Pizza that tastes like relief

I am afraid of heights. So is my Dad. From an etiology perspective, this fear could have been passed down for generations. If ornithology is also genetic, I see a Cameron ancestor roaming the wild grasses above, say, the Clo Mor Cliffs in the Scottish Highlands, keen to spot a colony of puffins, kittiwakes or fulmars nesting in the rocks below. Perhaps the salty winds pulled them too close to the edge where the temperamental seas raged 300 meters below. Their body probably prickled with sweat and their stomach bubbled with bile as they imagined themselves soaring like a puffin down, down, down into the frothy waves below. This ancestor stepped back just in time, but the fear was already carved into their nervous system and would be passed down for generations to come. 

This is my theory at least. I thought of this generational fear last week while standing in line, waiting to repel over the edge of a cliff that led to a stunning, secret beach below. I hung back, feigning politesse, while inside I winced as people grabbed the thick, weathered rope, turned around and leaned into their fate, blind. By the time it was my turn, most of our group were frolicking in the rolling waves below, shouting come on Lindsay! It was a magical view - a secluded, dark-sand crescent beach dwarfed by a towering jagged wall of layered slate and granite stained with mustard yellow iron. At my feet were clusters of quartz - or maybe gypsum- nestled in the crumbly granite.

I considered heading back. But I had a good book and a butter tart from the LaHave bakery packed in my bag. And heck, the woman in front of me was repelling elegantly in a floor length skirt. I could hear my maternal grandmother’s voice in my ears saying “oh for goodness sakes!” So I grabbed hold of the rope, for goodness sakes, and went for it. 

I didn’t mean to write about fear this week. I planned on pizza dough! I got the recipe from a friend Tiffany who is a fabulous cook. “You’ll never use another recipe again,” she said, emphatically, over cold kombucha in July. I love people who speak emphatically, especially when it comes to recipes. She was right; I’ve been making this dough all summer. The secret behind the recipe is a can of beer. The bubbles, the yeast, the hoppiness, I don’t know, adds a unique salty tang and chewiness to the crust. I’ve used an array of beer - craft, weak, hoppy and dark. Tiffany has tried cider too. All work. 

I made this pizza dough the night after I repelled down to the secret beach. We topped it simply with a slick of tomato sauce, pickled jalapenos and fresh mozzarella, then cooked it outside in a wood-fired oven. We finished it with peppery arugula and a swirl of hot honey. It tasted like relief. I had done something hard and was home to tell the tale.

PS A butter tart is a Canadian treasure made from butter, brown sugar and eggs (and sometimes raisins - this is contentious) baked in a tiny tart shell. When eaten on the beach after a hike through a barachois, across a rocky beach, through a forest of ferns and scrubby, scratchy bushes and a repel over the side of a cliff, the sweet, golden filling will liquify and drip down your fingers and onto your book. 

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No Knead Pizza Dough

-adapted from Half Baked Harvest’s No Knead Bread and Pizza Dough. One recipe makes two 12-14 inch pizzas. I double the recipe.

3 cups (360g) of all purpose flour 

2 teaspoons instant yeast

2 teaspoons salt

1 x 12oz (355ml) can of beer (or cider)

1 tablespoon olive oil

In a large bowl combine the flour, yeast and salt. Add the beer, olive oil and mix until just combined. Cover bowl with a tea towel or plastic wrap and leave on the counter for an hour or two until doubled in size. (I’ve made it in the morning a few times and left it to rise all day.) 

When ready to assemble pizzas, scoop dough onto a floured surface and form into a uniform ball. Divide into two portions, then, one at a time, roll dough into a 12-14 in circle. I get creative here - last night’s pizza looked like the map of Texas. It all tastes the same. Continue with your favourite toppings (cambozola and peach is another favourite right now, below is pesto with sliced salami), bake in a hot oven and enjoy.