​A pizza-making fantasy camp that's as real as you can get--because the actual stars are you and the microbes.

Scott always seems to be halfway to an enthusiastic grin. He's also pretty clear about his enthusiasm for this new gig. “When they asked me if I want to teach a class with Peter, there's a no-brainer. That's like a dream situation.” 
 
Peter, who also exhibits an enviable level of preternatural happiness, says, “I think there are people that just have a passion for it, and they have the means and the time to be able to do this, and there are folks who just want to gobble up knowledge and experience.”
 
NEWSFLASH: Two of the nicest guys in the entire pizza ecosystem are getting together and teaching a 3-day course in pizza dough at the world-famous Pizza University, based in that garden spot of pizza, Beltsville, Maryland.
 
And now you’re asking yourself the right question: In what bizarre world of homemade pizza would you be thinking, “Hey, I should travel to that greater Baltimore school for pizzeria operators and take that 3-day course about mixing together water, flour, salt and yeast?”

It might feel like saying, "I'm going to tractor-trailer driving school and then getting my CDL so I can rent that U-Haul cube van and finally move my pizza box collection from the guestroom into a storage unit."
 
But maybe let's slow down on that analysis. It could be flawed.
 
Ultimately, it was Peter who crystalized something about this course that I’d been wondering about: “It’s kind of like a pizza fantasy camp.”
 
Scott Wiener (Pizza Today columnist, pizzeria consultant, and founder of the world-famous Scott’s Pizza Tours and the 501(c)(3), Slice Out Hunger) and Peter Reinhart (James Beard-winning cookbook author, bread instructor at Johnson & Wales University, and the “the Gandalf of pizza” according to NPR) are teaming up for 1) teaching this course, 2) having fun, and c) are not covering pizzeria operations in any way. They are not pizzeria operators.
 
They’re just two of pizza’s most important professionals getting down to dough. These men flow easily from making great pizza to eating at great pizzerias to doing pizza consulting to just hanging out with the rank pizza making amateurs like me—which is how I happened to get them both on a Zoom call together.
 
That’s also how I discovered that a great way for you and me to regard this three-day course is not as a professional-development, continuing-education kind of thing for pizzeria operators.
 
Instead, it’s a pro-level fantasy camp where the only difference between you and the pros who are also taking it is merely the scale at which you’re producing pizza.
 
Pizza University does not discriminate against us amateurs.
 
“It's definitely a class for pros, but I think Peter's right” says Scott, regarding the fantasy-camp angle. “I think 75% of the people who are going to sign up are going to be those high-end amateurs who are thinking about getting more serious.”
 
The title of the class speaks to unpacking some of the burgeoning geekiness around pizza these days: “From Neapolitan-Style to Specialty Pizzas – Tradition and Innovation.”
 
But why would pros be interested in this course if the material is accessible to amateurs?
 
Because it’s really about the nuances of that living, breathing thing that is the essential component of all pizza, that micro-animated combination of water, flour, salt and yeast known as pizza dough.

And yeast don't care how much you get paid for making pizza. 
 
The course is actually billed as an intensive, “3-Day Professional Pizza University Class.” Each day focuses on a different category of pizza:
 
- Neapolitan and Neapolitan-ish
 
- Square and pan pizzas
 
- Specialty pizzas (calzones, alla pala [which is a long Roman pizza served on a wooden paddle] stuffed pizza, stromboli, etc.)
 
The course description says, “During the sessions, you will work in teams to prepare and present your creations to your fellow students and share comments and feedback.”

Also, students will be “making a selection of ‘tribute recipes’ from Peter’s book, Pizza Quest: My Never-Ending Search for the Perfect Pizza, using four different doughs.”
 
So this truly is a course for pros, and I was a little surprised when Peter and Scott estimated such high participation from the amateur pizza-geek sector.
 
But during Pizza Expo in Las Vegas last month, I was with Peter at a private party thrown by Caputo, the famous Italian flour company. You have never seen so many Italian guys dressed to the nines in snappy designer suits and bold influencer eyewear worn unironically.

Peter introduced me to an important corporate chef and pizzaiolo whose training and master certification both come from the vaunted Scuola Italiana Pizzaioli in Italy.
 
This chef was commenting on the prowess of high-end amateur pizzaioli. He said, “Some of these amateurs know more about pizza than we do.” He was impressed with the depth of knowledge exhibited by some of these guys, and I think I get it.
 
When you and I decide to make pizza at home, it’s an avocation. We’re not doing it because we have obligations to do so, but because we enjoy the pursuit of it all. 
 
We’re doing it because we’re fascinated by pizza and everything it embodies, from the scene to the science.
 
It usually starts as just wanting make a pizza at home.
 
But if you’re the kind of person who asks enough questions, the pizza chase can last a lifetime.
 
And sometimes, it becomes professional.
 
While I was on my way to Pizza Expo in Vegas, I had a layover in Atlanta.
 
That layover was long enough that I was able to get to Varasano’s, which I like to joke is the best pizza ever made in an airport by an Atlanta software engineer.
 
Jeff Varasano started years ago as a pizza hobbyist. Today, both his Bucktown pizzeria and his airport store have won national recognition.
 
I also don’t find it surprising that a software engineer could do something like this. Pizza is nothing if not process—which is at the core of software engineering.
 
Mr. Varasano is also in the minority of enthusiastic amateurs gone pro. (He’s also just one of a handful of relocated New Yorkers who couldn't stand the lack of great pizza in their new town, so they filled the void. In a similar vein, see our story about TriBecca Allie Cafe in the Mississippi Delta.)
 
