing the experience!

Gravied!

My thoughts: The gravy added a savoury flavour to an already great pizza. It was somewhat odd to my palate with the bright tomato sauce. The gravy was also very floury. The experience, though, was definitely poutine-esque, the crust substituting for fries. And the melted mozzarella, traditional cheddar cheese curds. I can understand how gravy pizza quenched a poutine craving.

Total: $28.60 ($24(extra large 17" combination pizza), $0.75(gravy), taxes, and including a free 1 L bottle of Coke)

Would I order it again? The pizza, definitely. The gravy pizza, only after a couple hours' skating on the Rideau Canal during Winterlude. It rivals Dunn's smoked meat poutine and beaver tails as signature winter foods in Ottawa.

Particulars:
House of Georgie
211 Gilmour Street
(613)283-3333

More after the jump...

At the end of July, the organizers of WestFest held a thank-you dinner at Westboro's Newport Restaurant for the event's volunteers.

Newport Restaurant

Dining Room

There, we were presented with thank-you notes and some fine pizza.

Thank-you's

Slices of Combination and Deluxe
I can think of few better thank-you's than slices of gourmet pizza like those served at Newport. On the menu, the combination is called "Moe's Rock 'n Combo" and includes tomato sauce, peperoni, mushrooms, and green peppers. The deluxe adds bacon and olives.

Legend has it that the restaurant's owner, Moe, learned the art of pizza-making while working in the kitchens of Colonnade Pizza's original location on Metcalfe. Colonnade is one of Ottawa's famed pizzerias. Newport's pizzas sports an almost identical hand-worked crust that is also made to order. They are topped with quality fresh ingredients and real mozzarella cheese. They are baked in hot pizza ovens where both the cheese and crust develops great colour and texture.

Pizza Oven Crisped Crust

Best yet, the volunteer co-ordinator came across foodiePrints' piece on this year's WestFest. He sent printed copies of our blog entry around. In fact, our coverage seems to have urged WestFest organizers to look into having more local performers on stage and more uniform food concessions from local producers.

I should note that as we enjoyed our pizza, a caricature artist wandered the tables, drawing pictures of volunteers. Here is ours:

Me and Jenn

Both Jenn and I are looking forward to volunteering again next year when this field

Field
is again transformed into a festival ground.

WestFest

Particulars:
Newport Restaurant
334 Richmond Road
(613)722-9322

Colonnade Pizza
280 Metcalfe Street near MacLeod
(613)237-3179

More after the jump...

When it comes to pizza, Italy is the country to goto to immerse yourself in its history and its majesty. It is the founding country of pizza, so there should be little surprise that Italians are passionate about pizza. Who made it first? What is traditional? What regional specificities are best?

In fact, they are so passionate that an association, called the Associazione Vera Pizza Napoletana (the True Neapolitan Pizza Association), drew up rules governing authentic Neapolitan pizza. Last June (2008), they published their rules in the European Union's Official Journal, making them legal and binding.

Accordingly, to be an authentic Neapolitan Pizza:

1. it must be no more than 35cm in diameter
2. its crust must be no thicker than a third of a centimeter at its center, rising to 2 cm at the edge
3. its tomatoes must be of the San Marzano variety and they must be grown in soil from the base of Mount Vesuvius
4. its oil must be extra virgin and come from the Campania region
5. its cheese must be buffalo mozzarella and come from the Campania region
6. it must be cooked in a wood-fired oven for less than two minutes

Neapolitan pizza is pizza that comes from Naples. A report from the BBC explains that the Queen of Savoy was first served the pizza in 1889. It was made specially for her to represent the colours of the national flag: red tomato base, white mozerella, and green basil. The preparation would later be named after the her, the Margherita.

What do the new rules mean? Firstly, "Neapolitan pizza" becomes a regional specialty, similar to varieties of French wine or German beer. Secondly, anyone selling Pizza Napolitana in Europe will be subject to strict inspections. Proponents feel that the Neapolitan pizza, as a cultural icon, will be protected. Opponents feel that overarching rules stifle creativity and threaten business. Some restaurants, including celebrated establishments in Naples, have been substituting ingredients or varying the procedure for generations.

Personally, I feel that we take pizza for granted and demand so little from pizzerias that quality has been sacrificed. While there is both a time and place for pizza as sustenance (food for the stomach), rules like those in the EU demonstrate that people also eat pizza to feed the senses (food for the soul).

Besides, if such rules were binding in Canada, we wouldn't have the sorry excuse for a Neapolitan pizza from the sole remaining Café Baci in the National Capital Region (77 Promenade du Portage). The former Café Baci in Ottawa's Byward Market is now a Japanese restaurant. Though, the employees still take calls for Café Baci as my better half discovered one weekend.

Considering that I purposely went to an Italian restaurant to try my first Margherita, Café Baci failed twice.

• Nothing was genuine. The crust was literally hard, obviously spending more time than 2 minutes in an oven. And, it tasted of nothing. The cheese, on the other hand, tasted like it was processed.
• Good restaurants use the freshest ingredients. The basil on my pizza was dried. It was the 9th of June! Fresh herbs are in abundance at local shops or open-air markets. There is no excuse!

To add insult to injury, the pizza, which was far less than 35 cm in diameter, cost a whopping $14.00. With drink, taxes, and tip, the meal cost me $20.00.

