I’m neither a gourmet nor a gourmand. Nor am I a food blogger. While I can recognize and appreciate good food, I don’t pretend to be an expert on any of the branches of the culinary arts. But I am fortunate enough to be acquainted with a few recognized world-class maestros in two or three of them, and one of those maestros is an Italian pizza artist extraordinaire.
His October Cighialotta was, quite honestly, one of the best pizzas I’ve ever experienced. And it was an experience, albeit not one for the faint of heart. Wild boar, or cinghiale as the Italians call it, is a very strong flavor, which was why I was a little dubious about the idea of basing a pizza around it. But desperate times like these call for daring measures, and it turned out that balanced with artichokes, carmelized onions, and a particular cheese, the wild boar proves to be intense rather than overpowering. Combine the pizza with a decent Primitivo from the South, and the experience becomes sublime, if not transformative.
