My Pizza Love; A Life Saving Story

Can Pizza save your life? Ok, probably not, but this ancient Neapolitan food staple has a history that spans centuries, evolving from simple flatbreads with toppings, and has links to royalty as much as your back garden. And let’s face it, when made well, it is a bit of an edible marvel. Find out more in My Pizza Love; A Life Saving Story

Originally, Pizza, or “panis focacius,” as it was known, would have been a simple flatbread with something on top, probably a precursor of what we know nowadays. The word pizza is believed to have origins in the Latin word “pinsere,” meaning “to pound” or “stamp”.

The birthplace of modern pizza is generally considered to be Naples, Italy, where it gained popularity in the 18th and 19th centuries as a convenient street food for the working class. A famous story tells of Queen Margherita visiting Naples in 1889 and trying various pizza toppings, with the most memorable being a pizza featuring tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil, which she later named the “Margherita”. 

This simple food reached every type of person at this time, but its global expansion was brought about by Italian immigrants, who played a crucial role in introducing pizza to other parts of the world, particularly the United States. 

It gained popularity with Allied troops stationed in Italy during World War II, adding to its international appeal. By the 1950s, pizzerias were thriving in the UK and other countries, with pizza becoming a popular family meal. 

Now we probably don’t think twice about its heritage, yet a properly made one is quite sublime, okay, and not life-changing, but maybe? See below .Cent’s unique story of one man’s journey to pizza heaven, which in its way was life-saving.

Gozney by Tom Gozney make pizza ovens; in fact, it is fair to say they make the world’s most advanced compact oven for creating this food style. As akin to the flavour profile of a wooden oven, these wood and flame outdoor ovens are as near as you can get to the original Italian experience.

“I wasn’t a designer. I wasn’t a CEO. By 21 I was kicked out of school. Fresh out of rehab. I poured myself into cooking and built a pizza oven in my garden. It changed my life. In fact, it probably saved it.”

Tom Gozney, Founder & Designer

How did you first decide you wanted to design your first Gozney product?

I didn’t. Gozney today is the result of an evolution of an idea I stumbled upon in my early twenties.

With no qualifications from school and some challenging teenage years, I ended up sober at 21. Cooking became one of my passions, and one night, after making pizzas with friends, I cooked them in a conventional oven; the results were average at best. I wanted a real, authentic pizza oven. At the time, the only options were Italian imports, which were way out of budget, so I decided to build my own oven.

Three days later, I had built a huge brick oven in the garden. It took over six hours to reach cooking temperature thanks to its monstrous thermal mass, but I absolutely fell in love with starting a wood fire, experimenting with ingredients, and cooking at both high and low temperatures for hours.

Something shifted socially, too; instead of my friends bringing tequila, they brought pizza toppings. We’d cook and chat around the wood-fired oven. As a sober twenty-something, I had a social life again, one that didn’t revolve around alcohol.

In 2010, I had the idea to make pizza ovens accessible to the masses. I wanted to change the way the world cooks outdoors. I didn’t know how yet, but I knew more people would appreciate not just the cooking but the sense of connection and community that these ovens create.

When did you start to design it, and what was your process? How does your creative process work?

I started by hand-building brick ovens outdoors for friends and family who were captivated by the experience at my house. Through word of mouth, I began building ovens for pubs and restaurants too. But brick-by-brick construction was always going to limit how many ovens I could physically install each year.

To make stone ovens accessible to the masses, I needed a better design, a pre-cast oven that could be shipped nationally and assembled in minutes instead of days.

With each iteration, the ovens improved in functionality and features. We expanded into large commercial ovens and soon began supplying some of the best restaurants in London with our innovative assembly system, which revolutionised stone oven installation in the city.

Everything I learned about high-temperature cooking and extreme commercial kitchen environments fed into the next generation of Gozney products. When we launched Roccbox, it was the world’s first stone-floored portable pizza oven.

Today, when I design, I start at the end: How can I make the experience better? What problem am I solving for the user? What new functionality can I bring to this?

Once the function is perfect, then I design for the beauty.

Why pizza?

It could have been anything, but I’m so, so happy it was pizza!

You can cook many things in our ovens, but they’re known for pizza. Pizza is universal; it suits everyone’s tastes and preferences, and it’s incredibly inclusive. It’s the perfect food to bring people together and encourage them to take part in making it. Cooking it on a live fire in seconds is as entertaining as it gets!

Why is outdoor eating important? What do you feel we gain when doing so?

Cooking and eating outdoors is an immersive experience. It’s a disconnect from the pace of modern life; a chance to slow down and reconnect with the moment, putting down your smartphone.

Taking the time to select fresh ingredients, build a fire, and cook outdoors creates shared moments with your favourite people. It reduces stress and helps you feel present.

What would you say to young creatives out there to encourage them?

It won’t go as expected; my journey certainly hasn’t. If you have an idea, just start. You don’t need to have all the details figured out. Very few people who start out are doing the same thing; many years later, a concept often evolves and crystallises over time.

Don’t let others put you off because of your lack of experience. Work with people who fill your skill gaps. Have an unrelenting desire to make it happen; with self-belief, drive, and vision, it will.

Gozney offer five different styles, including the Dome, the world’s most thoughtfully designed outdoor pizza oven. Expertly engineered and designed down to the last detail, it works effortlessly for both beginners and chefs. The award-winning Dome brings superior performance, versatility and intuitive design to your outdoors.

The Arc and the Arc XL. The Arc is a compact oven. Create an epic 14” pizza. A revolutionary lateral gas flame, unbeatable 2-layer heat retention, and easy-to-use precision temperature control. The arc XL allows you to create epic 16” pizza. Again with the revolutionary lateral gas flame, unbeatable 2-layer heat retention, and easy-to-use precision temperature control.

The Roccbox is a scaled-down and portable version of the Gozney commercial pizza ovens. Roccbox is the original stone-floor portable oven that started a pizza revolution. Create world-class pizza at home or away.

And finally, the Tread, a hyper-portable, ultra-rugged, lightweight, and designed for adventure. Cook different things in places you never thought possible.

It’s fair to say most of us love a great pizza and find it usually tastes best when eaten in Italy, but now all of us can have the authentic dish in our own gardens. No, not life-saving but rather delicious.

Find out all you need to know at Gozney.com here

If you enjoyed reading My Pizza Love: A Life Saving Story, why not read Tender Secrets here

.Cent Magazine London. Be Inspired; Get Involved