REO: The Nomad truck is built on a vintage 1949 REO Speedwagon.
Nomad's Truck-Based Oven: Nomad Pizza Co. originally started as a mobile pizza-catering business; the owners opened a brick-and-mortar Nomad a couple months ago in Hopewell, New Jersey.
Tom Grim: The founder of Princeton's Thomas Sweet Ice Cream & Chocolate, Grim started Nomad after taking inspiration from a trip to Italy's Amalfi coast.
Pepperoni Pie: The pepperoni is extra-large and very thin, so it crisps up nicely in the oven.
Shiitake Pie: This was one of the favorite pies at our table. Shiitake mushroom and garlic.
Sausage Pie: A fine-crumble loose sausage with a bit of a spicy kick to it. The first round of sausage pies were sausage-only. A second round of sausage pies had caramelized onion on them; the sweetness of the onion was a nice counterpoint to the heat of the sausage.
The Nomad Upskirt: And like many a pizzeria before it, Nomad comes in for its pizza upskirt shot. The crust at Nomad is fairly thin and more chewy than crisp. Fans of crispness may want to look elsewhere, as founder Tom Grim makes pizzas here more along the traditional Neapolitan lines (Grim and his crew trained in Naples before opening the pizza truck).
At the Oven: Nomad's Stalin Bedon and Tom Grim and their two pizzamen kept the pies coming out like fire. The oven is standard size, but you'd think they had a gigantic one (or even two of them) for the speed at which the pizzas arrived at table.
I think a pizza truck may be in my future..awesome looking pies..very Neapolitan...extremely similar look to my beloved Antica pies here in LA..Yummmmmyyyyy! do they use Caputo flour?
@LAPM: Not sure what kind of flour they use. I've never been one to attribute too much greatness to a certain type of flour or what not. Use of specific ingredients does not always guarantee a great pie. Same with a slavish adherence to all that VPN BS.
@LAPM: Paulie mentioned they recently switched to 100% Molino Caputo at Nomad
I agree with Adam. It is up to the pizzamaker to coax out the flavor inherent in the grain. All flour tastes pretty much like sawdust out of the bag. In the right hands, a pizza crust made out of a grocery store generic brand of cheap flour can blow away a crust made from Molino Caputo 00 pizza flour when handled by an incompetent pizza maker.
Now, flavor aside, a lower gluten flour like MC00 will result in a crust which should be structually different than a crust made with higher gluten flour. A crust made from lower glutten flour is typically softer in texture....one of the reasons a Neapolitan crust is typically softer than a NY Style slice.
Personally, I think the Nomad crust (and sauce) could have used a bit more flavor. And I know they're going for a more trad Neapolitan style, which means a wetter pie, but I'm a fan of the crisp. Great toppings, though.
@Adam....sounds like a longer ferment time to allow for more sugar break out...or possibly less yeast and/or lower fermentation temperatures so more sugar is not only freed up, but present when the pizza is fired is in order.
Did anyone find out anything about their fermentation regimen? Hours, temps, etc? Thanks- K
I did, but I ain't talkin'. You'll have to come up and ask them. You are the Mad Pizza Scientist Pblogger. As far as the crispness goes, I enjoyed the pies that came out a little later. They were more well done.
Thanks for commenting! Your comment has been accepted and will appear in a moment.
Add a comment:
Previewing your comment:
HTML Hints
Some HTML is OK: <a href="URL">link</a>, <strong>strong</strong>, <em>em</em>
Comment Guidelines
Post whatever you want, just keep it pleasant. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more at our Comment Policy page.
Print
7 Comments:
Nice photos and tasty looking pizzas. Some serious spotting going on there for sure!
Pizzablogger at 6:53AM on 10/19/09
I think a pizza truck may be in my future..awesome looking pies..very Neapolitan...extremely similar look to my beloved Antica pies here in LA..Yummmmmyyyyy! do they use Caputo flour?
L.A. Pizza Maven at 12:00PM on 10/19/09
@LAPM: Not sure what kind of flour they use. I've never been one to attribute too much greatness to a certain type of flour or what not. Use of specific ingredients does not always guarantee a great pie. Same with a slavish adherence to all that VPN BS.
Adam Kuban at 12:28PM on 10/19/09
@LAPM: Paulie mentioned they recently switched to 100% Molino Caputo at Nomad
I agree with Adam. It is up to the pizzamaker to coax out the flavor inherent in the grain. All flour tastes pretty much like sawdust out of the bag. In the right hands, a pizza crust made out of a grocery store generic brand of cheap flour can blow away a crust made from Molino Caputo 00 pizza flour when handled by an incompetent pizza maker.
Now, flavor aside, a lower gluten flour like MC00 will result in a crust which should be structually different than a crust made with higher gluten flour. A crust made from lower glutten flour is typically softer in texture....one of the reasons a Neapolitan crust is typically softer than a NY Style slice.
Pizzablogger at 1:02PM on 10/19/09
Personally, I think the Nomad crust (and sauce) could have used a bit more flavor. And I know they're going for a more trad Neapolitan style, which means a wetter pie, but I'm a fan of the crisp. Great toppings, though.
Adam Kuban at 1:13PM on 10/19/09
@Adam....sounds like a longer ferment time to allow for more sugar break out...or possibly less yeast and/or lower fermentation temperatures so more sugar is not only freed up, but present when the pizza is fired is in order.
Did anyone find out anything about their fermentation regimen? Hours, temps, etc? Thanks- K
Pizzablogger at 1:18PM on 10/19/09
I did, but I ain't talkin'. You'll have to come up and ask them. You are the Mad Pizza Scientist Pblogger. As far as the crispness goes, I enjoyed the pies that came out a little later. They were more well done.
Ciao,
Paulie Gee
pauliegee at 6:38AM on 10/21/09