Capricci Pizza-Isla Mujeres 2018
Pizza is like hamburgers…everyone has a favourite place to go and will valiantly defend their preferences. On Isla Mujeres, I know that many people love Oscar’s and Mike’s and Angelo’s. I have never had pizza at Oscar’s or Mike’s but I adore the frutti di mare pizza at Angelo’s. Recently, I sampled Capricci’s Pizza & Sfizi on Hidalgo and were so very impressed. By the way, in case you were wondering what “sfizi” means; it is a “whimsical” word in Italian that sometimes denotes a treat or special section of a menu.
The owner of the Capricci is a first generation Italian. He is hands on in the kitchen, preparing his dough from scratch. He shared with us that his pizza creations were Neapolitan, meaning from the area surrounding the city of Naples. This makes them especially authentic because that is where pizza is said to have been invented. My husband D has visited the particular Neopolitan restaurant and although I cannot claim as much, I have been to Naples on a couple of occasions and know that the best pizzas are always the simplest but utilizing the finest ingredients.
The Capricci owner also shared his dough recipe with us…flour, extra virgin olive oil and semolina flour to finish. He did not reveal the proportions of the ingredients or the time that the dough is kneaded and rested. The latter is what makes a pizza, a pizza! It is the art and knowledge of working the dough that produces the desired results. By the by, his pizza crust is award-winning. He laments the loss of genuine pizza making in his homeland because of the influx of other nationalities and cultures who believe that their improvements make for a superior pizza. I commiserated with him: why try to fix perfection?
We chose the Dolomite pizza, so named for the mountain range located in northeastern Italy. It was topped with hand-made Italian sausage, mushrooms, rosemary, mozzarella and Gouda cheese. In addition, was a humble and yet surprising ingredient-cubed baked potatoes!
The toppings melded together perfectly and the crust was divine-thin and crispy with hints of char achieved with a high quality pizza oven.
When we heard that Capricci also has fresh pasta on the menu, we couldn’t resist. They have two Carbonaras to choose from and although we intended to order the decadent one with cream, egg and bacon, we accidentally ordered the vegetarian version. We could tell that the noodles were excellent and that exceptional quality oils and Parmesan cheese was used, but we have to admit that carrot ribbons couldn’t take the place of bacon, especially Italian bacon.
Kath’s quote: “Your life is like a pizza. It could be round, it could be square. But you’ll enjoy it most of all when it’s something that you share.” ― Jim Benton
Love never fails.