Webisode: Pizzeria Brava della Strada, finale

The Colorado Chili Pie:

In this, the final segment from the Pizzeria Brava della Strada series, David Bravdica shows us his prized Colorado Chile Pie, made from local peppers grown in Pueblo (southern Colorado, near the New Mexico border), fire-roasted in a flaming tumbler to bring out maximum flavor.

This might be a good time to go back and review some of the other Pizzeria Brava segments to see the progression of ideas as they manifest and build in all of David’s food. His time spent cooking in Italy impressed upon him the principle of local, seasonal, and fresh ingredients.  It seems kind of ordinary and almost a cliche now, but think back a few years ago, before the Slow Food Movement and the proliferation of the local, regional food movement. Pizza was just pizza and toppings were just toppings. Seemingly overnight (but not really; it took 35 years for some of the ideas that seem so normal now but moved only by inches back in the 1960’s and early ’70’s, slowly snowballing in the late 90’s and early ‘aughts) every hip restaurant featured not only local food but also the names of the farmers who provided it for them. Who would have predicted socially responsible pizza 10 or 15 years ago? Nowadays, who would eat anything but socially responsible pizza? And out on a sidewalk in Denver?  Thank you David Bravdica for an enjoyable series of great techniques (such as you will see in this segment when he pipes goat cheese onto his chile pizza with a pastry bag), serious social responsibility, and, most of all, for sharing some beautiful and delicious pizzas and porchetta with us.  Can’t wait to return to Denver to see what new tricks you have up your sleeve.