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Cracking Patsy's Recipe

Posted by Adam Kuban, September 17, 2006 at 11:51 PM

I don't even know what to say about this recipe. Just reading through it makes my head spin. Software engineer Jeff Varasano (above) has been trying for six years to craft a pizza along the lines of Patsy's in East Harlem. As of August 22, he claims to have done so:

This pizza is modeled after Patsy's on 117th street in NYC. I have been working on this for SIX years, but FINALLY I can report that I have achieved my goal. Many people have tried my pie and swear it is not only the best pizza they've ever had, but a clone of the original Patsy's recipe. This pie is incredibly light and perfectly charred. It took just 2 minutes and 10 seconds to bake at 825F....

Reproducing this was no easy feat. It's been a bit of an obsession. I've had a lot of failed experiments. It's only now, in the past 6 months that I can honestly say that the recipe is fully accurate and reproducible. The final breakthrough came in Jan 2005 when I finally got a handle on the proper mixing equipment and procedure. But do not think that following this will be easy. It's not. It will still take practice. A few others have confirmed that by following these steps they too have come to near perfection. This may be the most detailed, accurate and complete recipe on the net for making a true Pizza Napoletana.

To get your oven to 825°, you'll need to do a little hacking. On his own oven, Mr. Varasano cut off the lock that engages during the self-clean cycle so he can still open the door when the unit heats to superhigh temps.

Patsy's Pizza Recipe [think2020.com/jv/recipe.htm; via Perlow]
UPDATE: Full recipe now here [think2020.com/jv/pizza.htm]
UPDATE 2: Mr. Varasano's server has stumbled under the load of Boing Boing and Fark readers. Slice is now mirroring his page: http://sliceny.com/jvpizza.php

2 Comments | Tags: Coal-Oven, East Harlem, Manhattan, New York, NYC, Patsy's (East Harlem), Recipes