Crab Pizza
My good friend Zazz is famous for her crab pizza – I am not sure if she considers this a blessing or a curse. Like an actor who hates to be typecast in the same role time after time, being associated with one recipe can become a little dull. Of course, trying new recipes is exciting and challenging but it’s also important to have an “old faithful” in your back pocket. You know, one of those recipes that is a surefire crowd-pleaser. For Zazz (in my opinion), her crab pizza is exactly that – her signature dish. And lucky for us, she was up for sharing the famed recipe.
If you have conjured up an image of a traditional pizza topped with crab, baked in a wood-fired oven and cut into wedges – stop. This pizza is not baked, nor is there a thin, crisp crust. In fact, the only similarities to that Italian masterpiece we all recognize and love are: one, it is flat; two, the ingredients are layered; and three, cheese is an ingredient (albeit not mozzarella).
The hero ingredient of crab pizza is Nana’s Chili Sauce. This is a recipe handed down to Zazz from her Nana. Crab pizza, however, is a recipe from Melinda, Zazz’s mom. Although I never knew Nana (though I’m fortunate enough to know Melinda), the recipe often sparks a conversation about our grandmothers (and mothers), their cooking, and how lucky we are to have their recipes. Sharing recipes is so important to our cooking and family heritage. For me, it truly underlines the connection that exists between food, memories and emotions. To be honest, I had never asked Zazz where the crab pizza recipe originated until I wrote this. I am no history buff but when it comes to the history of recipes, I am truly intrigued and fascinated. Here is what Zazz told me: ”Well, my mom said she got the recipe from a friend 33 years ago, and that it was popular among her friends in the ’70s. She said it was even better made with Nana's Chili Sauce. She isn't sure if the recipe was originally from a cookbook, as she got it from a friend (who sadly is no longer alive, so she can't ask her).” Wow. These are the stories around food that make me tick.
I don’t get to see Zazz as often as I used to, now that I live in the U.K., but happily I have the recipe for this delicious appetizer, which never lets me down when entertaining. And now you do too. Enjoy!
Andrea Stewart
It’s not surprising that three of Andrea Stewart’s favourite foods are bread, butter and champagne, since her approach to all things culinary has always been pure and simple. This experienced, creative and enterprising chef and editor approaches cooking and eating with a solid appreciation for fresh, local and seasonal ingredients. Andrea’s journey with food began while living in France, working as an au pair for Grace Jones. While feeding the young offspring of the famous singer, she was tempted on a daily basis by the busy, colourful French food markets. Later on, she spent a summer at Ecole de Gastronomie Francaise Ritz-Escoffier and fell in love all over again with everything France had to offer. Upon returning to Canada, she was accepted at the acclaimed Stratford Chefs School and after completing her first year she headed to New York to further sharpen her skills, working alongside some of the finest (including Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto) and catering Martha Stewart’s executive meetings. Andrea returned to Toronto in 1996, and further immersed herself in her career, working at some of the city’s top food fixtures, including Mildred Pierce and Ace Bakery. She eventually took a side-step out of the kitchen and into the halls of magazine publishing, landing a position as Food Editor of Wish Magazine in 2004. While inspiring busy Canadian wonder-women to cook from scratch, she published her first cookbook, Wish, Market to Table. From street food to fine dining to unfamiliar grocery stores, food still motivates Andrea at every turn. She recently sold everything but a prized collection of cookbooks and moved to the U.K., where her culinary library spans the two floors of her London flat. She won’t rest until she has cooked from every one of them!