But what is pizza fantasy camp really all about?
 
As Scott says, “There are a lot of people who are either thinking about opening a pizzeria, or they're perpetually thinking about opening a pizzeria and they probably never will.

"But they really want to understand that next step. And it doesn't matter what you're going to do with it, whether it's making better pizza for your family or making it in a restaurant setting.

"This course doesn't allocate time toward the business perspective, not our angle.
 
“It's about the nerdery. It's all about really getting in there and understanding the nerdery and it's a playground.”
 
My joking that this is "a fantasy camp where the stars are you and the microbes" is not too far off base. 
 
None of us can do any of this without yeast. They're the real unsung stars of pizza, along with anyone who can understand how to manipulate them. Great pizza is all about mastering the crust. Once you’ve got the crust nailed, you can do great pizza things. 
 
I like to think that my weird little book helps the beginner nail one recipe for great crust, then get a grip on the process of making it into pizza.
 
But once you’ve got that part down, and you’ve mastered the “gateway drug” of homemade pizza, then what?
 
You start doing things like devouring pizza books.
 
Peter Reinhart’s American Pie changed my life. That book turned me into a pizza geek.
 
But his more recent book, Perfect Pan Pizza, gave my pizza more range and perspective.

And to be fair, while it's not about making pizza, Scott's book Viva La Pizza, about the art of the pizza box, for me firmly cemented his place as one of the pizza guys you most want to meet for a beer and a slice.

​Of course, that was after seeing him in the documentaries Scott's Pizza Tours and Pizza: A Love Story. This man may be the world's foremost expert on pizza history and styles, as well as where the best pizzas are being made and how. 
 
So the idea of spending three days in a room with Peter and Scott and talking with a bunch of like-minded geeks about making pizza doesn’t sound half bad.  

Not to mention being guided down the merry path to more and better pizza by two of the most well-traveled pizza guys the world has ever known.
 
But what really is the difference between all these doughs?
 
And how often in your life will you have three full days to experiment with making several styles of pizza alongside working professionals who are equally as curious as you are?
 
And all while using professional kitchen equipment, no less?
 
Yes, this is biochemistry at its most practical, i.e. exploiting microbes for making even better pizza for the people most important to you.

It’s about learning how to better wrangle the yeast for doing its job of getting busy inside all that flour and salt and water--and how much water it takes to get a particular job done.
 
But while the yeast are getting busy, let’s not forget the social aspect of it.
 
Pizza is, after all, people.

Peter says, “Between the sessions, all the social time that's involved when you have a gathering, the meals, the afterwards after you kind wind down the day, all the small talk that's going to happen—I think this is something that a lot of people who are coming might also want to have: some time to dish about pizza.
 
“I know when I'm with Scott, I'm always picking his brain. Where have you been lately? What have you seen? What are you seeing out there? Have you been to such and such a place? Is it as good as they say? I mean, I think that’s a lot of the fun of it.”
 
That might sound fun, and possibly even frivolous. But it’s not. The social aspect is an important part of context.
 
Social context helps us understand making better pizza. And the stories especially--they matter. Stories are the oldest form of teaching.
 
But Scott brings context back into the kitchen and Peter's philosophies. “Sometimes, the way I like to phrase it is that these are not recipes, they're formulas.
 
“So if you veer off of the list of ingredients, you're not ruining a recipe, you're changing a formula. And when you change the inputs, you affect the outcome.
 
“And when you're talking about context, Peter likes to explain how that's the whole point of it, to understand the mechanics more than you understand the mix.
 
“It really has to do with ‘Why does this thing work?’ and not just blindly following a recipe.
 
“And that's what it's all about: an understanding of the formula and how to contextually apply that method.
 
“So that's like 90% of what we're going to talk about.”
 
Peter draws a neat summation of what happens when you participate in this level of geekdom (my word, not his): “You'll have a much deeper dive into the why of pizza than when you first came.
 
“You'll know not only the 'how' of making it, but the 'why' of making certain choices along the way, and how those choices affect the final outcome.
 
“So no matter how much you think you already know about pizza, I think we can promise that you're going to learn new things.
 
“And you're going to have some 'Ah-ha!' moments. You'll be able to make connections for things that unlock your own creativity for how far you can take your own pizzas.
 
“You'll be empowered.”
 
The course is May 13 to 15, 9am to 5pm, at Pizza University in Beltsville, Maryland. Tuition for the three days is $2,100. The website says the class is limited to 18 people. Last we heard, there was still room. To learn more, visit www.PizzaUniversity.org

UPDATE 04/13/24: I had an email from Peter last night. As of yesterday, there are four seats remaining in the class. 

If you'd like to learn more about Peter Reinhart, visit www.PizzaQuest.com. 

To learn more about Scott Wiener, visit www.ScottsPizzaTours.com or www.SliceOutHunger.org​

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If you're a newbie not ready for university-level pizza studies, but you’re thinking about starting your pizzamaking journey, one good place to do so is inside Free The Pizza. Really, it’s A Simple System For Making Great Pizza Whenever You Want With The Oven You Already Have. It’s a manual that takes you from zero to pizza with a few laughs along the way. Also, if you buy a hard copy, I'll send you an autographed book plate if you contact me here. If you buy the Kindle edition, know that there are printable cheat sheets on this website so you can take them into the kitchen and spill red sauce all over them.