For those of you who would like to see how a Margherita should never be made, here's Café Baci's business card.

Business Card
Please note that a coke will set you back $2.00 at this restaurant.

It is a telltale sign that neither Café Baci's menu nor its receipt spell the name of the pizza correctly. A "margarita" is a tequila-based cocktail, not a preparation of pizza fit for a queen. Then again, Café Baci's incarnation is barely fit for consumption at all.

Particulars:
77 Promenade du Portage
Gatineau
(819)771-2224

I learned two things from the single marketing course I was obligated to take to earn my business minor in university. Firstly, I learned the difference between putting together marketing and business plans. This, I do not feel apt to address. Secondly, I learned that market research allows producers and retailers to tailor their products and approach. Because cultural specificities are regional, the relative success of a product can be determined by such minuscule aspects as how a local sports team is fairing in a national tournament.

In 2007, when Ottawa's professional hockey team, the Senators (or Sens), made it to the Stanley Cup finals for the first time in modern history, they faced off against the Anaheim Mighty Ducks. Local businesses immediately moved to exploit the growing anti-"duck" sentiment in the city. Aubrey's is an excellent purveyor of butchered goods in its own right, but I've no doubt that they shifted a lot of duck, which is ordinarily a niche product. Similarly, a pasta place on Elgin, Fettuccine's, started advertising duck confit ravioli, which is an outlandish product that would not otherwise sell.

In other words, specialized products and marketing reflect what producers and retailers think profitable for specific geographic regions. On that note, let's turn to Pizza Hut.

According to wikipedia.net, Pizza Hut is a restaurant chain and international franchise, based in Addison, Texas. A subsidiary of Yum! Brands Inc., it serves different styles of pizza along with side dishes, including pasta, buffalo wings, and garlic bread. There are approximately 34,000 Pizza Hut restaurants, "delivery-carry out units", and kiosks in 100 countries.

On October 6, 2008, Brandrepublic.com reported that Pizza Hut in the UK will "temporarily" re-brand its stores "Pasta Hut." Nine restaurants will change their signs immediately.

The re-branding is part of an approximately £17 million initial campaign to shift the Pizza-Hut brand upmarket. Why? Market research determined that Brits eat more pasta than pizza. The repositioning also involves introducing eight new pasta dishes and updating more than 100 existing UK restaurants with a "more contemporary" look. In total, Pizza Hut reportedly plans to spend approximately £100 million on its UK restaurants over the next six years.

Of course re-positioning means modifications to Pizza Hut's web presence.

At the moment (October 16, 2008), Pizza Hut's UK website sports a snazzy flash piece that allows visitors to flip between Pizza and Pasta.

Pasta Hut

Pizza Hut

So what does Pizza Hut plan for its native country's website?

Now Serving Pasta
Well, apparently, Pizza Hut now serves pasta. Though, pizza is still the mainstay.

And, what about Pizza Hut's Canadian website?

Nothing!
Clearly, Canadians aren't going to get the new pasta dishes.

In fact, as redflagdeals.com explains, Pizza Hut recently decided to borrow from its American product line and feed Canadians more pizza with its Pizza Mia concept. Pizza Mia pizzas are made with hand tossed dough. They come with one topping. They are only medium size and you have to order 3 or more to get a deal.

Why am I not impressed? Is it possible that the Brits chose not to eat Pizza Hut Pizza because it is salty and incredibly greasy?

Take the high road and order pizza from a mom and pop shop like Ottawa's gravy pizza originator, Sorento's (AKA: House of Georgie).

Particulars follow after the jump!

More after the jump...

If ever there is a tell-tale sign that summer is at an end, it has to be the sea of frosh (aka: freshmen), swarming unsuspecting workers during an event called Shinerama. Each year, when downtown workers arrive for work after Labour day, they find newly minted university students strategically placed at every street corner and bus stop, canvasing donations to fund research into cystic fibrosis. Donors are handed colorful stickers. The goal is to sticker every downtown worker.

This year, I found that some enterprising students actually followed people going to and returning from coffee shops. This is because, if you're carrying a fresh cup of coffee, you often have a pocket full of change.

After the past two Shineramas, when I got home and removed my sticker, I headed straight to my balcony to harvest all my basil to make pistachio pesto. By the first week of September my homegrown basil plants are usually tall enough to reach my hip. This is when I know that they have grown enough leaves that I can make a big enough batch of pesto to cook with.

My recipe for pesto is pretty simple: 1) dump all the leaves I can strip off 2 stalks of mature basil into a food processor, 2) add a handful of unsalted roasted pistachios, 3) salt and pepper, 4) drizzle in about a 1/4 cup of olive oil, and 5) pulse until combined. Pesto has many uses.

This year, when I went out to fetch my basil, I found that it had invaded the other potted plants.

Basil with the Japanese Peonies

Basil with a Tomato Plant

Basil under the Lilly plant

One excellent use for pesto is pizza:

Lazy Man's Ready Made Pizza Crust

First Pizza

Second Pizza

First Pizza Baked

Maybe it'll become a tradition: Shinerama Pesto Pizza every September after Labour Day.

BTW, cold pesto pizza makes great breakfast food.

Cold Pesto Pizza

A non-pizza application follows after the jump:

More after the jump...