Mozza Glasgow

Stuff of Legends!

Mozza Glasgow

Let’s go back to Naples circa 1889 and meet the true legend of the Pizza.  His name was Esposito who was called upon to create a pizza for King Umberto 1 and his Queen Margherita.  Until this day that very Pizza representing the colours of the Italian flag has been called after her.  Featuring fresh, red tomatoes, white mozzarella cheese and green basil in my opinion it’s for beginners before they move on to proper flatbreads and pinsa which dated back to ancient Rome!

Pizza used to be served by street vendors and was an inexpensive and filling food to be consumed quickly on the hop in the vastly populated city.  Pizzerias as we know them now can be traced back to Gennaro Lombardi’s Manhattan ‘forno’ which was licensed to sell pizza in 1905.  This business continues to trade in New York but at a different location using, they say, the same oven.  Believe that if you will. I’ll let you know when I visit it later this year.

In Glasgow we have a plethora of Pizzerias and some of the, Scottish, born and bred experts have the Mozzarrella balls to claim to be,

“The best, bringing the first, authentic

Neopolitan Pizza to Glasgow!”

I’m confused, are they deluded, or maybe it’s all pizza pie in the sky?

This statement raises my question;

What were O’ Sole Mio doing in their

‘wood burning, brick oven which has been fired up daily bringing
a ‘taste of Naples’ to this city for the past 45 years?

Tonight I'm off to Mozza who humbly claim ‘to produce a flat, white disc of dough resembling the lifestyle and flavours of Naples’ along with ‘the passion they have’ for their own Artisan Pizza.  They are modest and choose to let the customer decide what is the best and are not claiming a first, simply a representation of something that has existed in this city for 50 or more years. They also claim to honour and have the,

“Highest respect for the oldest art

for making a unique Pizza from the flavours

of a time long gone.”

I salute Mozza for their honesty and humble attitude towards something that's been established and loved for more about 128 years.

On arrival we are greeted by the very beautiful Irene Crolla from ZONIN1821 who have been producing wines since 1821 thus the name of the company.  The family have cultivated vines and produced wine and is one of the most important Italian wine producers in the world and under the Zonin label they also create sparkling wines.

The presentation from 32 Via dei Birrai was fascinating and I had so much fun tasting and guessing the ‘notes’ in the beer. My favourite was Audace, which means bold and reminded me of the ‘Vino Crudo’ that my mother in law used to make.  This company of Italian Artisan Beer brewers are passionate and intend to change the way beer is perceived. 

They aim to open up to a complimentary world and I would say, as a wine lover (Although I don’t drink anymore) I appreciated the lightness, texture and wonderful flavours of the beers I tasted.  In my opinion these beers would indeed compliment food in a similar way to which wine does.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening, food was authentic and the company, especially my HOT date, was wonderful.  I also bumped into the very colourful and talented Michael Lemetti owner of Clan Italia and someone who promotes, like myself, Scottish-Italian connections with passion and enthusiasm all over the world.

I mistakenly finished off the evening with a wonderful aromatic Kimbo coffee and couldn't sleep but spent my awake time reflecting on the evening and how two cultures have met in my wonderful city to create something magical.

See you the next time with The Mary!

My Coffee of The Moment!

Kimbo